C100DBA Replication Practice Question
How can you prevent a specific node from becoming a primary in a replica set?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse voting rights with eligibility to become primary, mistakenly believing that a priority 0 node cannot vote in elections.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set the node's 'priority' field to 0.
Setting the 'priority' value to 0 is the standard way to ensure a node never becomes primary. This is commonly done for nodes used for analytical tasks or as disaster recovery targets. It ensures these nodes act solely as passive secondaries, allowing them to serve read requests without ever interfering with the primary election process or causing unexpected failovers.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set the node's 'votes' field to 0.
Why it's wrong here
Setting votes to 0 prevents the node from participating in the election process, but it does not technically stop it from becoming a primary if it were the only node left. To guarantee a node never becomes primary, priority must be 0, as that is the explicit control for leadership.
- ✓
Set the node's 'priority' field to 0.
Why this is correct
A node with a priority of 0 is ineligible to become the primary. This configuration is the standard administrative method to pin a node to a secondary role. It is ideal for nodes that are undersized, geographically distant, or dedicated to tasks that should not be interrupted by election activity.
- ✗
Set the node's 'hidden' field to true.
Why it's wrong here
Marking a node as hidden prevents clients from routing reads to it, but it does not inherently prevent the node from becoming primary. While hidden nodes often have a priority of 0, the hidden status and the priority status are distinct properties that control different aspects of node behavior.
- ✗
Remove the node from the replica set configuration.
Why it's wrong here
Removing the node from the configuration would mean it is no longer part of the replica set at all. This would stop replication and disconnect the node entirely. To keep the node as a functioning secondary while preventing it from becoming primary, you must change its configuration priority, not remove it.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official MongoDB exam blueprint
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