While trying some surface level practice, I can see the height of my drone is misreading. I know the 2s is 3ft off the pavement, but it is showing -13.8ft. And when it is 5ft away from me, it is showing 41ft Distance. What is going on here?

The altitude comes from a barometric sensor that measures small changes in air pressure.
It's common and normal for that to vary a little over the duration of a flight and it's no big deal.

And when it is 5ft away from me, it is showing 41ft Distance.
The only explanation for that would be that your drone is 41 feet away from where the home point was recorded.
It's most likely that you launched without waiting for the homepoint to be recorded properly.
Your recorded flight data would easily confirm what caused this.

Labroides Posted at 8-25 22:15
The altitude comes from a barometric sensor that measures small changes in air pressure.
It's common and normal for that to vary a little over the duration of a flight and it's no big deal.

I always wait at least 40 seconds from take off. Never sooner than that, so no issue there. And going from 3ft to -13.8. Thats a very big difference. I guess I need to contact dji tech.

VengefulHemi Posted at 8-29 08:34
I always wait at least 40 seconds from take off. Never sooner than that, so no issue there. And going from 3ft to -13.8. Thats a very big difference. I guess I need to contact dji tech.

That's the kind of difference you can expect normally.
Nothing wrong with your drone and waiting before takeoff, won't have any effect on altitude indications.

If you want to find the explanation for your indicated distance, you would have to post your flight data.

Labroides Posted at 8-29 16:51
That's the kind of difference you can expect normally.
Nothing wrong with your drone and waiting before takeoff, won't have any effect on altitude indications.

Great idea, thank you.