265 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
265 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
# Run a node on Aere Network mainnet, chain 2800
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This file plus `genesis.json` plus one bootnode enode (see the bootnodes section below) is
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everything an outsider needs to bring up a full node that syncs chain 2800 from block 0. Until
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2026-08-03 this repository shipped the precompile sources and the NIST vectors but not the chain
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configuration, so nobody outside the Foundation could actually start a node, and the "verify it
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yourself" claim the repository is built on could not be exercised end to end.
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Nothing here is a key. `genesis.json` is public chain configuration; a node that nobody can dial
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is a node nobody can sync from, and the bootnodes section says plainly how dialing works today.
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---
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## The three things you need
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| What | Where |
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|---|---|
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| `genesis.json` | The genesis file, byte for byte as it sits on the Foundation nodes. sha256 `361709dccec4e9fc85be5aec33b30b58a55dc53424087d84c1ad11bd1d944c24` (of the published file with LF line endings, exactly as `curl` fetches it; a Windows checkout that converts line endings will hash differently) |
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| a bootnode enode | requested by mail for now; see the bootnodes section below |
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| `patches/`, `precompiles/` | The Besu fork, see `README.md`. Needed to sync past block 9,189,161 |
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---
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## Which Besu
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Stock upstream Besu syncs chain 2800 correctly up to block **9,189,161** and then stops being able
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to follow it. That block is the first with a timestamp at or after `activationTime` 1783820272, when
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the five Aere post-quantum precompiles come into existence. A node without them computes a different
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result for any block containing a call to `0x0AE1` through `0x0AE5` and falls off the chain.
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So there are two honest paths:
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- **Follow the tip.** Build the fork: apply `patches/0001-aere-pqc-precompiles-mainnet.patch` to
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upstream Besu commit `d2032017bb3b8cb215a97303980a1e4a643f7180` and build it. Full instructions,
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including the pre-image hashes that prove you are on the right base, are in `README.md`.
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- **Verify the early chain only.** Stock Besu 26.4 or later will import blocks 0 through 9,189,160
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from this genesis. That is enough to check the genesis allocation and the sub-second block period
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transition against what we publish. It is not enough to reach the head.
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There is a second Aere change to the client, and it is not in patch `0001`:
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`patches/0004-aere-basefee-floor.patch`, one file, `LondonFeeMarket.java`. From block **10,141,734**
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chain 2800 clamps the EIP-1559 base fee to a floor of 1 Gwei. The patch is fork gated by two JVM
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system properties and is a byte behaviour no-op when they are unset, so a node that applies it
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without setting them is stock Besu:
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```
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-Daere.basefee.floor.forkBlock=10141734 -Daere.basefee.floor.value=1000000000
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```
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Pass those through `BESU_OPTS`. Apply this patch and set these flags if you want a client that
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computes what the network computes. It was measured on 2026-08-02 that QBFT and IBFT2 in Besu do not
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validate the base fee at import at all, upstream or in our fork, so a node without this change is
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expected to import the chain anyway and only to disagree if it ever proposed a block. That is a
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finding about a missing upstream rule and not a licence to skip the patch.
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Do not apply `patches/0002-...-testnet.patch` for a mainnet node. It adds `0x0AE6` and `0x0AE7`,
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which are not on mainnet, and a node that has them will not disagree with the chain today but is
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running a configuration the chain does not.
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## The post-quantum header anchor: apply patch 0003 to follow the current chain
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Since block 13,014,000 every 32nd header of chain 2800 carries a sixth element in its QBFT
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`extraData`: a certificate of validator Falcon-512 seals, universal since block 13,889,296 and
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enforced at a minimum of three seals per anchor block since 2026-08-14. From block 14,050,000 the
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network refuses to finalize blocks without that post-quantum quorum.
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The anchor ships in this repository both as source, under `anchor/`, and as
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`patches/0003-aere-pq-anchor.patch`. A node built without it has not been shown to import
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headers past block 13,014,000: the second client needed an explicit change to accept the sixth
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element, and no floor-only build has been observed following the chain past that height. Apply
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`0001`, `0003`, `0004` and `0005` together and treat a build missing any of them as unable to
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follow the current chain.
