Troubleshooting Pactus Node

Below, we have identified a series of issues that might interfere with the node’s execution process. By reviewing each of the following points, you can resolve network connectivity or other related problems.

NTP (Network Time Protocol) is not enabled

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an internet protocol used to synchronize with computer clock time sources in a network.

If your system or server clock is more than 5 to 10 seconds ahead or behind, it will cause interference with your node on the network and may also reduce your availability score, preventing you from receiving rewards.

Therefore, make sure to check that your system or server clock is fully synchronized and that NTP is enabled.

Run cmd with run as administrator.
Check NTP is enable

w32tm /query /status

If this command result is The following error occurred: The service has not been started. (0x80070426), follow step 3 for enable and sync ntp.

Unregister w32time with w32tm /unregister

W32Time successfully unregistered.

Then register w32time again w32tm /register

W32Time successfully registered.

Now start w32time service net start w32time

The Windows Time service is starting.
The Windows Time service was started successfully.

Check NTP status w32tm /query /status

Leap Indicator: 3(not synchronized)
Stratum: 0 (unspecified)
Precision: -23 (119.209ns per tick)
Root Delay: 0.0000000s
Root Dispersion: 0.0000000s
ReferenceId: 0x00000000 (unspecified)
Last Successful Sync Time: unspecified
Source: Local CMOS Clock
Poll Interval: 10 (1024s)

If Leap Indicator is not synchronized, please following step 7.

Set NTP pool w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update

The command completed successfully.

Update configuration w32tm /config /update

The command completed successfully.

Sync system by command w32tm /resync /rediscover

Sending resync command to local computer
The command completed successfully.

Now local computer currently synced with ntp pool.

Leap Indicator: 0(no warning)
Stratum: 3 (secondary reference - syncd by (S)NTP)
Precision: -23 (119.209ns per tick)
Root Delay: 0.7217312s
Root Dispersion: 8.1410050s
ReferenceId: 0xBC7D4007 (source IP:  188.125.64.7)
Last Successful Sync Time: 5/27/2024 11:05:14 PM
Source: pool.ntp.org
Poll Interval: 10 (1024s)

Run terminal.
Check NTP status by timedatectl status

               Local time: Tue 2024-05-28 07:19:21 BST
           Universal time: Tue 2024-05-28 06:19:21 UTC
                 RTC time: Tue 2024-05-28 06:19:21
                Time zone: Europe/London (BST, +0100)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no

If NTP service is not active and System clock synchronized is no please following step 3.

Enable NTP using ntpq, chrony or systemd-timesyncd.

Port P2P is open in local machine or server

One of the most important factors that causes interference with the node’s communication is the P2P input and output ports not being open. If you have a firewall, you should check this.

Default Port for mainnet is: 21888
Default Port for testnet is: 21777

You can check by online service for this port is open or close.

Open port in firewall

Avoid running node with the same validators on different machines

Do not attempt to run node with same validators on different machines, as this will reduce the availability score of your validators.

Using UDP instead relay for sync

If your node encounters issues with synchronization in its default settings, you can use UDP.

Example network configuration:

[network]
  network_key = "network_key"
  public_addr = ""
  listen_addrs = []
  bootstrap_addrs = []
  max_connections = 128
  enable_udp = true
  enable_nat_service = false
  enable_upnp = false
  enable_relay = false
  enable_relay_service = false
  enable_mdns = false
  enable_metrics = false
  force_private_network = false

Last updated on July 1, 2024

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