Dependency overview. Note the jnlp modules. 2 modules and a parent. ./clients/binplanner/autoplanner/project.xml: basis-clients-autoplanner ./clients/binplanner/autoplanner/project.xml: ${basedir}/../project.xml ./clients/binplanner/autoplanner/project.xml: Basis Clients AutoPlanner module ./clients/binplanner/basisplan/project.xml: basis-clients-binplanner-basisplan ./clients/binplanner/basisplan/project.xml: ${basedir}/../project.xml ./clients/binplanner/basisplan/project.xml: Basis BinPlanner Client (BasisPlan) ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_basisplan/project.xml: basis-clients-binplanner-jnlp ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_basisplan/project.xml: ${basedir}/../jnlp_common/project.xml ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_basisplan/project.xml: Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP) ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_basisplan_templates/project.xml: basis-clients-binplanner-jnlp-templates ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_basisplan_templates/project.xml: ${basedir}/../jnlp_common/project.xml ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_basisplan_templates/project.xml: Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP Templates) ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_common/project.xml: basis-clients-binplanner-jnlp-common ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_common/project.xml: ${basedir}/../project.xml ./clients/binplanner/jnlp_common/project.xml: Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) ./clients/binplanner/project.properties:maven.multiproject.excludes=jnlp_common/project.xml ./clients/binplanner/project.xml: basis-clients-binplanner ./clients/binplanner/project.xml: ${basedir}/../project.xml ./clients/binplanner/project.xml: Basis BinPlanner Client ./clients/project.properties:maven.multiproject.excludes=binplanner/jnlp_common/project.xml ./clients/project.xml: basis-clients ./clients/project.xml: ${basedir}/../common/project.xml ./clients/project.xml: Basis Clients ./clients/shared/project.xml: basis-clients-shared ./clients/shared/project.xml: ${basedir}/../project.xml ./clients/shared/project.xml: Basis Clients Shared module ./clients/tracker/project.xml: basis-clients-tracker ./clients/tracker/project.xml: ${basedir}/../project.xml ./clients/tracker/project.xml: Basis Tracker client Note the excludes in ./clients/binplanner/project.properties Now if I build from the 3 following dir and take logs: - ./clients/binplanner/ - ./clients/ - ./ I get the following logs jerome@expresso> grep Executing /tmp/m1.log | Executing basis:dist Basis Clients AutoPlanner module | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (BasisPlan) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP Templates) jerome@expresso> grep Executing /tmp/m2.log | Executing basis:dist Basis Clients Shared module | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client | Executing basis:dist Basis Clients AutoPlanner module | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (BasisPlan) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP Templates) | Executing basis:dist Basis Tracker client jerome@expresso> grep Executing /tmp/m3.log | Executing basis:dist Basis Util Tests code | Executing basis:dist Basis Core | Executing basis:dist Basis Clients Shared module | Executing basis:dist Basis Clients AutoPlanner module | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (BasisPlan) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP Templates) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) | Executing basis:dist Basis BinPlanner Client (JNLP common) Not correctly excluded and looping.