Seeders

A seed node is a validator with a stable public IP or DNS name. Seeds are the first contact point for new nodes and SDK clients joining the mesh. When the SDK calls Client.connect(), it loads seeds.json to find its first validator to bootstrap into the network.

What seeders do

• Bootstrap new peers — new nodes and SDK clients connect to seeds first to join the gossip mesh
• Circuit relay — validators (including seeds) act as libp2p circuit relays, helping NAT-ed peers reach each other until DCUtR hole-punches a direct connection
• Stable entry point — seeds provide reliable, always-on multiaddrs that are hardcoded into SDK binaries as a fallback

Requirements

• Running validator — you must already be running an arknet validator node (see Node Operators)
• Stable public IP or DNS — your address should not change. A static IP or a DNS name (e.g., seed.mynode.com) works.
• Port 26656 open — TCP and UDP, publicly reachable
• High uptime — seeds should be available 24/7. Downtime degrades bootstrap for the whole network.

How to become a seeder

Step 1: Find your peer ID

Your peer ID is logged when your validator starts:

[INFO] peer_id=12D3KooW...

You can also find it in ~/.arknet/ or via curl http://localhost:26657/v1/status.

Step 2: Build your multiaddr

Combine your public IP (or DNS name) with the P2P port and peer ID:

# Static IP
/ip4/203.0.113.50/tcp/26656/p2p/12D3KooWFKNZj7VaophcMVbA7QCRexAm7tg9dnADSJ8SxW4sLE1f

# DNS name
/dns4/seed.mynode.com/tcp/26656/p2p/12D3KooWFKNZj7VaophcMVbA7QCRexAm7tg9dnADSJ8SxW4sLE1f

Step 3: Submit a PR

Add your entry to docs-site/seeds.json:

{
  "version": 2,
  "chain_id": "arknet-1",
  "seeds": [
    {
      "multiaddr": "/dns4/arknet.arkengel.com/udp/26656/quic-v1/p2p/12D3KooWFKNZj7VaophcMVbA7QCRexAm7tg9dnADSJ8SxW4sLE1f",
      "operator": "st-hannibal"
    },
    {
      "multiaddr": "/ip4/203.0.113.50/tcp/26656/p2p/YOUR_PEER_ID",
      "operator": "your-github-username"
    }
  ]
}

Step 4: PR review

Your PR will be reviewed and merged once verified. The entry format is:

Current seeds

The live seed list is always at arknet.arkengel.com/seeds.json.