Kafka Topic Configuration

Kafka Configuration Variability

The defaults and exact list of per-topic configuration options may differ between various Kafka versions. For the most accurate information, please refer to the documentation for the specific Kafka version.

Names	Default Value	Read-Only	Sensitive	Description
cleanup.policy log.cleanup.policy	delete	❌	❌	The policy to use for log cleanup. The default is 'delete' which removes old log segments. 'compact' is for log compaction.
compression.type	producer	❌	❌	Specify the final compression type for a given topic. Valid values are 'uncompressed', 'zstd', 'lz4', 'gzip', and 'snappy'.
delete.retention.ms log.cleaner.delete.retention.ms	86400000	❌	❌	The amount of time to retain delete markers in log compacted topics. This is also the time to retain tombstone messages in topics without log compaction.
file.delete.delay.ms log.segment.delete.delay.ms	60000	❌	❌	The time to wait before deleting a file from the filesystem.
flush.messages log.flush.interval.messages	9223372036854775807	❌	❌	The number of messages to accept before forcing a flush of data to disk.
flush.ms	9223372036854775807	❌	❌	The maximum time in milliseconds to wait before forcing a flush of data to disk.
follower.replication.throttled.replicas		❌	❌	A list of replica IDs that will be throttled on replication.
index.interval.bytes log.index.interval.bytes	4096	❌	❌	The interval with which Kafka adds an entry to the offset index.
leader.replication.throttled.replicas		❌	❌	A list of replica IDs that will be throttled on replication.
local.retention.bytes log.local.retention.bytes	-2	❌	❌	The maximum size of the log before deleting it.
local.retention.ms log.local.retention.ms	-2	❌	❌	The maximum time to retain the log before deleting it.
log.cleaner.max.compaction.lag.ms max.compaction.lag.ms	9223372036854775807	❌	❌	The maximum time a message will remain uncompacted in the log.
max.message.bytes message.max.bytes	1048588	❌	❌	The largest record batch size allowed by Kafka. Records larger than this will be rejected.
log.message.downconversion.enable message.downconversion.enable	true	❌	❌	Enables or disables the automatic down-conversion of messages to older message formats for consumers with older clients.
log.message.format.version message.format.version	3.0-IV1	❌	❌	The message format version used for the topic.
log.message.timestamp.after.max.ms message.timestamp.after.max.ms	9223372036854775807	❌	❌	The maximum difference allowed between the timestamp of a message and the log append time.
log.message.timestamp.before.max.ms message.timestamp.before.max.ms	9223372036854775807	❌	❌	The maximum difference allowed between the timestamp of a message and the current time before the message is rejected.
log.message.timestamp.difference.max.ms message.timestamp.difference.max.ms	9223372036854775807	❌	❌	The maximum difference allowed between the timestamp of a message as set by the producer and the log append time.
log.message.timestamp.type message.timestamp.type	CreateTime	❌	❌	Define whether the timestamp in the message is set by the create time or the log append time.
log.cleaner.min.cleanable.ratio min.cleanable.dirty.ratio	0.5	❌	❌	The minimum ratio of dirty log to total log for log compaction to start.
log.cleaner.min.compaction.lag.ms min.compaction.lag.ms	0	❌	❌	The minimum time a message will remain uncompacted in the log.
min.insync.replicas	1	❌	❌	When a producer sets acks to 'all', the minimum number of replicas that must acknowledge a write for it to be considered successful.
log.preallocate preallocate	false	❌	❌	Should preallocate file segments for this topic.
remote.storage.enable	false	❌	❌	Enable the usage of remote storage for this topic.
log.retention.bytes retention.bytes	-1	❌	❌	The maximum size of the log before deleting it.
retention.ms	604800000	❌	❌	The maximum time to retain the log before deleting it.
log.segment.bytes segment.bytes	1073741824	❌	❌	The maximum size of a single log segment file before a new log segment is rolled.
log.index.size.max.bytes segment.index.bytes	10485760	❌	❌	The maximum size of the offset index that Kafka will allow before a new log segment is rolled.
segment.jitter.ms	0	❌	❌	The maximum jitter to add to log segment roll time.
segment.ms	604800000	❌	❌	The maximum time to retain a log segment before rolling it.
unclean.leader.election.enable	false	❌	❌	Indicates whether unclean leader election is enabled for the topic.

Legend

• Names: The name of the parameter or setting with its synonyms.
• Default Value: The initial value assigned to the parameter if not explicitly set.
• Read-Only: Indicates if the parameter is immutable and cannot be modified.
• Sensitive: Specifies if the parameter contains sensitive information that will not be accessible or visible using Karafka.
• Description: A detailed explanation of the parameter's purpose and usage.

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See Also

• Declarative Topics - For declarative topic management in application code
• Kafka Cluster Configuration - For cluster-level configuration options
• Admin API - For programmatic topic management operations

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Last modified: 2025-11-03 14:04:02