5250 error 0005: Cursor in protected area of display

What it means

A 5250 screen is made of input fields and everything else. Headings, labels, output-only fields and empty space are protected. The display station accepts typed characters only inside input fields. When you press a character key with the cursor anywhere else, it doesn't pass the key on. It locks the keyboard itself and puts 0005 on the error line, which is usually the bottom row of the screen.

This check happens in the terminal or emulator, not on IBM i. The program never learns that a key was pressed, and nothing is written to the job log.

Usually the cause is simple. The cursor was left on a heading or between two fields, often after a mouse click or after the program redrew the screen. Sometimes the field you meant to type in is really an output field, because the program protected it for this record.

Common causes

• You clicked with the mouse or used the arrow keys, and the cursor ended up on a label, a heading or a blank area instead of inside an input field.
• The program redrew the screen and left the cursor outside any input field, for example on the title line or on the function key list.
• The field looks like an input field, but the program protected it for this record. Many programs protect the key fields of a record once it has been found, so you can see the value but not change it.
• On some lists (subfiles), the program protects the option column on rows where no option applies.
• You typed past the end of the last input field on the screen and kept going.

How to find the problem

1. Look at where the cursor is. It sits just after the last character you typed. If it isn't inside an underlined or highlighted input field, that explains the error.
2. Press Help while 0005 is showing. On a signed-on session the system shows a line of text that describes the error, so you can tell a protected-area error from a field rule.
3. If you think the field should take input, check the display file source or ask the programmer. In DDS, an input field has I or B in the usage column (position 38). O means output only. The keyword DSPATR(PR) protects an input-capable field, often under an indicator so it is protected only some of the time.
4. Don't look in DSPJOBLOG. The display station handled the error on its own, so the system has no record of it.

How to fix it

• Press Reset (also called Error Reset) to free the keyboard. In many PC emulators Reset is the left Ctrl key by default. Then press Tab or Field Exit to jump to the next input field and type again.
• Move between fields with Tab and Backtab (Shift+Tab) instead of clicking. They stop only in input fields, so you can't land on protected space.
• If the field is protected on purpose, the program usually offers another way to change it, such as a Change option or a function key. Check the key list at the bottom of the screen.
• For programmers, put the cursor where users will type. DSPATR(PC) on a field, or the CSRLOC keyword on the record format, sets the cursor position when the record is written.
• For programmers, if users must be able to change a field, give it usage B and put DSPATR(PR) under an indicator, so the program protects it only when it should.

Technical reviewer: Albert Joseph, WND Software.

Last reviewed 2026-10-18 by the WND Software team. Written in our own words. For the full reference, check IBM’s 3270 or 5250 display documentation.