if you use --log-file, then rclone will always try to create the log file.
in some cases, where the command itself is not valid syntax, no log file is created.
this example is not a valid command, so the exit code is non-zero
root@hetz04:~# rclone mistake
Error: unknown command "mistake" for "rclone"
Run 'rclone --help' for usage.
You could use 'rclone selfupdate' to get latest features.
2023/07/26 11:00:44 Fatal error: unknown command "mistake" for "rclone"
root@hetz04:~# echo $?
1
note: could try to parse the log file but should not rely on that.
some apps such as 7zip, add append text such as Everything is Ok, but rclone does not