Server System Variables The character set used for returning query results to the client. This includes result data such as column values, result metadata such as column names, and error messages. The servers default character set. See Section 10.15, “Character Set Configuration” . If you set this variable, you should also set  collation_server  to specify the collation for the character set. The character set used by the server for storing identifiers. The value is always  utf8 . The directory where character sets are installed. See Section 10.15, “Character Set Configuration” . • character_set_server • character_set_system • character_sets_dir • check_proxy_users Default Value utf8mb4 System Variable character_set_system Scope Global Dynamic No SET_VAR  Hint Applies No Type String Default Value utf8 Command-Line Format --character-set-server=name System Variable character_set_server Scope Global, Session Dynamic Yes SET_VAR  Hint Applies No Type String Default Value utf8mb4 Command-Line Format --character-sets-dir=dir_name System Variable character_sets_dir Scope Global Dynamic No SET_VAR  Hint Applies No Type Directory name Command-Line Format --check-proxy-users[={OFF|ON}] System Variable check_proxy_users Scope Global Dynamic Yes SET_VAR  Hint Applies No 780