What this module covers
- What “operating” a validator actually means day-to-day
- Uptime, performance, and missed duties
- Monitoring and alerts
- Updates, restarts, and common operational mistakes
What operating a validator means
Once a validator is active, your job is to ensure that:
- The node stays online and in sync
- Validator duties are performed on time
- Software is kept up to date, especially close to hard forks
- Issues are detected and addressed quickly
Uptime and performance
Validators are expected to:
- Be always online
- Avoid frequent disconnects or restarts
Repeated or prolonged downtime leads to:
- Missed attestations
- Reduced rewards
- Gradual penalties
Missed duties
If a validator is:
- Offline
- Out of sync
- Unable to reach its EL or CL client
Then it may:
- Miss attestations
- Miss proposals
- Miss sync committee participations
Missing duties is not a big deal, but patterns of failure increase losses and indicate setup issues that need fixing.
Monitoring
You should be able to answer, at any time:
- Are my EL and CL clients running?
- Are they synced?
- Is my validator performing its duties successfully?
Monitoring can be:
- Built into the client
- Exposed via metrics
- Checked through public explorers
The goal is early detection, not perfect dashboards.
Updates and restarts
Client updates are normal and expected.
Good practice:
- Read release notes before updating
- Avoid unnecessary restarts
- Restart intentionally, not repeatedly
- Never update blindly during known incidents
Unplanned restarts are a common source of missed duties.
Common operational mistakes
- Restarting clients without checking sync status
- Updating EL or CL without understanding compatibility
- Ignoring warning logs
- Assuming “no news is good news”
- Letting small issues persist for days
Most problems start small and become costly when ignored.
Read more here
- Beaconcha.in validator explorer
- Ethereum validator performance & duties
End of the module
Before moving on, you should be able to answer:
What “good enough” uptime means in practice
What causes missed attestations
How you would notice if your validator is unhealthy
Why careless restarts and updates are risky