redhat-developer / redhat-developer/vscode-java
org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.potentialNullReference preference not taken into account
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Description
Describe the bug
The value of org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.potentialNullReference preference seems to not being taken into account.
To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
- Create a settings.prefs file
- Add following value to the just created prefs file:
org.eclipse.jdt.core/org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.potentialNullReference=ignore
- In VSCode, under customizations/vscode/setting, set
java.settings.urlvalue pointing to the settings.prefs file just created. - In the PROBLEMS view, any
Potential null pointer access: The variable myVar may be null at this locationerror should disappear, but does not.
Expected behavior
The configuration is obeyed and the specified warnings disappear.
Environment
- Operating System: DevContainer with mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base Docker image on Debian WSL under Windows 11
- JDK version: openjdk version "1.8.0_482" as Project Java version and openjdk version "25.0.2" 2026-01-20 LTS as the JVM to be used by the Java Language Server
- Visual Studio Code version: 1.114.0
- Java extension version: 1.53.0
Additional Information
Other configuration preferences seems to be working as expected. For example setting org.eclipse.jdt.core/org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.deprecation=ignore removes any deprecation warning.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Reproduce the issue in VS Code with a settings.prefs file containing the potentialNullReference preference, then compare its handling with the deprecation preference, which reportedly works. Trace the Java extension or language-server configuration path for these preferences; done means setting potentialNullReference to ignore removes the reported potential-null warning.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- java, typescript, vscode
- Domain
- tooling
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100