When tracing to WebSphere Application Server, display or file, the global trace level can be used to change trace level for all listed trace ID. When global trace level is set, the result level of individual trace ID is no more large than the global level. For example, if the global level is WARN, and the level of individual trace ID is DEBUG or INFO, then the actual level for the trace ID is WARN. If the global level is WARN, and the level of individual trace ID is FATAL, then the actual level for the trace ID is FATAL. When the global level is set to DEBUG, then global level setting will not impact the result level of the individual trace ID, the result level is determined by the level configuration of the individual trace ID.