If you create a dispenser and load it with arrows, and have a mob in front of it (the mob is needed for it too work), and then press a button on the dispenser, and then log out after you can see the button go in but before the sound, one arrow will now be gone. I even ran the /kill command which found nothing, confirming the arrow had indeed been deleted. I thought at first that the animation may not be showing but the mobs were still taking damage, but I'm uncertain as to whether that's true.
The mob got hit while you were loading the world