---
title: Loaded master-eligible nodes
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Loaded master-eligible nodes insight: Some master-eligible nodes show materially higher CPU utilization than their peers.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/loaded_master_eligible_nodes
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
---

# Loaded master-eligible nodes
Some master-eligible nodes show materially higher CPU utilization than their peers. Higher use on the elected master can be normal; sustained high load on other master-eligible nodes can delay cluster-state updates.
<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   | performance, cluster-health, resource-utilization |


## Customization settings

You can customize these settings to adjust when AutoOps detects this event and presents the insight. Refer to [AutoOps event settings](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/tree/main/deploy-manage/monitor/autoops/ec-autoops-event-settings) for details.
The default customization settings are:

| Setting                                              | Type    | Default |
|------------------------------------------------------|---------|---------|
| CPU percent above peer baseline                      | Integer | `180`   |
| Consecutive samples meeting the imbalance conditions | Integer | `3`     |
| Minimum CPU utilization to consider a node loaded    | Integer | `1`     |


## 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.

### Uneven load on master-eligible nodes: es-data-01


#### What was detected

CPU utilization on `es-data-01` and `es-data-02` is sustained above the peer baseline for master-eligible nodes.
- Indices with high search activity: `logs-prod-000045`
- Indices with high indexing activity: `logs-prod-000045`


#### Recommendations

No recommendations are linked to this insight.

#### Background and impact

Only one master-eligible node is elected master at a time, so higher CPU on that node can be expected. When other master-eligible nodes stay much busier than their peers, cluster-state updates and administrative tasks can slow down and the cluster can become less stable.
Confirm which node is elected master before treating every imbalance as a problem.