Am I considered a node now?

Hey everyone. I downloaded 600 gigs of Bitcoin Core, and here’s where I’m at (I shared a screenshot): https://i.postimg.cc/Hk5VB8kc/Screenshot-2024-07-29-135904.png So, am I a node now? Do I need to tweak any other settings? Since I’m using a pruned node, if I shut down my computer, will I need to download those 600 gigs again? Does my computer need to be always on to maintain being a node? What happens if I don’t run the program for say... five days? Will it still work automatically if I have internet, or do I need to open the program for it to do its thing? Thanks!

You’re a node if you’re running Bitcoin Core, no matter if its synchronized or not. You can turn off your computer after shutting down Bitcoin Core properly and you won’t have to synchronize again. If you’re not running Bitcoin Core all the time, then it would synchronize to the latest block whenever you turn it on again. It doesnt turn on automatically upon start up. For it to be functioning as a node, you’d have to keep it running.

Thank you very much What is meant by current number of transaction and memory usage in memory pool?

Memory pool contains the unconfirmed transactions that your node sees and have yet to be included in a block. The number of transactions is the number of transactions in the memory pool and the memory usage is how much memory is being used to store them in your mempool.

Thank you very much And one more question. Should my port be on 8333? I don't know what my current port is. Why maps like this site: https://bitnodes.io/nodes/live-map/ It doesn't show anything in my country? After clicking the check node option on the site, I received this error: (My IP: 8333 is unreachable) What does this mean? I'm not node? Mod note: Consecutive posts merged

You are a node. Nodes can either connect to others or let others connect to you. Assuming that you're not portforwarding 8333, then Bitcoin Core cannot accept incoming connections and other nodes cannot connect to you. However, you can still connect to others. This doesn't impact your usability or utility in any way, but it would definitely be better if others could connect to you.

thank you very much  If I use 8333, considering that others will also connect to me, won't my internet security such as accounts, social accounts like WhatsApp, wallet, etc. be compromised?

It won't. People can connect to you via port 8333 but Bitcoin Core should be the only program that is listening on that port. Bitcoin Core does not reveal any sensitive data to anyone else and thus you should not need to worry about that. Opening a port is limited to what programs listening to that port deals with the data. In this case, Bitcoin Core will not reveal anything sensitive or identifiable to you to your peers. It is purely transmitting blocks, transactions, peer info, etc.

Thank you dear friend. You guided me a lot today. If I had a question, I would definitely ask. Thankful

As additional information, Bitcoin Core use port 8333 by default. Theoretically you can change the port number and other node still can connect to your node, but AFAIK there's no strong reason to do that. Have you visited the homepage, scroll down to "Join the Network", enter your IP address/port and click "Check Node"? If you didn't do that, it'll take some times before bitnodes discover IP address/port of your node through another way.

There are options that can "kinda" set that behavior if you prefer it: Go to your settings (Settings->Options...) then tick "Start Bitcoin Core on system login" under 'Main' tab. That will add Bitcoin Core to your start-up apps. Then in the setting's 'Window' tab, tick "Minimize to the tray instead of the taskbar" so it can be hidden in your tray (the small icons and inside the arrow on the lower-right of W11 desktop), You may also tick "Minimize on close" so you wont accidentally close it ("X" will minimize it instead, you can use "File->Exit" to close Core). But don't forget to close Bitcoin Core if you need to shutdown your machine. Having intermittent internet connection isn't much an issue, your node will still run in the background (with those settings) but will obviously lose all connections while the internet isn't active. When you start Core, it will show you the last block (time) that it verified 5 days ago, it'll start from that block to reach the current tip (latest block). In other words, it'll download and verify those 5days worth of blocks.

There is debate as to whether you are or are not a Full Node if you are not receiving incoming traffic. In my view, you are not an optimized Full Node if your incoming traffic is zero. But what I don't understand is this: What is the degree of support of consensus mechanism given Full Node with versus without incoming traffic? Anyone? Here are some steps to configure incoming traffic. 1. Look on the label of your router/modem for the IP address of the device. Enter that into the address bar of your browser. The device's menu will load. 2. Go to Advanced and Port Forwarding. If your menu lacks Advanced/Port Forwarding, you must upgrade your modem. I had to do that with my telecom Altice in the Dominican Republic. 3. Enter 8333 in all fields and save. Reboot modem and computer. 4. Go to:   bitnodes.io   The site will recognize your IP address.  Scroll down a bit and click search to see if you are recognized. I am a noob running the only BTC Full Node in the Dominican Rpublic and Haiti for several years.

There is no debate and if you’re validating consensus rules fully, then you’re a full node. The difference between allowing incoming connections and outgoing connections is only if peers can connect to you instead of solely connecting to other peers. Connections are bidirectional and hence you’re relaying transactions and blocks similarly in both directions. There is no difference otherwise.

Whether you accept incoming connection or not, your node always verify all block and transaction. As reminder, it doesn't work for those who use ISP which use CGNAT.

"Am I a node now?" with reference to incoming traffic ON or OFF: @ACBbits @ranochigo Thank you for your clarifications. To paraphrase, you say that: a. A Full Node is a Full Node even when incoming traffic is ZERO, b. Even when "a" is the case, one is supporting the network's consensus mechanism. If a and b are true, then: 1. Why bother enabling 8333 port forwarding? There must be a reason why bitcoin.org recommends "The bandwidth sharing guide describes installing Bitcoin Core in detail as well as opening port 8333 to allow other Bitcoin programs to download blocks and transactions." 2. A few years ago, when I had trouble enabling 8333, there was strong pushback at this forum suggesting that my "Full Node" was incorrect as is and in question. This is a technical question and I'm not sure we have a clear answer.

Your Bitcoin Core instance, no matter what you do, the incoming traffic is never zero. You would have a certain percentage of incoming traffic because your node wouldn't be able to function without. Your node is a full node because it is a validating all of the transactions and the blocks. Traditionally, full nodes are the opposite of SPV nodes and this fits the definition. The Bitcoin Core instance that you have has 10 outgoing connections without your portforwarding. These 10 outgoing connections wouldn't exist if your peers didn't open their port 8333. This is why we recommend people to open their port if they're able to, this ensures that the nodes can connect to others. That's the issue with this definition. Traditionally, you are a full node when you are running Bitcoin Core regardless if you're allowing incoming connections or not. There was a thread discussing this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5229380.0.

I never say point "a". Incoming connection (another node connect to your node) and incoming traffic (receiving data) are 2 different thing. Adding what @ranochigo said. Estimated total full node is about 70K[1], while estimated total full node which accept incoming is only about 19.5K[2]. [1] http://luke.dashjr.org/programs/bitcoin/files/charts/software.html [2] https://bitnodes.io/dashboard/90d/