diff --git a/config/kraft/README.md b/config/kraft/README.md
index 80bc8caaf9b..8ba87c48448 100644
--- a/config/kraft/README.md
+++ b/config/kraft/README.md
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ Formatting /tmp/kraft-combined-logs
 
 If you are using multiple nodes, then you should run the format command on each node.  Be sure to use the same cluster ID for each one.
 
+This example configures the node as both a broker and controller (i.e. `process.roles=broker,controller`). It is also possible to run the broker and controller nodes separately.
+Please see [here](https://github.com/apache/kafka/blob/trunk/config/kraft/broker.properties) and [here](https://github.com/apache/kafka/blob/trunk/config/kraft/controller.properties) for example configurations.
+
 ## Start the Kafka Server
 Finally, you are ready to start the Kafka server on each node.
 
@@ -93,7 +96,7 @@ controller.quorum.voters=1@controller1.example.com:9093,2@controller2.example.co
 
 Each broker and each controller must set `controller.quorum.voters`.  Note that the node ID supplied in the `controller.quorum.voters` configuration must match that supplied to the server.
 So on controller1, node.id must be set to 1, and so forth.  Note that there is no requirement for controller IDs to start at 0 or 1.  However, the easiest and least confusing way to allocate
-node IDs is probably just to give each server a numeric ID, starting from 0.
+node IDs is probably just to give each server a numeric ID, starting from 0.  Also note that each node ID must be unique across all the nodes in a particular cluster; no two nodes can have the same node ID regardless of their `process.roles` values.
 
 Note that clients never need to configure `controller.quorum.voters`; only servers do.
 
diff --git a/config/kraft/broker.properties b/config/kraft/broker.properties
index dfbd6eca66d..4edcc126d65 100644
--- a/config/kraft/broker.properties
+++ b/config/kraft/broker.properties
@@ -31,22 +31,23 @@ controller.quorum.voters=1@localhost:9093
 
 ############################# Socket Server Settings #############################
 
-# The address the socket server listens on. It will get the value returned from
-# java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName() if not configured.
+# The address the socket server listens on. If not configured, the host name will be equal to the value of
+# java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName(), with PLAINTEXT listener name, and port 9092.
 #   FORMAT:
 #     listeners = listener_name://host_name:port
 #   EXAMPLE:
 #     listeners = PLAINTEXT://your.host.name:9092
 listeners=PLAINTEXT://localhost:9092
+
+# Name of listener used for communication between brokers.
 inter.broker.listener.name=PLAINTEXT
 
-# Hostname and port the broker will advertise to producers and consumers. If not set,
-# it uses the value for "listeners" if configured.  Otherwise, it will use the value
-# returned from java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName().
+# Listener name, hostname and port the broker will advertise to clients.
+# If not set, it uses the value for "listeners".
 advertised.listeners=PLAINTEXT://localhost:9092
 
-# Listener, host name, and port for the controller to advertise to the brokers. If
-# this server is a controller, this listener must be configured.
+# A comma-separated list of the names of the listeners used by the controller.
+# This is required if running in KRaft mode. On a node with `process.roles=broker`, only the first listed listener will be used by the broker.
 controller.listener.names=CONTROLLER
 
 # Maps listener names to security protocols, the default is for them to be the same. See the config documentation for more details
diff --git a/config/kraft/controller.properties b/config/kraft/controller.properties
index 54aa7fb9a03..9e8ad62054e 100644
--- a/config/kraft/controller.properties
+++ b/config/kraft/controller.properties
@@ -31,22 +31,17 @@ controller.quorum.voters=1@localhost:9093
 
 ############################# Socket Server Settings #############################
 
-# The address the socket server listens on. It will get the value returned from
-# java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName() if not configured.
+# The address the socket server listens on.
+# Note that only the controller listeners are allowed here when `process.roles=controller`, and this listener should be consistent with `controller.quorum.voters` value.
 #   FORMAT:
 #     listeners = listener_name://host_name:port
 #   EXAMPLE:
 #     listeners = PLAINTEXT://your.host.name:9092
-listeners=PLAINTEXT://:9093
+listeners=CONTROLLER://:9093
 
-# Hostname and port the broker will advertise to producers and consumers. If not set,
-# it uses the value for "listeners" if configured.  Otherwise, it will use the value
-# returned from java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName().
-#advertised.listeners=PLAINTEXT://your.host.name:9092
-
-# Listener, host name, and port for the controller to advertise to the brokers. If
-# this server is a controller, this listener must be configured.
-controller.listener.names=PLAINTEXT
+# A comma-separated list of the names of the listeners used by the controller.
+# This is required if running in KRaft mode.
+controller.listener.names=CONTROLLER
 
 # Maps listener names to security protocols, the default is for them to be the same. See the config documentation for more details
 #listener.security.protocol.map=PLAINTEXT:PLAINTEXT,SSL:SSL,SASL_PLAINTEXT:SASL_PLAINTEXT,SASL_SSL:SASL_SSL
diff --git a/config/kraft/server.properties b/config/kraft/server.properties
index 8e6406c3b43..ea84818b0c5 100644
--- a/config/kraft/server.properties
+++ b/config/kraft/server.properties
@@ -31,22 +31,26 @@ controller.quorum.voters=1@localhost:9093
 
