ROWCOUNT is not a setting but a syntactic construction. “SET ROWCOUNT n” with n > 0 restricts the number of rows processed to a maximum of n. “SET ROWCOUNT 0” will switch off this restriction and ensures that all relevant rows will be processed.

Microsoft declared the use of “SET ROWCOUNT” deprecated in combination with INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and MERGE statements. However, you can still use “SET ROWCOUNT” in combination with SELECT statements.

Isah removed the use of “SET ROWCOUNT” in combination with INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE and MERGE statements and replaced it by an alternative construction.

Do not use “ROWCOUNT n” anymore. Use “TOP (n)” instead.