Clock differences can produce spans that appear out of order, start before their parent, extend beyond the trace, or fall outside the selected search range.
Checks
- Compare system time and time zone on every participating host, container node, and collector.
- Confirm that time synchronization is enabled and healthy.
- Check whether timestamps are represented in the units expected by the library or API.
- Verify that custom spans record start and end times from a consistent clock source.
- Search with a wider range to locate spans shifted from the expected interval.
Correct the system time source rather than adjusting individual span timestamps. After correction, generate a new trace and verify parent-child ordering and positive durations. Existing traces retain their original timestamps and may continue to look inconsistent until they expire.