Testnet Participation #
What is this? #
In order to receive a delegation from the Foundation on a validator’s mainnet beta node, the validator must also operate a node on testnet which is subject to similar performance requirements. Any differences between the mainnet beta and testnet delegation criteria are noted accordingly.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
A validator’s testnet node must meet all of the Baseline criteria for at least 5 of the latest 10 testnet epochs in order for the validator’s mainnet beta node to receive a delegation.
Vote Credits #
What is this? #
Vote credits are earned when a validator submits a consensus vote on a block that becomes finalized by the network. Each vote on a finalized block earns 1 vote credit. Voting more frequently and on the correct fork, a validator earns more credits. Voting on an incorrect fork or failure to submit votes on time or at all results in fewer vote credits. The SOL reward issued to a validator and their stakers is proportional to the number of credits earned over an epoch.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
In order to receive or maintain a stake delegation from the Solana Foundation, a validator must earn no less than 3% fewer vote credits than the cluster average for a given epoch. For example, if the cluster average for the last epoch was 100,000 vote credits, a validator must have earned at least 97,000 credits to meet this criteria. This criteria is the same for nodes on mainnet beta and testnet.
Max Commission #
What is this? #
A validator’s commission, or fee, is the percentage of total rewards earned by an individual validator in an epoch that are deposited into the validator’s vote account. The remainder of the reward is distributed to the stake accounts that have delegated to that validator’s vote account.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
A validator must maintain a commission of 5% or less to meet this criteria. This criteria applies to mainnet beta nodes only. There is no maximum commission enforced on testnet.
Data Center Concentration #
What is this? #
Multiple validators may run their node in the same physical facility. As more validators which are housed in the same location attract stake delegations, this can cause a centralization of stake and a possible point of failure for the network if the concentration grows too large. Data Center Concentration is the percentage of total delegated stake on the network that is operated in a physical data center. The data center stake percentage is determined by using validators.app.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
Starting May 1, 2026, the Data Center Concentration must not exceed 15% for all staked validators at a data center provider to pass this criteria. Validators receiving a delegation from the Foundation before the maximum concentration is reached are assigned a seniority score, based on the number of epochs that validator has been receiving a Foundation delegation while located in a given data center. In the event the data center concentration threshold is exceeded due to new validators coming online in the same data center, the Foundation will remove its delegation from validators based on seniority score, from lowest to highest. Operators can track data center concentration at validators.app.
ASN Concentration #
What is this? #
An Autonomous System Number (ASN) identifies a network operated by an internet service provider or hosting company. Multiple validators may share the same ASN when using infrastructure from the same provider, even across different physical data centers. High concentration of stake within a single ASN creates systemic risk for the network if that provider experiences issues.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
Starting May 1, 2026, SFDP participants must operate on an ASN holding less than 25% of overall network stake. Operators can track ASN concentration at validators.app.
Total Stake #
What is this? #
This refers to the total amount of stake from all sources (self stake or otherwise) that have been delegated to a validator.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
A validator must have less than 1,000,000 SOL in total stake to be eligible for a delegation from the Foundation. This only applies to mainnet beta, there is no maximum stake on testnet.
Software Version #
What is this? #
The release version of the solana-validator code that an individual node is running.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
Validators are expected to consistently update their nodes to the latest stable software release in a timely manner. The minimum software version is updated 48 hours after the supermajority of the network has adopted that same version. Testnet often runs on a newer software version than beta. A minimum version is enforced on both networks, though the values are often different.
Skip Rate #
What is this? #
Skip rate is the percent of leader slots in which a validator fails to produce a block which is eventually confirmed by the network. Skip rate and block production are two numbers often used to refer to the same metric. Block production is the percent of scheduled slots in which the validator produces a confirmed block, whereas skip rate is 1 - block production.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
A validator must have a skip rate that does not exceed 5 percentage points plus the network average skip rate. For example, if the network average skip rate was 20%, a validator must have a skip rate of 50% or less to meet this criteria. This criteria is the same on mainnet beta and testnet.
