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How to become a Safrochain validator

Safrochain runs CometBFT proof-of-stake consensus. Validators stake SAF, sign blocks, and earn block rewards plus commission from delegations. This guide walks you through the entire lifecycle: prerequisites → key generation → create-validator → post-launch checks → going live.

1 · Prerequisites​

RequirementValue
safrochaind installedfollow Install safrochaind
Synced full nodesync to chain tip and confirm catching_up = false
Self-delegationminimum 1,000,000 usaf = 1 SAF (recommended much higher)
Available SAF for feesa few usaf for gas
Operator keysecp256k1, 24-word mnemonic stored offline
Hardwaresee Hardware requirements
Time syncchrony/ntp (Linux) or built-in NTP (macOS); offset < 250 ms

Verify your node is fully synced before continuing:

safrochaind status \
  | jq '.sync_info | {latest_block_height, latest_block_time, catching_up}'

If catching_up is true, wait for it to flip to false.

Install time-sync (one-time setup)​

sudo apt install -y chrony
sudo systemctl enable --now chrony
chronyc tracking | grep 'System time'

2 · Generate (or import) your operator key​

safrochaind keys add validator --keyring-backend file

safrochaind keys add validator --recover --keyring-backend file

safrochaind keys show validator -a --keyring-backend file

Important: copy and store the 24-word mnemonic offline; it is the only recovery path for this key.

Recommended keyring backends, in order: file (passphrase-protected) > os > test (only for a local development node). Never commit the keyring to a public machine or repository.

3 · Fund the operator address​

  • Mainnet: acquire SAF for self-delegation through the foundation validator programme or a partner exchange.
  • Testnet: request from https://faucet.safrochain.com/ (chain id safro-testnet-1).

Verify the balance:

safrochaind query bank balances "$(safrochaind keys show validator -a)"

4 · Get your consensus pubkey​

Each validator process generates priv_validator_key.json on first init. Read its consensus public key with:

PUBKEY=$(safrochaind comet show-validator)
echo "$PUBKEY"
# {"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey","key":"…"}

This is the value you pass to --pubkey below.

5 · Build the validator.json payload​

cat > validator.json <<EOF
{
  "pubkey": $PUBKEY,
  "amount": "10000000usaf",
  "moniker": "my-safro-validator",
  "identity": "",
  "website": "https://example.com",
  "security": "[email protected]",
  "details": "Run by Example Co.",
  "commission-rate": "0.05",
  "commission-max-rate": "0.20",
  "commission-max-change-rate": "0.01",
  "min-self-delegation": "1"
}
EOF

Field-by-field:

FieldMeaning
pubkeythe consensus pubkey from safrochaind comet show-validator
amountinitial self-delegation (in usaf); 10000000usaf = 10 SAF
monikerdisplay name in explorers
identityKeybase 16-char fingerprint (optional, used for avatars)
website / security / detailsdescription shown on validator page
commission-rate% of rewards you take (0.05 = 5 %)
commission-max-ratehard ceiling, cannot be raised later
commission-max-change-ratemaximum daily commission delta
min-self-delegationbonded floor; if self-delegation drops below this, you are unbonded

6 · Submit tx staking create-validator​

safrochaind tx staking create-validator validator.json \
  --from validator \
  --chain-id safro-testnet-1 \
  --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.3 \
  --fees 5000usaf \
  --keyring-backend file \
  --node https://rpc.testnet.safrochain.com:443 \
  --yes

7 · Verify the validator was created​

VALADDR=$(safrochaind keys show validator --bech val -a)
safrochaind query staking validator "$VALADDR" \
  --node https://rpc.testnet.safrochain.com:443

You should see your moniker, tokens (initial self-delegation), and status: BOND_STATUS_BONDED.

8 · Confirm signing​

Watch the validator power and your last_signed_height rise:

VALCONSADDR=$(safrochaind comet show-address)

curl -s https://rpc.safrochain.network/validators \
  | jq --arg a "$VALCONSADDR" '.result.validators[] | select(.address==$a)'

journalctl -u safrochaind -f | grep -i 'signed.*vote'

9 · Set up monitoring before going live​

CometBFT exposes Prometheus metrics on :26660 when prometheus = true in config.toml. At minimum, scrape and alert on:

  • cometbft_consensus_validator_missed_blocks (downtime → jail)
  • cometbft_consensus_height (must keep increasing on every node)
  • node CPU / disk pressure on the validator host
  • NTP/chrony time drift (signing with a clock skew > a few seconds is risky)

Wire these into your existing observability stack (Prometheus + Grafana, Datadog, Grafana Cloud, Better Uptime, etc.) and hook a paging channel (Discord, PagerDuty, OpsGenie) to the critical alerts.

10 · (Recommended) Move signing off the validator host​

The local priv_validator_key.json is convenient but creates a single point of failure. Once your validator is stable, move signing to a remote signer such as CometBFT remote signer or Horcrux 2-of-3 (threshold MPC) so that no single host holds a usable key. Both projects ship production-ready Docker images and detailed migration guides.

Day-2 reference​

ActionCommand
Edit description / commissionsafrochaind tx staking edit-validator --commission-rate 0.06 …
Self-delegate moresafrochaind tx staking delegate $VALADDR 5000000usaf …
Unjail after downtimesafrochaind tx slashing unjail --from validator …
Unbond (begin exit)safrochaind tx staking unbond $VALADDR <amount>usaf …

Read Slashing & jail before going further. The unbonding period is non-trivial and downtime has on-chain consequences.

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