2026.10 QUIC Communication Port activation 

Introduction

Starting with update 2026.10 all nodes must open an additional UDP network port for QUIC communication. By default nodes will start listening on an QUIC port without action from the node operator, however, as with the classical RLDP port, all nodes must be reachable from the public internet on the QUIC port. Operators who place their nodes behind NAT and/or firewalls must ensure that traffic to and from the QUIC port is whitelisted and transparently forwarded to the node.

Activation Roadmap, Deadlines, and Consequences

April 9, 2026: Activation of QUIC Protocol for validator nodes (Completed).

October 23, 2026: Activation of QUIC Protocol for all nodes.

All nodes must open their QUIC ports by the end of the day on October 23, 2026. Nodes that fail to open the QUIC port will have problems to remain synchronized with the network.

Port configuration

Node operators have four options for defining the QUIC port:

1)  Use defaults.

Unless configured otherwise, the node will use its main RLDP port number, increased by 1000, for QUIC communication. For example, if your node used UDP port 10000, it will use UDP port 11000 for QUIC.

Please be aware that your main node port must be =< 64536 for this to function, if your main node port is above 64536 you need to adjust it or define custom QUIC port using methods outlined below.

Verify the functionality of the QUIC port on your node using the instructions at the end of this publication.

2) Use the validator-engine-console.

Adjustments by the validator-engine-console can be performed online without stopping the validator process.

add-quic-addr <ip>:<port> [ 1 2 ] [ ]

Where ip is the public IP address of the node and port is the custom port number.

For example:

add-quic-addr 8.8.8.8:15000 [ 1 2 ] [ ] 

3) Manual adjustment of the node configuration file.

Manual adjustments cannot be performed online. You must stop the validator-engine process during the adjustment.

Define the QUIC listener.

Add or adjust the element within the .addrs leaf of the configuration file as follows:

  {
   "@type": "engine.quicAddr",
   "ip": <ip_dec>,
   "port": <port>,
   "categories": [
    1,
    2
   ],

Where ip_dec is the public IP address of the node in decimal format (you can copy the value from the "engine.addr" element of the .addrs array), and port is the desired port number.

Testing Network Communication

We advise testing your NAT/firewall infrastructure as follows:

On node host

Start netcat UDP listener on desired QUIC port

nc -u -l -p <port>

Send test packet from remote host on the internet, outside of security perimiter

echo “hello QUIC” | nc -u <public_ip> <port> -w 3

If UDP packet was able to reach the node you will see string “hello QUIC” on console of node.