 ############################# Socket Server Settings #############################
 
-# The address the socket server listens on. It will get the value returned from
-# java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName() if not configured.
+# The address the socket server listens on.
+# Combined nodes (i.e. those with `process.roles=broker,controller`) must list the controller listener here at a minimum.
+# If the broker listener is not defined, the default listener will use a host name that is equal to the value of java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName(),
+# with PLAINTEXT listener name, and port 9092.
 #   FORMAT:
 #     listeners = listener_name://host_name:port
 #   EXAMPLE:
 #     listeners = PLAINTEXT://your.host.name:9092
 listeners=PLAINTEXT://:9092,CONTROLLER://:9093
+
+# Name of listener used for communication between brokers.
 inter.broker.listener.name=PLAINTEXT
 
-# Hostname and port the broker will advertise to producers and consumers. If not set,
-# it uses the value for "listeners" if configured.  Otherwise, it will use the value
-# returned from java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName().
+# Listener name, hostname and port the broker will advertise to clients.
+# If not set, it uses the value for "listeners".
 advertised.listeners=PLAINTEXT://localhost:9092
 
-# Listener, host name, and port for the controller to advertise to the brokers. If
-# this server is a controller, this listener must be configured.
+# A comma-separated list of the names of the listeners used by the controller.
+# If no explicit mapping set in `listener.security.protocol.map`, default will be using PLAINTEXT protocol
+# This is required if running in KRaft mode.
 controller.listener.names=CONTROLLER
 
 # Maps listener names to security protocols, the default is for them to be the same. See the config documentation for more details
diff --git a/config/producer.properties b/config/producer.properties
index 4786b988a29..3a999e7c17e 100644
--- a/config/producer.properties
+++ b/config/producer.properties
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
 # specify the compression codec for all data generated: none, gzip, snappy, lz4, zstd
 compression.type=none
 
-# name of the partitioner class for partitioning events; default partition spreads data randomly
+# name of the partitioner class for partitioning records;
+# The default uses "sticky" partitioning logic which spreads the load evenly between partitions, but improves throughput by attempting to fill the batches sent to each partition.
 #partitioner.class=
 
 # the maximum amount of time the client will wait for the response of a request
diff --git a/config/server.properties b/config/server.properties
index b1cf5c45416..f5172c297ec 100644
--- a/config/server.properties
+++ b/config/server.properties
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# see kafka.server.KafkaConfig for additional details and defaults
+#
+# This configuration file is intended for use in ZK-based mode, where Apache ZooKeeper is required.
+# See kafka.server.KafkaConfig for additional details and defaults
+#
 
 ############################# Server Basics #############################
 
@@ -22,17 +25,16 @@ broker.id=0
 
 ############################# Socket Server Settings #############################
 
-# The address the socket server listens on. It will get the value returned from 
-# java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName() if not configured.
+# The address the socket server listens on. If not configured, the host name will be equal to the value of
+# java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName(), with PLAINTEXT listener name, and port 9092.
 #   FORMAT:
 #     listeners = listener_name://host_name:port
 #   EXAMPLE:
 #     listeners = PLAINTEXT://your.host.name:9092
 #listeners=PLAINTEXT://:9092
 
-# Hostname and port the broker will advertise to producers and consumers. If not set, 
-# it uses the value for "listeners" if configured.  Otherwise, it will use the value
-# returned from java.net.InetAddress.getCanonicalHostName().
+# Listener name, hostname and port the broker will advertise to clients.
+# If not set, it uses the value for "listeners".
 #advertised.listeners=PLAINTEXT://your.host.name:9092
 
 # Maps listener names to security protocols, the default is for them to be the same. See the config documentation for more details
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaConfig.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaConfig.scala
index 3811fe6c645..4b697fcf1bf 100755
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaConfig.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaConfig.scala
@@ -709,7 +709,8 @@ object KafkaConfig {
     "If it is not set, the metadata log is placed in the first log directory from log.dirs."
   val MetadataSnapshotMaxNewRecordBytesDoc = "This is the maximum number of bytes in the log between the latest snapshot and the high-watermark needed before generating a new snapshot."
   val ControllerListenerNamesDoc = "A comma-separated list of the names of the listeners used by the controller. This is required " +
-    "if running in KRaft mode. The ZK-based controller will not use this configuration."
+    "if running in KRaft mode. When communicating with the controller quorum, the broker will always use the first listener in this list.\n " +
+    "Note: The ZK-based controller should not set this configuration."
   val SaslMechanismControllerProtocolDoc = "SASL mechanism used for communication with controllers. Default is GSSAPI."
   val MetadataLogSegmentBytesDoc = "The maximum size of a single metadata log file."
   val MetadataLogSegmentMinBytesDoc = "Override the minimum size for a single metadata log file. This should be used for testing only."