nats-io/nats-server · error

Error subscribing to forwarded remove peer proposals: %v

Error message

Error subscribing to forwarded remove peer proposals: %v

What it means

The leader failed to subscribe to the remove-peer proposals subject (rpsubj) after successfully subscribing to normal proposals. It unsubscribes the first subscription and steps down, since it cannot serve both proposal kinds.

Source

Thrown at server/raft.go:3433

func (n *raft) runAsLeader() {
	if n.State() == Closed {
		return
	}

	n.Lock()
	psubj, rpsubj, term := n.psubj, n.rpsubj, n.term

	// For forwarded proposals, both normal and remove peer proposals.
	fsub, err := n.subscribe(psubj, n.handleForwardedProposal)
	if err != nil {
		n.warn("Error subscribing to forwarded proposals: %v", err)
		n.stepdownLocked(noLeader)
		n.Unlock()
		return
	}
	rpsub, err := n.subscribe(rpsubj, n.handleForwardedRemovePeerProposal)
	if err != nil {
		n.warn("Error subscribing to forwarded remove peer proposals: %v", err)
		n.unsubscribe(fsub)
		n.stepdownLocked(noLeader)
		n.Unlock()
		return
	}

	// Cleanup our subscription when we leave.
	defer func() {
		n.Lock()
		n.unsubscribe(fsub)
		n.unsubscribe(rpsub)
		n.Unlock()
	}()
	n.Unlock()

	hb := time.NewTicker(hbInterval)
	defer hb.Stop()

View on GitHub (pinned to 3a66a489d2)

Solutions

1. Check subscription/resource limits on the internal account
2. Restart or let a new election occur once the subscription failure cause is resolved
3. Monitor for repeated stepdowns which indicate a systemic subscription problem

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at server/raft.go:3433 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of nats-io/nats-server@3a66a489d2 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/98c23145cad397aa. Report an issue: GitHub.