Missing return statement

Reports missing return statements at the end of methods with a non-void return type. The end of method should be reachable by the method's execution flow.

Example:

String foo(int a) {
  if (a > 0) {
    return "more than zero"
  }
} // foo(-1) will return 'null'

int bar(int a) {
  if (a > 0) {
    return a
  }
} // bar(-1) will fall with runtime exception

Locating this inspection

By ID

Can be used to locate inspection in e.g. Qodana configuration files, where you can quickly enable or disable it, or adjust its settings.

GroovyMissingReturnStatement

Via Settings dialog

Path to the inspection settings via IntelliJ Platform IDE Settings dialog, when you need to adjust inspection settings directly from your IDE.

Settings or Preferences | Editor | Inspections | Groovy | Data flow

Inspection Details
By default bundled with:	IntelliJ IDEA 2024.3, Qodana for JVM 2024.3,
Can be installed with plugin:	Groovy, 243.26483

01 April 2025