$ ssh remote mkdir /tmp/tests $ ssh remote mkdir /tmp/tests/test.d $ ssh remote touch /tmp/tests/test $ ssh remote chmod 700 /tmp/tests $ ssh remote chmod 700 /tmp/tests/test.d $ ssh remote chmod 600 /tmp/tests/test $ rsync -rp remote:/tmp/tests /tmp $ chmod o+r /tmp/tests/test.d $ chmod o+r /tmp/tests/test $ rsync -rpcv --info=flist0,stats0 remote:/tmp/tests /tmp -n -i .f...p..... tests/test .d...p..... tests/test.d/ $ rsync -rpcv --info=flist0,stats0 remote:/tmp/tests /tmp -n tests/test.d/
You need to use -i or -vv to see attribute changes. A single level of verbosity without -i only tells you about transferred files.