Confluence disables and hides certain special features. Learn how to turn them on.

So-called "dark features" are simply system configuration options that are hidden from the normal Confluence Administration menus. Dark features are hidden (though accessible) because changing them may result in major disruptions to the Confluence environment. However, there may be scenarios where one or more of these options should be disabled or enabled. Typically, this is only done by request from Atlassian, maker of Confluence, during troubleshooting, compatibility testing, or for re-enabling a legacy option. 

Dark features are also called "labs features" or "hidden options."

Determine if you have Site Administrator privileges.

In order to access and change Dark Features, you must be a Site Administrator

Visit the following URL

Enter the following URL postfix into your browser window:    <your confluence base URL>/admin/darkfeatures.action

For example (on a locally running instance), the full URL is:    http://localhost:8090/admin/darkfeatures.action

Disable or Enable a Dark Feature

There are two lists of dark features: System Property Dark Features and Site Dark Features. In order to change the former, you must restart the server with or without one of the features using a special command (beyond the purview of this How-To entry).

To change a Site Dark Feature, you must either click the "remove" button (to disable) or manually enter in dark feature property name.

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  1. Replace me with something to note about this how-to entry that falls outside the scope of all other sections; and
  2. Add the tight-bottom class to the Steps block above to narrow the gap between the two blocks.

If using:

  1. Replace me with something to note about this how-to entry that falls outside the scope of all other sections; and
  2. Add the tight-bottom class to the next visible/non-collapsed block above this one to narrow the gap between the two blocks.

If using:

  1. Replace me with something to note about this how-to entry that falls outside the scope of all other sections; and
  2. Add the tight-bottom class to the next visible/non-collapsed block above this one to narrow the gap between the two blocks.

If using:

  1. Replace me with something to note about this how-to entry that falls outside the scope of all other sections; and
  2. Add the tight-bottom class to the next visible/non-collapsed block above this one to narrow the gap between the two blocks.
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