⚠️ If you’re the admin of a Mastodon server, you might have noticed a server setting called “Remote content retention period” (also known as “content cache retention period” on older versions of Mastodon). Do NOT put any numbers in this, just leave it blank!
What happens if I put numbers in there?
It will start permanently breaking threads on your server that are older than that number of days, without any possibility of restoring them. This setting is not a cache, because there’s no way of getting the content back later.
Whaaat? Why does this setting even exist?
Apparently it was created for certain niche announcement-only servers which have to avoid any data retention for legal reasons. It isn’t intended by the developers for use on ordinary servers.
So why is such a dangerous and niche setting included on normal servers if it’s not intended for normal servers?
Really good question, it probably shouldn’t be there as most admins will never need it and won’t realise the damage it causes. It’s now been put in a “danger zone” section as a result of a pull request on Github ⧉, which also includes technical discussion of why it exists and what it does.
What if I’ve already put numbers in that setting?
Remove the numbers, make sure it is blank and then save the changes.
What about the other settings on the same page, can I use them?
Yes, the other settings are okay to use. It’s just the “Remote content retention period”/”content cache retention period” one that needs to stay blank.
Can I set the “Media cache retention period”? Can I set the “User archive retention period”?
Yes, it’s fine to set time limits on the media cache and user archives, because they can be reloaded if needed.
It’s only the “Remote content retention period”/”content cache retention period” that you need to leave blank, because the content it deletes cannot be reloaded.