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## Patch 0005 exists because the import proof was actually attempted
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Measured 2026-08-15, on a real from-genesis sync of a build from patches
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`0001+0003+0004` alone: the node followed chain 2800 for 9.18 million blocks and stopped at
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block 9,189,161, the `futureEipsTime` activation, with `failed persisting block due to
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stateroot mismatch`. Not one cause but two, both in `MainnetProtocolSpecs.java`, both now
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carried by `patches/0005-aere-eip2935-futureeips.patch`: upstream bases the futureEips
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milestone on the unreleased amsterdam definition (Block Access Lists, a different state-root
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committer), while chain 2800 isolates it on Osaka; and the fleet activates EIP-2935 historical
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block hashes in that same fork, one system state write per block from 9,189,161 onward, which
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a build without the patch never performs. No amount of green unit tests found this; importing
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the real chain found it in one afternoon.
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**Measured 2026-08-16: the from-genesis sync reached the live tip.** A node built only from these
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packages imported chain 2800 from block 0 to height **14,088,211** and then followed the head,
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crossing the full-quantum activation at 14,050,000 with zero anchor rejections. Two more things
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had to be true for that, both now carried by the patches and both described with their measured
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boundaries in `IMPORT-PROOF-STARE-2026-08-15.md`: a historical window (anchor heights
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13,267,824 to 13,268,944) in which anchoring was deliberately disarmed fleet-wide, and a recovery
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window (13,268,976 to 13,890,544) in which proposers legitimately wrote shorter certificates.
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Inside those windows the header is accepted as carried; outside them nothing changes. The
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controls run in both directions (641 tests, 0 failures).
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Measured 2026-08-15: on a pristine `d2032017` checkout, `git apply` (no flags) accepted
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`0001`, `0003` and `0004` in that order, and `./gradlew --no-daemon installDist
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-x spotlessJavaCheck -x test` exited 0 on JDK 21, producing
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`besu/v26.8-develop-d203201/linux-x86_64/openjdk-java-21`. That proves the recipe builds.
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The import proof above, measured 2026-08-16, proves the build follows the live chain from genesis
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to the tip. The proof is repeated, not assumed: see `IMPORT-PROOF-STARE-2026-08-15.md` for the
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measured heights of each run.
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---
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## Start it
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```bash
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besu \
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--genesis-file=/path/to/aere-node/genesis.json \
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--data-path=/path/to/data \
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--network-id=2800 \
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--sync-mode=FULL \
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--data-storage-format=BONSAI \
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--bootnodes=<the enode you were given> \
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--p2p-port=30303 \
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--rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-port=8545 \
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--rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,WEB3,QBFT \
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--min-gas-price=0
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```
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Bootnodes are deliberately NOT published in this repository yet. The network entry points
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available today are consensus or origin hosts, and this project does not print the addresses
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of its own machines in public documents; a dedicated public bootnode, on a host that serves
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nothing else, is the planned replacement, and this paragraph will then carry its enode. Until
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then, write to office@aere.network with the subject "bootnode" and you will receive a current
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enode by return. Everything else on this page works without one; discovery is the only step
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that needs it.
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`--sync-mode=FULL` is deliberate. Chain 2800 runs QBFT with a half second block period, so the head
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is around twelve million blocks and climbing by two per second. Full sync from block 0 is the mode
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that actually verifies the history we publish, which is the point of this repository. Snap sync
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against a QBFT chain trusts a peer for the state and verifies far less.
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`--min-gas-price=0` matches the network. Chain 2800 has a real 1 Gwei base fee from block
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10,141,734, but the minimum gas price a node will accept into its own pool is a local policy and the
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Foundation nodes run it at zero.
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Outbound and inbound TCP and UDP on your p2p port must be open. Discovery is UDP; a TCP only
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firewall gives you a node that dials out and is never dialled back.
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---
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## Check that you are on the right chain, before you trust anything else
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Two facts settle it. Run these against your own node once it is up.
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**1. Your block 0 must be the network's block 0.**
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```bash
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curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8545 -H 'content-type: application/json' \
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-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_getBlockByNumber","params":["0x0",false]}' \
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| grep -o '"hash":"0x[0-9a-f]*"'
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```
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Expected, and this is the whole test:
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```
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0xd86d57a899cbfa580669f0e1c7cd4ae5f525247c3c823f8f75df176a0c5d7f1a
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```
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That hash covers every consensus relevant field in `genesis.json`, including the state root of the
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six genesis accounts. If it matches, your genesis file is the network's genesis file and no further
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comparison of individual fields is needed. If it does not match, your node will never peer, and no
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amount of correct bootnodes will help.
