matplotlib/matplotlib · error · ValueError

margin must be greater than -0.5

Error message

margin must be greater than -0.5

What it means

Error "margin must be greater than -0.5" thrown in matplotlib/matplotlib.

Source

Thrown at lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axes3d.py:583

    def set_zmargin(self, m):
        """
        Set padding of Z data limits prior to autoscaling.

        *m* times the data interval will be added to each end of that interval
        before it is used in autoscaling.  If *m* is negative, this will clip
        the data range instead of expanding it.

        For example, if your data is in the range [0, 2], a margin of 0.1 will
        result in a range [-0.2, 2.2]; a margin of -0.1 will result in a range
        of [0.2, 1.8].

        Parameters
        ----------
        m : float greater than -0.5
        """
        if m <= -0.5:
            raise ValueError("margin must be greater than -0.5")
        self._zmargin = m
        self._request_autoscale_view("z")
        self.stale = True

    def margins(self, *margins, x=None, y=None, z=None, tight=True):
        """
        Set or retrieve autoscaling margins.

        See `.Axes.margins` for full documentation.  Because this function
        applies to 3D Axes, it also takes a *z* argument, and returns
        ``(xmargin, ymargin, zmargin)``.
        """
        if margins and (x is not None or y is not None or z is not None):
            raise TypeError('Cannot pass both positional and keyword '
                            'arguments for x, y, and/or z.')
        elif len(margins) == 1:
            x = y = z = margins[0]
        elif len(margins) == 3:

View on GitHub (pinned to b379c1b69e)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axes3d.py:583 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of matplotlib/matplotlib@b379c1b69e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b48157aa87a45ae3. Report an issue: GitHub.