Metric Reporting #
What is this? #
Whether or not a validator is continually submitting metrics about their validator to the correct cluster(s).
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
Starting in epoch 337, validators are expected to report metrics about their validator nodes in eight of the last 10 epochs on both the testnet and mainnet beta clusters in order to receive residual stake. To meet the reporting requirements, validators must continually report metrics throughout the epoch. Metric reporting will be sampled multiple times an epoch. Validators on mainnet beta would need to report metrics on both testnet and mainnet beta for eight out of the last 10 epochs (in addition to existing residual criteria) in order to receive residual stake. Validators on testnet would need to report metrics for eight out of the last 10 epochs to get residual stake.
Earned Stake #
What is this? #
Earning stake means receiving a delegation from the Solana Foundation at either the residual or Bonus amount.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
To ensure node operators are responsive and monitoring their validators closely, validators should be continually meeting the requirements for residual or Matching stake and not go 10 or more epochs without receiving stake from the Foundation. If validators do not receive any stake in any 10 epoch window on mainnet beta, they will be rejected from the program. If validators do not receive any stake in any 10 epoch window on testnet, they will lose their current onboarding number and be sent to the bottom of the onboarding queue. Testnet validators that begin re-earning stake will once again be eligible for an onboarding number. As a reminder, for those onboarded to mainnet beta, earning stake on testnet is a requirement for continuing to receive Delegation stake on mainnet beta. If you do not receive stake on testnet for 10 epochs, you will also not receive stake on mainnet beta. If you do not receive stake on mainnet beta for 10 epochs, you will be rejected from the program.
Onboarding Quickly #
What is this? #
Starting your node means getting your server on mainnet beta running, ensuring it can be found in gossip, and starting to meet the rest of the requirements necessary to receive residual stake from the Foundation.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
To ensure node operators are responsive and monitoring their Delegation Program participation closely, validators will receive a 10 epoch window to start their mainnet beta node from their onboarding date. If they do not start their node within 10 epochs, they will be rejected from the program.
Responsiveness #
What is this? #
Running a validator successfully involves continuously participating in gossip, packing new blocks, and voting on other leader's blocks. In order to help maintain consensus, it also means ensuring your node is available with good uptime.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
To ensure node operators maintain good uptime, are responsive and are monitoring their servers closely, validators are expected to respond to critical network events (e.g. restarts) within 24 hours. If they do not respond within 24 hours, they will be rejected from the program.
Transaction Processing Requirements #
What is this? #
To ensure fair and predictable transaction processing across the network, SFDP participants must follow infrastructure and scheduling standards that support censorship resistance and consistent block production.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
SFDP participants must meet the following transaction processing requirements:
- Scheduler ordering: Use either FIFO or prioritization-fee-ordered scheduling within a 50ms or less time window.
- Regular shred release: Shreds must be released every 50ms or as soon as a full erasure batch is coalesced.
- No TPU censorship: Do not censor transactions received on TPU.
- No TPU delay: Do not delay transactions received on TPU for greater than the allowed 50ms batch times.
Jito Software Requirements #
What is this? #
One of the primary goals of Testnet participation is to help test future versions of validator software. To help accomplish that goal, participants in the Delegation Program should be using similar software on Testnet as they are using on mainnet beta.
Solana Foundation Delegation Criteria #
All participants who choose to run Jito-enabled software on Mainnet must now also run Jito-enabled software on Testnet. Requirements of client versions on Testnet may change over time, so the client version (Jito-Solana or Frankendancer) used on mainnet beta does not have to match the client version used on Testnet. For example, an operator could run Jito-Solana on mainnet beta, but choose to run Frankendancer with Jito enabled on Testnet or vice versa. Participants running Jito on Mainnet but not on Testnet will have their Testnet stake delegation removed.