The log4j2.xml configuration file controls the configuration of the logging system that's used by Openfire.

When this file contains directives to log to levels 'lower' than info, these derictives seem to be ignored until after the file is touched after Openfire has started up.

This cause for this is probably that when Openfire starts, it attempts to read two properties from the database (that enable trace and debug logging), and always set the corresponding value (even if those do not exist), effectively overruling the configuration file.

When no properties exist (or when they match the default value), the logging configuration should not be modified.