Flow and FAQ on Becoming a Validator

For more information please refers to How to become validator by PIWallet and How to become validator by RPC. There are some FAQ below:

When to apply/vote/reveal/delegate

You can check stage on our Monitor. There are four stage in one epoch.

Stage	Block Number	What you can do
0% ~ 75%	start_block ~ vote_start_block - 1	apply candidates and delegate
75% ~ 85%	vote_start_block ~ vote_end_block	vote
85% ~ 95%	reveal_start_block ~ reveal_end_block	reveal vote
95% ~ 100%	reveal_end_block + 1 ~ end_block	check next epoch’s info

The detailed operation to become a validator via PIwallet

How to become validator by PIWallet

The detailed operation to become a validator via RPC

How to become validator by RPC

Must I apply as a candidate?

No, you can compete for validator by yourself. But if you apply as a candidate, you can get other’s delegations, which will make you more competitive.

How many PI should I deposit during the vote stage?

The amount you deposit should be at least 100k PI and equal to or larger than total_depositProxiedBalance+total_proxiedBalance-total_pendingRefundBalance. And the deposit number should be the same during the reveal vote stage.

How many PI is needed to be elected as a Validator node?

There is no a guaranteed amount, the number of new validator nodes depends on how many native PI voted and reveal voted. If your deposit amount ranking is ahead of No.(number of current epoch’s validator + number of next epoch’s new bidders / 2 ), then you will be in the next epoch’s validator list. You can also check via tdm.getNextEpochValidators() to see if you are in the validator list.

e.g currently we have 79 validator nodes on main chain, and we got 5 Candidate nodes who participated in voting and revealing voting now, then the threshold ranking will be 79 + 5 / 2 = 81, which means the system will elect 81 Validator nodes for Next epoch based on each voting amount ranking.

How do I know if I will be a validator in the next epoch?

If your deposit amount ranking is ahead of No.(number of current epoch’s validator + number of next epoch’s new bidders / 2 ), then you will be in the next epoch’s validator list. You can also check via tdm.getNextEpochValidators() to see if you are in the validator list.

e.g currently we have 79 validator nodes on main chain, and we got 5 Candidate nodes who participated in voting and revealing voting now, then the threshold ranking will be 79 + 5 / 2 = 81, which means the system will elect 81 Validator nodes for Next epoch based on each voting amount ranking.

What is the minimum amount should I enter when I vote?

The amount should be at least 100k PI and equal to or larger than total_depositProxiedBalance+total_proxiedBalance-total_pendingRefundBalance.

As a validator, do I need to do the vote and the reveal vote for each epoch?

If you want to keep the same deposit amount in the next epoch, you don’t need to process a vote/reveal again. If you want to increase your vote, then you will need to vote/reveal again.

e.g your current deposit amount is A the deposit amount you want to add is B then you should set the amount to A+B during the vote and reveal vote.

Can I update the commission fee as a candidate?

You will need to cancel your candidacy first and then reapply as a candidate node (Note that once you cancel, the delegation amount you received will return to delegators). After reapply, you can check on PIWallet if you are on the candidate list. If not, just wait for couple of hours for PIWallet to refresh the commission fee.

How to cancel your stake in a Validator node to unlock the staking amount?

After epoch reaches 75% height, you need to participate in the voting and revealing vote and set the staking amount to 0. Remember first to make sure your node synced to the latest height. Please refer to the guides on how to submit and reveal your vote. Once cancellation succeeds, the staking amount will be unlocked to your balance when the current epoch ends.