tendermint/docs/nodes/configuration.md

---
order: 3
---

# Configuration

Tendermint Core can be configured via a TOML file in
`$TMHOME/config/config.toml`. Some of these parameters can be overridden by
command-line flags. For most users, the options in the `##### main base configuration options #####` are intended to be modified while config options
further below are intended for advance power users.

## Options

The default configuration file create by `tendermint init` has all
the parameters set with their default values. It will look something
like the file below, however, double check by inspecting the
`config.toml` created with your version of `tendermint` installed:

```toml
# This is a TOML config file.
# For more information, see https://github.com/toml-lang/toml

# NOTE: Any path below can be absolute (e.g. "/var/myawesomeapp/data") or
# relative to the home directory (e.g. "data"). The home directory is
# "$HOME/.tendermint" by default, but could be changed via $TMHOME env variable
# or --home cmd flag.

#######################################################################
###                   Main Base Config Options                      ###
#######################################################################

# TCP or UNIX socket address of the ABCI application,
# or the name of an ABCI application compiled in with the Tendermint binary
proxy-app = "tcp://127.0.0.1:26658"

# A custom human readable name for this node
moniker = "anonymous"

# If this node is many blocks behind the tip of the chain, FastSync
# allows them to catchup quickly by downloading blocks in parallel
# and verifying their commits
fast-sync = true

# Mode of Node: full | validator | seed
# You will need to set it to "validator" if you want to run the node as a validator
# * full node (default)
#   - all reactors
#   - No priv_validator_key.json, priv_validator_state.json
# * validator node
#   - all reactors
#   - with priv_validator_key.json, priv_validator_state.json
# * seed node
#   - only P2P, PEX Reactor
#   - No priv_validator_key.json, priv_validator_state.json
mode = "full"

# Database backend: goleveldb | cleveldb | boltdb | rocksdb | badgerdb
# * goleveldb (github.com/syndtr/goleveldb - most popular implementation)
#   - pure go
#   - stable
# * cleveldb (uses levigo wrapper)
#   - fast
#   - requires gcc
#   - use cleveldb build tag (go build -tags cleveldb)
# * boltdb (uses etcd's fork of bolt - github.com/etcd-io/bbolt)
#   - EXPERIMENTAL
#   - may be faster is some use-cases (random reads - indexer)
#   - use boltdb build tag (go build -tags boltdb)
# * rocksdb (uses github.com/tecbot/gorocksdb)
#   - EXPERIMENTAL
#   - requires gcc
#   - use rocksdb build tag (go build -tags rocksdb)
# * badgerdb (uses github.com/dgraph-io/badger)
#   - EXPERIMENTAL
#   - use badgerdb build tag (go build -tags badgerdb)
db-backend = "goleveldb"

# Database directory
db-dir = "data"

# Output level for logging, including package level options
log-level = "main:info,state:info,statesync:info,*:error"

# Output format: 'plain' (colored text) or 'json'
log-format = "plain"

##### additional base config options #####

# Path to the JSON file containing the initial validator set and other meta data
genesis-file = "config/genesis.json"

# Path to the JSON file containing the private key to use as a validator in the consensus protocol
priv-validator-key-file = "config/priv_validator_key.json"

# Path to the JSON file containing the last sign state of a validator
priv-validator-state-file = "data/priv_validator_state.json"

# TCP or UNIX socket address for Tendermint to listen on for
# connections from an external PrivValidator process
priv-validator-laddr = ""

# Path to the JSON file containing the private key to use for node authentication in the p2p protocol
node-key-file = "config/node_key.json"

# Mechanism to connect to the ABCI application: socket | grpc
abci = "socket"

# If true, query the ABCI app on connecting to a new peer
# so the app can decide if we should keep the connection or not
filter-peers = false


#######################################################################
###                 Advanced Configuration Options                  ###
#######################################################################

#######################################################
###       RPC Server Configuration Options          ###
#######################################################
[rpc]

# TCP or UNIX socket address for the RPC server to listen on
laddr = "tcp://127.0.0.1:26657"

# A list of origins a cross-domain request can be executed from
# Default value '[]' disables cors support
# Use '["*"]' to allow any origin
cors-allowed-origins = []

# A list of methods the client is allowed to use with cross-domain requests
cors-allowed-methods = ["HEAD", "GET", "POST", ]

# A list of non simple headers the client is allowed to use with cross-domain requests
cors-allowed-headers = ["Origin", "Accept", "Content-Type", "X-Requested-With", "X-Server-Time", ]

# TCP or UNIX socket address for the gRPC server to listen on
# NOTE: This server only supports /broadcast_tx_commit
grpc-laddr = ""

