a!queryrecordtype

From the docs:

This parameter is only used when querying unsynced record types that use a database as the source. Synced record types automatically return the totalCount property. If set to true, a separate query returns the total number of records in the totalCount property of the query result. In cases where you don't need the totalCount, omitting this parameter can improve performance.

Using the fetchTotalCount parameter

For record types with data sync enabled, fetchTotalCount is applied because Appian already knows the total number of records and therefore doesn't need to query the source to provide this information.

For record types without data sync enabled, there is a performance cost to getting the total number of records with a query. If you decide you want to retrieve the total count, set fetchTotalCount to true. 

Why did you want to remove it? You want to improve the performance of your query?