Standard JSF 2, by default, does not enable Ajax functionality in its components. The f:ajax tag is provided to indicate that you want a component (like a button or a whole form) to use Ajax techniques to submit information and update the interface. ICEfaces, by default, enables components to use Ajax but is also designed to work with the f:ajax tag so that certain behaviours can be modified through attributes on the tag. ICEfaces can also be disabled at the page-level so that standard JSF functionality can be configured on pages where ICEfaces and/or Ajax might not be desired.

What is not currently supported with ICEfaces is disabling Ajax support at a more granular level - ie per component. The f:ajax tag has a 'disabled' attribute, which, if set to true, should disable Ajax features for that component. In these cases, the ICEfaces framework and components should respect when disabled=false and not provide Ajax functionality.