# Maximum number of simultaneous connections.
# Does not include RPC (HTTP&WebSocket) connections. See max-open-connections
# If you want to accept a larger number than the default, make sure
# you increase your OS limits.
# 0 - unlimited.
# Should be < {ulimit -Sn} - {MaxNumInboundPeers} - {MaxNumOutboundPeers} - {N of wal, db and other open files}
# 1024 - 40 - 10 - 50 = 924 = ~900
grpc-max-open-connections = 900

# Activate unsafe RPC commands like /dial_seeds and /unsafe_flush_mempool
unsafe = false

# Maximum number of simultaneous connections (including WebSocket).
# Does not include gRPC connections. See grpc-max-open-connections
# If you want to accept a larger number than the default, make sure
# you increase your OS limits.
# 0 - unlimited.
# Should be < {ulimit -Sn} - {MaxNumInboundPeers} - {MaxNumOutboundPeers} - {N of wal, db and other open files}
# 1024 - 40 - 10 - 50 = 924 = ~900
max-open-connections = 900

# Maximum number of unique clientIDs that can /subscribe
# If you're using /broadcast_tx_commit, set to the estimated maximum number
# of broadcast_tx_commit calls per block.
max-subscription-clients = 100

# Maximum number of unique queries a given client can /subscribe to
# If you're using GRPC (or Local RPC client) and /broadcast_tx_commit, set to
# the estimated # maximum number of broadcast_tx_commit calls per block.
max-subscriptions-per-client = 5

# How long to wait for a tx to be committed during /broadcast_tx_commit.
# WARNING: Using a value larger than 10s will result in increasing the
# global HTTP write timeout, which applies to all connections and endpoints.
# See https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/3435
timeout-broadcast-tx-commit = "10s"

# Maximum size of request body, in bytes
max-body-bytes = 1000000

# Maximum size of request header, in bytes
max-header-bytes = 1048576

# The path to a file containing certificate that is used to create the HTTPS server.
# Might be either absolute path or path related to Tendermint's config directory.
# If the certificate is signed by a certificate authority,
# the certFile should be the concatenation of the server's certificate, any intermediates,
# and the CA's certificate.
# NOTE: both tls-cert-file and tls-key-file must be present for Tendermint to create HTTPS server.
# Otherwise, HTTP server is run.
tls-cert-file = ""

# The path to a file containing matching private key that is used to create the HTTPS server.
# Might be either absolute path or path related to Tendermint's config directory.
# NOTE: both tls-cert-file and tls-key-file must be present for Tendermint to create HTTPS server.
# Otherwise, HTTP server is run.
tls-key-file = ""

# pprof listen address (https://golang.org/pkg/net/http/pprof)
pprof-laddr = ""

#######################################################
###           P2P Configuration Options             ###
#######################################################
[p2p]

# Address to listen for incoming connections
laddr = "tcp://0.0.0.0:26656"

# Address to advertise to peers for them to dial
# If empty, will use the same port as the laddr,
# and will introspect on the listener or use UPnP
# to figure out the address.
external-address = ""

# Comma separated list of seed nodes to connect to
seeds = ""

# Comma separated list of nodes to keep persistent connections to
persistent-peers = ""

# UPNP port forwarding
upnp = false

# Path to address book
addr-book-file = "config/addrbook.json"

# Set true for strict address routability rules
# Set false for private or local networks
addr-book-strict = true

# Maximum number of inbound peers
max-num-inbound-peers = 40

# Maximum number of outbound peers to connect to, excluding persistent peers
max-num-outbound-peers = 10

# List of node IDs, to which a connection will be (re)established ignoring any existing limits
unconditional-peer-ids = ""

# Maximum pause when redialing a persistent peer (if zero, exponential backoff is used)
persistent-peers-max-dial-period = "0s"

# Time to wait before flushing messages out on the connection
flush-throttle-timeout = "100ms"

# Maximum size of a message packet payload, in bytes
max-packet-msg-payload-size = 1024

# Rate at which packets can be sent, in bytes/second
send-rate = 5120000

# Rate at which packets can be received, in bytes/second
recv-rate = 5120000

# Set true to enable the peer-exchange reactor
pex = true

# Comma separated list of peer IDs to keep private (will not be gossiped to other peers)
private-peer-ids = ""

# Toggle to disable guard against peers connecting from the same ip.
allow-duplicate-ip = false

# Peer connection configuration.
handshake-timeout = "20s"
dial-timeout = "3s"

#######################################################
###          Mempool Configuration Option          ###
#######################################################
[mempool]

recheck = true
broadcast = true
wal-dir = ""

# Maximum number of transactions in the mempool
size = 5000

# Limit the total size of all txs in the mempool.
# This only accounts for raw transactions (e.g. given 1MB transactions and
# max-txs-bytes=5MB, mempool will only accept 5 transactions).
max-txs-bytes = 1073741824

# Size of the cache (used to filter transactions we saw earlier) in transactions
cache-size = 10000

# Do not remove invalid transactions from the cache (default: false)
# Set to true if it's not possible for any invalid transaction to become valid
# again in the future.
keep-invalid-txs-in-cache = false

