---
title: Disk watermarks wrong configuration
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Disk watermarks wrong configuration insight: One or more disk watermark thresholds are misconfigured, including possibly the frozen flood-stage setting.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/disk_watermarks_wrong_configuration
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
  - Elasticsearch
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Generally available
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---

# Disk watermarks wrong configuration
One or more disk watermark thresholds are misconfigured, including possibly the frozen flood-stage setting. Inconsistent or invalid thresholds can trigger unnecessary shard moves, put indices into read-only mode too early or too late, or leave frozen nodes without appropriate disk-pressure protection.
<note>
  For a complete list of insights, refer to [AutoOps insights](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch).
</note>


## Insight details


| Field     | Value                                  |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|
| Component | Elasticsearch                          |
| Severity  | Medium                                 |
| Scope     | Node                                   |
| Domains   | configuration, disk-storage, stability |


## Example: What you might see in AutoOps

The following is an example of what you might see when this insight is triggered. Real insights use live data and links from your deployment or cluster.

### The disk watermark configuration is incorrect


#### What was detected

Current low watermark: 85%.
Current high watermark: 90%.
Current flood-stage watermark: 95%.
Current frozen flood-stage watermark: 95%.
Maximum node disk size: 500 GB.

#### Recommendations

<note>
  AutoOps shows different recommendations depending on how their conditions match your deployment or cluster.
</note>

<dropdown title="Change disk watermark settings">
  **Condition**: Shown when any of low, high, flood-stage, or frozen flood-stage watermark config is missing or invalid (frozen flood-stage coverage pending Beats prerequisite elastic/beats#52341).Update cluster disk watermark settings to match your capacity plan. Use the action below.
  ```json

  {
    "persistent": {
      "cluster.routing.allocation.disk.watermark.low": "85%",
      "cluster.routing.allocation.disk.watermark.high": "90%",
      "cluster.routing.allocation.disk.watermark.flood_stage": "95%"
    }
  }
  ```

  <note>
    Requires the `manage cluster` privilege. Requires Elasticsearch 8.0.0 or later. This action changes cluster or index configuration.
  </note>
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

Elasticsearch uses three standard watermark thresholds (low, high, flood stage) plus a separate frozen flood-stage threshold when frozen-tier nodes are present. Misconfiguration of any of these thresholds can lead to: - Unnecessary shard relocations that increase cluster load.
- Indices entering read-only mode too early (absolute values larger than a node's disk) or too late (thresholds set too high).
- Frozen nodes missing appropriate disk-pressure guardrails if the frozen flood-stage setting is invalid or absent. Use percentage-based watermarks when nodes have different disk sizes, such as in hot-warm-cold or frozen-tier deployments. Check that absolute-size thresholds do not exceed the smallest node's disk. Ensure the frozen flood-stage setting is present and valid if your cluster includes frozen-tier nodes.


### Guide

[Fix watermark errors](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/tree/main/troubleshoot/elasticsearch/fix-watermark-errors)