Skip to content

Running a seed node

A seed node serves the chain to new peers without mining. Use cases:

  • Running infrastructure (block explorers, indexers, dApps) without reward incentives
  • Geographic redundancy (more peer-discovery surface area)
  • Validation-only audit nodes

Config

Nearly identical to a miner; the difference is --relay-only or [mining].enabled = false:

[node]
data_dir = "/var/lib/waveledger-testnet"
port     = 18333
host     = "0.0.0.0"
testnet  = true
relay_only = true                                # don't mine

[mining]
enabled = false                                  # explicit

[discovery]
enable_dns_seeds       = true
enable_hardcoded_seeds = true
bootstrap_nodes        = ["seed.waveledger.net:18333"]

[dashboard]
enabled = true
port    = 8080
host    = "127.0.0.1"

[messenger]
enabled = false

[security]
require_auth = true

Run

python3 node.py --testnet --relay-only --config ~/seed.toml

The node syncs the chain, accepts inbound P2P, and gossips blocks and txs, but never builds blocks. No --mine, no entropy fetch.

Why run one

  • dApp operators benefit from a local node so user requests do not cross the open internet for every chain read.
  • Indexer operators (explorer, analytics, alerting) gain reads served from a local SQLite.
  • Network redundancy for the testnet without the operational complexity of mining.

A seed node consumes approximately 1/4 the CPU of a miner with an identical disk footprint.

Becoming a public seed

To be discoverable by other miners as a bootstrap option, publish the node's host:port so other configs can pick it up:

  1. Add the address to TESTNET_SEED_NODES in core/constants.py (PRs welcome).
  2. Add an A/AAAA record under one of the TESTNET_DNS_SEED_HOSTS domains.
  3. Or announce the address in Discord, Twitter, or the README; most operators add bootstrap nodes manually.

Inbound P2P must be reachable: firewall open on port 18333, no NAT double-translation, no aggressive ISP filtering.

Validation-only mode

For a node that downloads and validates every block without serving anything (audit-only):

[node]
host = "127.0.0.1"                               # localhost only
max_peers = 5

python3 node.py --testnet --relay-only --no-mdns --no-upnp --no-seeds \
    --bootstrap seed.waveledger.net:18333 \
    --config ~/audit.toml

The node connects only to the seed, syncs, validates every block, and serves nothing back. Suitable for verifying chain integrity from cold.