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Compare against the public endpoints, which are separate machines with separate operators of the
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same file:
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```bash
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curl -s -X POST https://rpc.aere.network -H 'content-type: application/json' \
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-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_getBlockByNumber","params":["0x0",false]}'
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curl -s -X POST https://rpc2.aere.network -H 'content-type: application/json' \
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-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_getBlockByNumber","params":["0x0",false]}'
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```
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**2. You must have peers.**
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```bash
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curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8545 -H 'content-type: application/json' \
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-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"net_peerCount","params":[]}'
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```
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A nonzero answer means discovery worked. Zero after a few minutes means either your UDP port is
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closed or the bootnode you were given is down; a plain TCP connect to its address distinguishes
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the two.
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---
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## What the two bootnodes are, and what they are not
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They are two full nodes that are **not** in the validator set. Chain 2800 seals blocks with seven
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QBFT validators, and none of the seven is listed here, on purpose. Publishing a validator's p2p
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address hands an attacker a target whose downtime costs the network consensus headroom, which is why
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sentry style architectures exist. The two nodes above carry no consensus responsibility: if both are
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taken down, new nodes cannot bootstrap until they are replaced, and block production is unaffected.
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A written address is not a live address. This file cannot prove the bootnodes are up at the moment
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you read it; only your own `net_peerCount` can.
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Both were reachable and serving blocks when this file was written. Both are Foundation operated, so
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this is one operator's word for two addresses. That is a real centralisation fact about chain 2800
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today and not a documentation gap.
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---
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## Measured, 2026-08-03
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The recipe on this page was executed rather than written. A Besu node with an **empty data
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directory** was started from exactly this `genesis.json` and exactly these two bootnode URLs, on a
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machine that is not a validator, with `--sync-mode=FULL` and no static nodes, no other peer hints
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and no copied database.
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- Its own block 0 came out as
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`0xd86d57a899cbfa580669f0e1c7cd4ae5f525247c3c823f8f75df176a0c5d7f1a`, which is the live chain's
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block 0. That hash covers the state root, so the six accounts in `alloc` are the network's down to
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the last wei, and so is every header field in the file.
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- It reached **11 peers** knowing nothing but the two enode URLs above.
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- It imported from block 0 to **block 2,221,580** in about thirty minutes, with **zero** rejected
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blocks, which carries it through the sub-second block period change at roughly 2,137,652 and out
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the other side.
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The honest limits on that run, stated because they are the difference between this section and an
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advertisement:
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- It was stopped at ~2.2 million rather than carried to the head, so it never reached the precompile
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fork at 9,189,161 or the base fee floor at 10,141,734. **"Reaches the current head" is not
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measured.**
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- It ran the Foundation's build of the fork, not a build a third party made from `patches/`. That
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those patches build, and that the built precompiles answer the NIST vectors, is measured
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separately in `README.md`; that the two together sync to the head is not.
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- Nothing here proves the bootnodes will be up when you read this.
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---
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## A number in this file that the chain does not agree with
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`config.transitions.qbft[0].block` reads **2138451**. That is the height at which the file says the
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block period drops from one second to half a second. The chain says otherwise. Sampling header
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timestamps on the public endpoints puts the change just after **2,137,652**. Measured spans of
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twenty blocks: from 2,137,600 the twenty blocks take 20 s, from 2,137,656 they take 15 s, from
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2,137,657 they take 12 s, and from 2,137,700 they take a flat 10 s, which is 500 ms a block and
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stays there through 2,138,400. The published 2138451 is roughly eight hundred blocks late and
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describes a boundary that is not in the data.
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It is published anyway, unaltered, because this file is the file the network runs and its value as
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evidence comes from being exactly that. Two things make the discrepancy harmless to you rather than
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merely tolerated: the field only governs how fast a proposer may seal, so it has no effect on a node
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that follows; and it was measured, on the sync run described above, that a node carrying this exact
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value imports the blocks either side of both numbers without rejecting one.
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Correcting it means editing a file on live validators, which is a change to running consensus
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infrastructure and is not made as a side effect of publishing a document.
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## A note on the `comment` fields in `alloc`
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The six genesis accounts carry `comment` strings. No client reads them; they are not consensus data
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and they are inside the file only because they have always been. Two of them are wrong and are left
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uncorrected here rather than quietly edited, because this file is published byte for byte as the
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running nodes hold it: the dash characters are mangled, and the 1,400,000,000 AERE account is
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labelled "Mining Reserve" although chain 2800 has no mining and never has. It is the staking and
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emissions reserve. Correcting the text means editing a file on live nodes, which is a change to
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running infrastructure and is not made as a side effect of a documentation fix.
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