# Block Generation FAQ

This article provides answers for frequently asked questions about block generation.

# My node is running but it does not generate blocks. What do I do?

Answer:

Check your generating balance. To start generating blocks, you need to have 1000 WAVES on your balance during 1000 blocks (including WAVES leased to the node). How to check or top up balance.
Make sure that the node is not on fork. How to detect and fix fork.
Make sure that the node wallet is properly setup. To do this, in the waves.log file find messages about the node's attempts to generate blocks (Next attempt) and check the address (acc=) of the generating node. If the address does not match the address of your node, check the wallet settings in your node configuration file.
Make sure that the node has enough connections to the peers (other nodes). To do this, in the node configuration file check the line with parameter waves.miner.quorum (by default quorum = 1). This parameter allows to specify the minimal number of connections to peers required to start generating blocks. If the node fails to connect to the specified number of peers (for example, due to bad internet connection or the node being blacklisted), the block generation will be suspended. You can check your current connections to peers with GET /peers/connected API operation. You can get the list of blacklisted nodes with GET /peers/blacklisted API operation.

# Where can I find waves.log file?

Answer: If your node is installed from Deb-package, by default the waves.log file is located in /var/log/waves/ folder, in other cases in ${waves.directory}/logs/ folder. By default the log files can be read only by the user running the node. Read more about logging.

# My node is running (not on fork), the balance is more than 1000 WAVES, the records in waves.log file display correct generating node address (acc=), however the node does not generate blocks. Why?

Answer: Block generation process is probabilistic and is going on in accordance with LPoS algorithm. The chances to generate block are proportional to the node's generating balance. The minimal generating balance (1000 WAVES) provides the lowest chances to generate block (1 block or less per month). Read more about generating nodes performance. Every node begins to generate block independently in the time allowed by the algorithm. There is always a chance that another node starts to generate block earlier than yours. You can detect the reason why your node failed to generate block by looking through the records (Next attempt) of the attempts to generate in waves.log file. In the records, you can also review which node successfully generated block.

# How to check that the node makes attempts to generate blocks?

Answer: In the waves.log file check the records (Next attempt) indicating the attempts to generate blocks.

Find the records with the following grep command:

sudo grep "Next attempt\|Forging\| Block(" /var/log/waves/waves.log

Example of the generating attempt record:

2020-09-07 10:27:55,076 DEBUG [appender-52] c.w.mining.MinerImpl - Next attempt for acc=3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N in 508.710 seconds
2020-09-07 10:27:55,147 DEBUG [ecution-context-global-48] c.w.s.a.BlockAppender$ - [2ecdf572 134.209.30.86:56992] Appended Block(DeB2bwPeJkpDMpLEvHm8MRg3axpYtwupMZi5uRigrLZo,CPX3P6rvYttUhUFtM2MTHdJ4AALFyfdfDey5oH9CGJXP,3PJEPHsDNtfDRxxaja8wEp3mCXp5kpLYsLS,1599474474614,[])
2020-09-07 10:29:50,072 DEBUG [appender-52] c.w.mining.MinerImpl - Next attempt for acc=3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N in 457.722 seconds
2020-09-07 10:29:50,161 DEBUG [ecution-context-global-48] c.w.s.a.BlockAppender$ - [7895562c 173.249.1.184:60940] Appended Block(2fXUoLdh4XmDkuTfdZ7bPyvubBfEdhQ989X5P27nbHby,8hs8fTy52sJyzJwxMb75A38JAxsEPjycMTyfCbbrW9XB,3PEFQiFMLm1gTVjPdfCErG8mTHRcH2ATaWa,1599474589929,[],600000000)

This example record indicates that the node 3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N received block DeB2bwPeJkpDMpLEvHm8MRg3axpYtwupMZi5uRigrLZo and at 2020-09-07 10:27:55,076 the node planned an attempt to generate the next block in 508.710 seconds (~ at 10:34:23). The response also says that the processing of block DeB2bwPeJkpDMpLEvHm8MRg3axpYtwupMZi5uRigrLZo is complete and then the node received the next validated block 2fXUoLdh4XmDkuTfdZ7bPyvubBfEdhQ989X5P27nbHby generated by 3PEFQiFMLm1gTVjPdfCErG8mTHRcH2ATaWa node at 2020-09-07 10:29:50,072 (earlier than the node 3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N planned generating the next block). In this case the node 3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N did not succeed to generate new block at 10:34:23 because the new block was generated earlier by another node 3PEFQiFMLm1gTVjPdfCErG8mTHRcH2ATaWa.

