Recursive Function Prints Large Unintended Values. Trying to Print Recursive Value Requested by Instructions.l

I am calling this recursive function below:

public class formula {
public static void main(String[] args) {
    int n = Integer.parseInt(args[0]);
    sierpinski(n);
}

public static void sierpinski(int n) {
    System.out.println(n);
    if (n == 0) {
        return;
    }
    else if (n > 0) {
        sierpinski((n-1));
    }
}

}

When I keep the argument as n-1 I understand that it would countdown normally but when I then change the code to

sierpinkski(3*(n-1));

I have the large values provided below.

C:\Users\joseph\Desktop\CS111 - 2020\cs111-a5>java formula.java 2
2
3
6
15
42
123
366
1095
3282
9843
29526
88575
265722
797163
2391486
7174455
21523362
64570083
193710246
581130735
1743392202
935209307
-1489339378

Is this because it is constantly multiplying by 3 each time it counts down and grows extremely large until there is a large enough value to get below zero and stop? If so how can I print it out so the values match this:

These are the instructions: Write a recursive function sierpinski() that takes one argument n, prints the value n, and then calls itself three times with the value n-1. The recursion should stop when n becomes 0.

This step is to help draw the full triangle but I want to understand the function before i continue. Thank you for your help and explanations.

sierpinksi(0)

sierpinksi(1)
1

sierpinski(2)
2
1
1
1

sierpinksi(3)
3
2 1 1 1
2 1 1 1
2 1 1 1

sierpinksi(4)
4
3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1

sierpinksi(5)
5
4 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
4 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
4 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1

...and then calls itself three times with the value n-1... means you just need to duplicate calls to sierpinski((n-1)) one after the other 3 times as below:

sierpinski((n-1));
sierpinski((n-1));
sierpinski((n-1));

or you can call them in a loop

for ( int i = 0; i < 3; i++ ) sierpinski(n-1);

then you will see the pattern you want to see