What does the servlet <load-on-startup> value signify

Resin 3.0 documents this behavior:

load-on-startup can specify an (optional) integer value. If the value is 0 or greater, it indicates an order for servlets to be loaded, servlets with higher numbers get loaded after servlets with lower numbers.

The JSP 3.1 spec (JSR 340) says this on page 14-160:

The element load-on-startup indicates that this servlet should be loaded (instantiated and have its init() called) on the startup of the Web application. The element content of this element must be an integer indicating the order in which the servlet should be loaded. If the value is a negative integer, or the element is not present, the container is free to load the servlet whenever it chooses. If the value is a positive integer or 0, the container must load and initialize the servlet as the application is deployed. The container must guarantee that servlets marked with lower integers are loaded before servlets marked with higher integers. The container may choose the order of loading of servlets with the same load-on-startup value.

You probably want to check not only the JSR, but also the documentation for your web container. There may be differences

Short Answer: value >= 0 means that the servlet is loaded when the web-app is deployed or when the server starts. value < 0 : servlet is loaded whenever the container feels like.

Long answer (from the spec):

The load-on-startup element indicates that this servlet should be loaded (instantiated and have its init() called) on the startup of the web application. The optional contents of these element must be an integer indicating the order in which the servlet should be loaded. If the value is a negative integer, or the element is not present, the container is free to load the servlet whenever it chooses. If the value is a positive 128 integer or 0, the container must load and initialize the servlet as the application is deployed. The container must guarantee that servlets marked with lower integers are loaded before servlets marked with higher integers. The container may choose the order of loading of servlets with the same load-on-start-up value.

It indicates that the servlet won't be started until a request tries to access it.

If load-on-startup is greater than or equal to zero then when the container starts it will start that servlet in ascending order of the load on startup value you put there (ie 0, 1 then 2 then 5 then 10 and so on).