# Maximum size of a single transaction.
# NOTE: the max size of a tx transmitted over the network is {max-tx-bytes}.
max-tx-bytes = 1048576

# Maximum size of a batch of transactions to send to a peer
# Including space needed by encoding (one varint per transaction).
# XXX: Unused due to https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/5796
max-batch-bytes = 0

#######################################################
###         State Sync Configuration Options        ###
#######################################################
[statesync]
# State sync rapidly bootstraps a new node by discovering, fetching, and restoring a state machine
# snapshot from peers instead of fetching and replaying historical blocks. Requires some peers in
# the network to take and serve state machine snapshots. State sync is not attempted if the node
# has any local state (LastBlockHeight > 0). The node will have a truncated block history,
# starting from the height of the snapshot.
enable = false

# RPC servers (comma-separated) for light client verification of the synced state machine and
# retrieval of state data for node bootstrapping. Also needs a trusted height and corresponding
# header hash obtained from a trusted source, and a period during which validators can be trusted.
#
# For Cosmos SDK-based chains, trust-period should usually be about 2/3 of the unbonding time (~2
# weeks) during which they can be financially punished (slashed) for misbehavior.
rpc-servers = ""
trust-height = 0
trust-hash = ""
trust-period = "168h0m0s"

# Time to spend discovering snapshots before initiating a restore.
discovery-time = "15s"

# Temporary directory for state sync snapshot chunks, defaults to the OS tempdir (typically /tmp).
# Will create a new, randomly named directory within, and remove it when done.
temp-dir = ""

#######################################################
###       Fast Sync Configuration Connections       ###
#######################################################
[fastsync]

# Fast Sync version to use:
#   1) "v0" (default) - the legacy fast sync implementation
#   2) "v2" - complete redesign of v0, optimized for testability & readability
version = "v0"

#######################################################
###         Consensus Configuration Options         ###
#######################################################
[consensus]

wal-file = "data/cs.wal/wal"

# How long we wait for a proposal block before prevoting nil
timeout-propose = "3s"
# How much timeout-propose increases with each round
timeout-propose-delta = "500ms"
# How long we wait after receiving +2/3 prevotes for “anything” (ie. not a single block or nil)
timeout-prevote = "1s"
# How much the timeout-prevote increases with each round
timeout-prevote-delta = "500ms"
# How long we wait after receiving +2/3 precommits for “anything” (ie. not a single block or nil)
timeout-precommit = "1s"
# How much the timeout-precommit increases with each round
timeout-precommit-delta = "500ms"
# How long we wait after committing a block, before starting on the new
# height (this gives us a chance to receive some more precommits, even
# though we already have +2/3).
timeout-commit = "1s"

# How many blocks to look back to check existence of the node's consensus votes before joining consensus
# When non-zero, the node will panic upon restart
# if the same consensus key was used to sign {double-sign-check-height} last blocks.
# So, validators should stop the state machine, wait for some blocks, and then restart the state machine to avoid panic.
double-sign-check-height = 0

# Make progress as soon as we have all the precommits (as if TimeoutCommit = 0)
skip-timeout-commit = false

# EmptyBlocks mode and possible interval between empty blocks
create-empty-blocks = true
create-empty-blocks-interval = "0s"

# Reactor sleep duration parameters
peer-gossip-sleep-duration = "100ms"
peer-query-maj23-sleep-duration = "2s"

#######################################################
###   Transaction Indexer Configuration Options     ###
#######################################################
[tx-index]

# What indexer to use for transactions
#
# The application will set which txs to index. In some cases a node operator will be able
# to decide which txs to index based on configuration set in the application.
#
# Options:
#   1) "null"
#   2) "kv" (default) - the simplest possible indexer, backed by key-value storage (defaults to levelDB; see DBBackend).
#   - When "kv" is chosen "tx.height" and "tx.hash" will always be indexed.
indexer = "kv"

#######################################################
###       Instrumentation Configuration Options     ###
#######################################################
[instrumentation]

# When true, Prometheus metrics are served under /metrics on
# PrometheusListenAddr.
# Check out the documentation for the list of available metrics.
prometheus = false

# Address to listen for Prometheus collector(s) connections
prometheus-listen-addr = ":26660"

# Maximum number of simultaneous connections.
# If you want to accept a larger number than the default, make sure
# you increase your OS limits.
# 0 - unlimited.
max-open-connections = 3

# Instrumentation namespace
namespace = "tendermint"

