---
title: Obsolete Zen discovery settings
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Obsolete Zen discovery settings insight: Legacy Zen Discovery settings remain in cluster configuration even though modern Elasticsearch versions use a different cluster coordination stack.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/obsolete_zen_discovery_settings
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
  - Elasticsearch
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Generally available
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---

# Obsolete Zen discovery settings
Legacy Zen Discovery settings remain in cluster configuration even though modern Elasticsearch versions use a different cluster coordination stack. Those keys are ignored at runtime but confuse operators editing settings and can hide the real voting configuration that matters.
<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  | Low           |
| Scope     | Cluster       |
| Domains   | configuration |


## 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.

### Obsolete Zen discovery settings are still configured


#### What was detected

Legacy Zen Discovery settings (for example `discovery.zen.*`) are still present in cluster configuration. They are ignored on this Elasticsearch version.

#### Recommendations

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

<dropdown title="Remove unused zen discovery settings">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.Remove deprecated `discovery.zen.*` settings from elasticsearch.yml on each affected node. Restart nodes one at a time only after the cluster is green, and wait for each node to rejoin before restarting the next.
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

Zen Discovery was replaced by the current cluster coordination layer. Settings such as `discovery.zen.minimum_master_nodes` no longer control master election on supported versions.
Leaving those keys in place does not change runtime behavior, but it misleads operators who read or edit configuration and can distract from the voting configuration that actually matters.
Until obsolete Zen Discovery settings are removed, configuration review stays noisier than it needs to be and unsafe historical values can linger in files and templates.