apache/kafka · error · NoSuchElementException

Invalid timestamp type {}

Error message

Invalid timestamp type {}

What it means

Thrown by TimestampType.forName(String) when the supplied name does not equal any of the enum's name fields ("NoTimestampType", "CreateTime", "LogAppendTime"). It is a plain java.util.NoSuchElementException because the lookup is an exact-match scan over values() with no fallback. The library uses it to reject unknown timestamp-type strings coming from configuration or protocol parsing before they can be applied to a record batch.

Source

Thrown at clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/common/record/TimestampType.java:43

 * The timestamp type of the records.
 */
@InterfaceAudience.Public
public enum TimestampType {
    NO_TIMESTAMP_TYPE(-1, "NoTimestampType"), CREATE_TIME(0, "CreateTime"), LOG_APPEND_TIME(1, "LogAppendTime");

    public final int id;
    public final String name;

    TimestampType(int id, String name) {
        this.id = id;
        this.name = name;
    }

    public static TimestampType forName(String name) {
        for (TimestampType t : values())
            if (t.name.equals(name))
                return t;
        throw new NoSuchElementException("Invalid timestamp type " + name);
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return name;
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to c31c9215e1)

Solutions

1. Use one of the exact enum names: "CreateTime" or "LogAppendTime" (or "NoTimestampType" internally).
2. Strip whitespace and verify casing in the config source before it reaches forName().
3. If the value comes from user input, validate against TimestampType.values() and surface a clear error rather than letting NoSuchElementException escape.
4. Upgrade the client jar to a version whose TimestampType enum contains the name you intend to use.

Example fix

// before
TimestampType t = TimestampType.forName("create_time");

// after
TimestampType t = TimestampType.forName("CreateTime");

// Validate timestamp-type name before calling TimestampType.forName(name)
import org.apache.kafka.common.record.TimestampType;
import java.util.Arrays;

String name = /* from config/input */;
boolean known = Arrays.stream(TimestampType.values())
        .anyMatch(t -> t.name.equals(name));
if (!known) {
    // reject config or default to a valid value (e.g. "CreateTime")
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
        "Unknown timestamp type '" + name + "'. Allowed: " +
        Arrays.toString(Arrays.stream(TimestampType.values()).map(t -> t.name).toArray()));
}
TimestampType t = TimestampType.forName(name);

// Narrow a free-form config string to a known TimestampType before use
import org.apache.kafka.common.record.TimestampType;
import java.util.Optional;

Optional<TimestampType> safeForName(String name) {
    if (name == null) return Optional.empty();
    for (TimestampType t : TimestampType.values()) {
        if (t.name.equals(name)) return Optional.of(t);
    }
    return Optional.empty();
}

// forName throws NoSuchElementException on unknown names
try {
    TimestampType t = TimestampType.forName(name);
} catch (NoSuchElementException e) {
    // config is malformed: fall back to a sane default or surface a config error
    log.warn("Invalid timestamp type '{}', defaulting to CREATE_TIME", name);
    t = TimestampType.CREATE_TIME;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling TimestampType.forName(name) with a misspelled or differently-cased string (e.g. "create_time", "logappendtime", "Log_Append_Time", "CreateTime " with trailing space). Also triggered when message.format.version / log.message.timestamp.type config is set to a value the running client jar does not recognize (older client seeing a newer name).

Common situations: Misconfiguring log.message.timestamp.type on the broker or message.timestamp.type on the producer/consumer with snake_case instead of the camelCase enum name. Copying a config value from documentation that uses a different casing. Mismatch between a client built against an older Kafka version and a config string introduced later.

Related errors

• Expected value to be a 64-bit integer (long), but it was a v
• Invalid negative offset
• Invalid negative timestamp
• Telemetry is not enabled. Set config `{}` to `true`.
• Tried to force a rebalance but consumer does not have a grou

AI-assisted analysis of apache/kafka@c31c9215e1 (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/26b7ed1f2c6a08b3.json. Report an issue: GitHub.