What does java return void mean?

Does / why does Java need to have void methods? Reference:

Any method declared void doesn't return a value.

As far as I can think, every use of void would be better served by returning a status flag, the object being invoked, or null.

This would make every call a statement that is assignable, and would facilitate builder patterns and method chaining. Methods that are only invoked for their effects would usually return a boolean or a generic Success type or throw an exception on failure.