# Why is the dB plot of a signal usually non-positive?

Almost every decibel plot of a signal is usually below 0. Why is this the case? I recently just plotted a transfer function with a very high decibel plot above 0.

In power spectra of signals, 0 dB is some agreed power level. It can for example represent the level of a full-scale (FS) sinusoid. In that case it would be rare to see values above 0 dBFS (sinusoid), as it would require peak cancellation as with $1.125\sin(x) + 0.125\sin(3x)$ to stay within a numerical amplitude range of $[-1, 1]$. When a power spectrum is given in dB, the 0 dB reference should be specified. Otherwise one can't be sure what it means.
$0$ dB is the limit at which the power of the signal and the power of the noise (or a standardized level) are equal: their ratio is equal to $1$, and the $\log$ is zero. Looking at a spectrum, areas with higher dBs than other are frequency bands where the presence of a useful signal is more expected. Areas with very negative dBs are suspect of having very low signal content. However, they can be a target for the detection of very weak signals of interest.