---
title: Number Of Master Nodes
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Number Of Master Nodes insight: The cluster has fewer master-eligible nodes than recommended for production resilience.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/number_of_master_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
---

# Number Of Master Nodes
The cluster has fewer master-eligible nodes than recommended for production resilience. With only one elected master, loss of that node blocks cluster management until a new election succeeds with quorum.
<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  | High                                        |
| Scope     | Cluster                                     |
| Domains   | configuration, high-availability, 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.

### There are fewer master nodes in the cluster than recommended


#### What was detected

_No description available._

#### Recommendations

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

<dropdown title="More dedicated master nodes">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.With es-data-01 master nodes and es-data-01 data nodes, add masters until the cluster has three dedicated master nodes for high availability.
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

Impact: The cluster might become unavailable if the master node disconnects/restarts.
Having 3 master-eligible nodes allows the cluster to continue functioning when the elected master is not available.
Master nodes are in charge of cluster-wide settings and actions, such as deleting or creating indices, adding or removing nodes, and allocations of shards to nodes. Each cluster has a single master node elected from the pool of all available master eligible nodes.
If the master node becomes unavailable for any reason then the cluster requires a quorum of the remaining master eligible nodes (at least 2) to enable the election of a new master.