Oil pressure relief valve spring

I am rebuilding the engine (Kawasaki FD620D) on my 2001 6x4 Gator. I removed the oil pump to clean/inspect and noticed the oil pressure relief valve spring is loose under the cover plate. I measured the spring free length and it is well within spec.

Does anyone know if this is OK? Or should the spring be under pressure when the oil pump cover is bolted down?

The spring free length is supposed to be 19.50mm MIN, mine is 21.22mm.

Thanks