```

## Empty blocks VS no empty blocks

### create-empty-blocks = true

If `create-empty-blocks` is set to `true` in your config, blocks will be
created ~ every second (with default consensus parameters). You can regulate
the delay between blocks by changing the `timeout-commit`. E.g. `timeout-commit = "10s"` should result in ~ 10 second blocks.

### create-empty-blocks = false

In this setting, blocks are created when transactions received.

Note after the block H, Tendermint creates something we call a "proof block"
(only if the application hash changed) H+1. The reason for this is to support
proofs. If you have a transaction in block H that changes the state to X, the
new application hash will only be included in block H+1. If after your
transaction is committed, you want to get a light-client proof for the new state
(X), you need the new block to be committed in order to do that because the new
block has the new application hash for the state X. That's why we make a new
(empty) block if the application hash changes. Otherwise, you won't be able to
make a proof for the new state.

Plus, if you set `create-empty-blocks-interval` to something other than the
default (`0`), Tendermint will be creating empty blocks even in the absence of
transactions every `create-empty-blocks-interval`. For instance, with
`create-empty-blocks = false` and `create-empty-blocks-interval = "30s"`,
Tendermint will only create blocks if there are transactions, or after waiting
30 seconds without receiving any transactions.

## Consensus timeouts explained

There's a variety of information about timeouts in [Running in
production](../tendermint-core/running-in-production.md)

You can also find more detailed technical explanation in the spec: [The latest
gossip on BFT consensus](https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.04938).

```toml
[consensus]
...

timeout-propose = "3s"
timeout-propose-delta = "500ms"
timeout-prevote = "1s"
timeout-prevote-delta = "500ms"
timeout-precommit = "1s"
timeout-precommit-delta = "500ms"
timeout-commit = "1s"
```

Note that in a successful round, the only timeout that we absolutely wait no
matter what is `timeout-commit`.

Here's a brief summary of the timeouts:

- `timeout-propose` = how long we wait for a proposal block before prevoting
  nil
- `timeout-propose-delta` = how much timeout-propose increases with each round
- `timeout-prevote` = how long we wait after receiving +2/3 prevotes for
  anything (ie. not a single block or nil)
- `timeout-prevote-delta` = how much the timeout-prevote increases with each
  round
- `timeout-precommit` = how long we wait after receiving +2/3 precommits for
  anything (ie. not a single block or nil)
- `timeout-precommit-delta` = how much the timeout-precommit increases with
  each round
- `timeout-commit` = how long we wait after committing a block, before starting
  on the new height (this gives us a chance to receive some more precommits,
  even though we already have +2/3)

## P2P settings

This section will cover settings within the p2p section of the `config.toml`.

- `external-address` = is the address that will be advertised for other nodes to use. We recommend setting this field with your public IP and p2p port.
  - > We recommend setting an external address. When used in a private network, Tendermint Core currently doesn't advertise the node's public address. There is active and ongoing work to improve the P2P system, but this is a helpful workaround for now.
- `seeds` = is a list of comma separated seed nodes that you will connect upon a start and ask for peers. A seed node is a node that does not participate in consensus but only helps propagate peers to nodes in the networks
- `persistent-peers` = is a list of comma separated peers that you will always want to be connected to. If you're already connected to the maximum number of peers, persistent peers will not be added.
- `max-num-inbound-peers` = is the maximum number of peers you will accept inbound connections from at one time (where they dial your address and initiate the connection).
- `max-num-outbound-peers` = is the maximum number of peers you will initiate outbound connects to at one time (where you dial their address and initiate the connection).
- `unconditional-peer-ids` = is similar to `persistent-peers` except that these peers will be connected to even if you are already connected to the maximum number of peers. This can be a validator node ID on your sentry node.
- `pex` = turns the peer exchange reactor on or off. Validator node will want the `pex` turned off so it would not begin gossiping to unknown peers on the network. PeX can also be turned off for statically configured networks with fixed network connectivity. For full nodes on open, dynamic networks, it should be turned on.
- `private-peer-ids` = is a comma-separated list of node ids that will _not_ be exposed to other peers (i.e., you will not tell other peers about the ids in this list). This can be filled with a validator's node id.