'scontrol show node --json' always shows the MIXED state as ALLOCATED. For example, compare: $ scontrol show node <nodename> CPUAlloc=26 CPUEfctv=32 CPUTot=32 CPULoad=22.93 State=MIXED ... $ scontrol show node <nodename> --json "state": [ "ALLOCATED" ], Similarly, states `[DRAIN, MIXED]` are displayed as `[ALLOCATED, DRAIN]` in the JSON output.