http://logback.qos.ch/manual/configuration.html#loggerElement Configuring loggers, or the <logger> element<http://logback.qos.ch/manual/configuration.html#loggerElement> each appender thus referenced is added to the named logger. Note that unlike log4j, logback-classic does not close or remove any previously referenced appenders before adding the new appender reference. In log4j version 1.2.16 , any previously referenced appenders are valid. <logger name="classlogger" additivity="false"> <level value="INFO" /> <appender-ref ref="MYINFO_FILE" /> <appender-ref ref="DEBUG" /> </logger> So, the manual is wrong.