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Validator Node Overview

Validators on the IOTA network run special nodes and have additional tasks and responsibilities beyond those of full node operators.

Requirements to Run a Validator Node on IOTA​

To run an IOTA validator node, you must:

  1. Set up and run a validator node. Follow the setup guides for Docker or Systemd.
  2. Ensure your staking pool has at least 2 million IOTA. This is the minimum required to join the validator set. Other users can delegate IOTA to your pool to help reach this amount.
  3. Complete the necessary tasks to join the validator set and maintain the validator status. See the relevant guides for Docker or Systemd for detailed instructions.

Specific steps you must take include:

  • Install and configure IOTA validator node
  • Key management
  • Software updates
  • On-chain commands
  • Update the Gas Price Survey
  • Reporting other validators

Validator Staking Pool Requirements​

There are minimum staking requirements a validator must satisfy to become active and to stay in the active validator set.

More precisely:

  • A validator candidate must accrue at least 2M IOTA of stake before they can request to join the validator set.
  • If an active validator’s stake falls below 1.5M IOTA, the validator has seven epochs of grace period to gain back the stake before being removed from the validator set.
  • If an active validator’s stake falls below 1M IOTA, the validator is removed from the validator set at the end of the current epoch boundary.

IOTA uses 24-hour epochs.

Hardware Requirements​

  • RAM: 128 GB
  • CPU: 24-core processor / 48 vCPUs
  • Storage: 4 TB NVMe SSD
  • Network Uplink: 1 Gbps
  • Minimum Stake: 2 million IOTAs (can be delegated to your validator by someone else)

Validator Tokenomics​