max(…) returns the maximum value of a vector. which.max(…). max( c( 4, 9, 7, 12, 3, 6) ) # [1] 12 vector_with_NA <- c( NA, NA, 5, 6, 4, NA ) max( vector_with_NA, na.rm=TRUE ) # [1] 6 max( vector_with_NA, na.rm=FALSE ) # [1] NA # # If the parameter na.rm is not specified, it defaults to false: # max( vector_with_NA ) # [1] NA