Eclair Fee Policy Errors — Fix Fee Configuration and Routing Revenue Issues

Eclair Fee Policy Errors can prevent your node from routing payments effectively. This guide covers the most common fee-related issues and how to fix them.

1. feebase/feeproportional Rejected by Peer

Error: peer rejected channel update — fee_base_msat too low

Cause: Your fee policy violates peer's minimum requirements.

eclair-cli updaterelayfee --feeBaseMsat=1000 --feeProportionalMillionths=100

2. Channel Update Not Propagating

Symptom: Updated fees but routing nodes still use old values. Gossip propagation delay or rate-limit.

# Force re-broadcast by toggling fee:
eclair-cli updaterelayfee --feeBaseMsat=1001
sleep 60
eclair-cli updaterelayfee --feeBaseMsat=1000

3. HTLC Minimum/Maximum Mismatch

Error: HTLC amount below minimum or above maximum msat

eclair-cli channel --channelId=ID | jq '.data.commitments.params.localParams | {htlcMinimumMsat, maxHtlcValueInFlightMsat}'

Fix in eclair.conf:

eclair.channel.htlc-minimum-msat = 1
eclair.channel.max-htlc-value-in-flight-percent = 100

4. Fee Rate Too Low — HTLC Rejected

Error: remote fee rate below dust limit threshold. On-chain fees spiked. Eclair refuses HTLCs if commitment tx fee drops below safe threshold.

bitcoin-cli estimatesmartfee 6
# Ensure eclair.conf:
eclair.on-chain-fees.feerate-provider-timeout = 10 seconds

5. Audit Routing Revenue

eclair-cli audit | jq '{
  earned: [.received[] | select(.type=="channel-routing-fee") | .amount] | add,
  spent: [.sent[] | select(.type | test("on-chain")) | .amount] | add
}'

Quick Reference

eclair-cli updaterelayfee --feeBaseMsat=1000 --feeProportionalMillionths=500
eclair-cli audit | jq '[.received[] | select(.type=="channel-routing-fee")] | length'

Related: Eclair Watchtower Errors | CLN Gossip Errors | LND Fee Estimation Errors