Overview
Monad testnet release v0.12.6 includes operational updates that operators should treat as mandatory in validator environments. The release introduces a peer discovery rate limit setting and a service startup adjustment that directly affect network stability under growth.
Operators should add ping_rate_limit_per_second = 100 under [peer_discovery] in node.toml. This aligns node behavior with the updated networking defaults and helps avoid avoidable peer discovery instability as peer counts and validator connectivity pressure increase.
Context
For deployments that use systemd overrides with monad-bft, ensure the service includes --persisted-peers-path /home/monad/monad-bft/config/peers.toml. Persisted peers reduce cold-start churn and improve reconnection consistency after process restarts or host-level maintenance windows.
After applying configuration changes, restart Monad services and verify BFT, execution, and RPC health before returning to normal operations. Missing discovery settings or stale overrides can cause connectivity variance and slower recovery behavior during routine restart scenarios.
Operational Impact
Source: https://docs.monad.xyz/node-ops/upgrade-instructions/v0.12.6
- v0.12.6 requires ping_rate_limit_per_second = 100 under [peer_discovery] in node.toml.
- Systemd override setups must include --persisted-peers-path for monad-bft.
- Persisted peers reduce restart churn and improve reconnection stability.
- Restart and verify BFT, execution, and RPC health after applying the upgrade.