User List Macro displays 'User list not rendered as you do not have the privilege to view user profiles.'
Platform Notice: Data Center - This article applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this knowledge base article was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center knowledge base articles for non-Data Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Symptoms
When using the User List Macro, the error: "User list not rendered as you do not have the privilege to view user profiles." is displayed
Cause
This error is only displayed if you have disabled the People Directory using the -Dconfluence.disable.peopledirectory.all=true or -Dconfluence.disable.peopledirectory.anonymous=true flags in JAVA_OPTS variable
Solution
User List functionality is disabled because it functionally gives anyone who can edit/comment/use a macro the ability to list out arbitrary groups of people in Confluence, including their online status and email address.