Role of dist_auto_connect

Reprinted: http://mryufeng.iteye.com/blog/343202

Normally, connections are established automatically when another node is referenced (that is, send messages to the node to ping RPC, etc.). This functionality can be disabled by setting the kernel Configuration Parameter
Dist_auto_connect to false, see kernel (6). In this case, connections must be established explicitly by calling net_kernel: connect_node/1.

This parameter ensures that the node you want to connect with is only in your nodes () list. It is a waste of resources to maintain the tick package for unnecessary nodes!

For more information about how to established automatically between nodes, see

Http://mryufeng.iteye.com/admin/blogs/120666