Multi Band Compressor and Limiter

The limiter on the right has a threshold of -12 dB. If I bypass it with the button just above, the sound drops significantly. If I put in 0 dB in the limiter, the sound drops significantly also. I cannot understand why this is happening. I would have thought -12 dB would limit the output and drop the sound, whereas, 0 dB in the limiter or bypassing -12 dB would bring the sound up.