# How to detect that the node generated block?

Answer: In the waves.log file find Forged and applied... records.

Example of the successful generating attempt record:

2020-09-06 04:06:13,517 DEBUG [appender-52] c.w.mining.MinerImpl - Next attempt for acc=3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N in 41.305 seconds
2020-09-06 04:06:13,556 DEBUG [ecution-context-global-48] c.w.s.a.BlockAppender$ - [560c392d 5.189.182.6:52504] Appended Block(3bQwytTjwQCkQs2DWuoR5oqNKFtjAyDSftHQXrW2ALLQ29MpVBuX96231JW9joTGsYbbuyHaEuhrfUVvgFxdnJBs,2rTRaJqMrp2L3HvUfJ4FRQQGZGPM23kHVdhy1pAQucHLAvyG7QEHy6mMw9MfV7cjf7r2BDWYeyv7Eih3Uz83yVog,3P2HNUd5VUPLMQkJmctTPEeeHumiPN2GkTb,1599365173456,[],600000000)
2020-09-06 04:06:54,829 DEBUG [block-miner-35] c.w.mining.MinerImpl - Forging with <3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N>, Time 41369 > Estimated Time 41361, balance 3485157657499, prev block 2qNW6zpp419atqZbstbwnAijUAmk55ggWiSvFLu6eDDSMuMciMta9f8aNXWh1HybQe2i2R2KwMcRrhHwd8by2Ya7 at 2228616 with target 61
2020-09-06 04:06:54,842 DEBUG [appender-52] c.w.mining.MinerImpl - Next attempt for acc=3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N in 412.766 seconds
2020-09-06 04:06:54,887 DEBUG [block-miner-35] c.w.mining.MinerImpl - Forged and applied Block(5sWqTZbHP2p5T1ss31FnGx4s48an8Uf1czTbcHrkBwomRnN9j4HU9zw4Y7YvB1yWeHx3a17up3rF8397Upmbdntm,2qNW6zpp419atqZbstbwnAijUAmk55ggWiSvFLu6eDDSMuMciMta9f8aNXWh1HybQe2i2R2KwMcRrhHwd8by2Ya7,<3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N>,1599365214825,[],2000000000) with cumulative score 525712542186004822512224

This example record indicates that at 2020-09-06 04:06:13,517 the node 3PMj3yGPBEa1Sx9X4TBAFeJCMMaE3wvKR4N planned to generate block in 41.305 seconds and then in 41.305 seconds it started generating block and succeeded (Forged and applied Block 5sWqTZbHP2p5T1ss31FnGx4s48an8Uf1czTbcHrkBwomRnN9j4HU9zw4Y7YvB1yWeHx3a17up3rF8397Upmbdntm).

# The log says that my node generates blocks but they do not appear on the blockchain. Why?

Answer: In some cases, a block can be successfully generated by your node and that is indicated in the log, however that does not guarantee that the block will be accepted by the blockchain. The blockchain will accept the first uploaded block. There is a chance that another node generates block simultaneously with yours and uploads it to the network faster than yours. When a new block is uploaded to the blockchain, every node verifies if the block could really be generated in the time by such address. Use Waves Explorer to check timestamps and IDs on the nodes that succeed to generate blocks that appear on the blockchain.

# How many blocks can a node generate per day/month?

Answer: Use w8.io to review block generators performance for the latest 100,000 blocks. The last column shows the generator reward in WAVES, and the number of blocks in parentheses. The next block generator is selected based on probablistic (non-deterministic) algortigm, so the number of blocks created by nodes with the same balance may differ.

# How to generate more blocks?

Answer: To generate more blocks increase your generating balance, use fast internet connection and up-to-date hardware that suits node system requirements.

# Other Issues

If you have other node-related questions to discuss with Waves community, see Keep in Touch chapter for contact information.