Glossary
Solana Validator Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the Solana validator terms used across this site. Use the EN/KO toggle in the header to switch languages.
Terms
- Epoch
- Solana groups blocks into 'epochs' — fixed windows of 432,000 slots that take about 2 days to complete on mainnet. Most validator metrics on this site are reported per epoch: an epoch closes, and its numbers become final.
- Slot
- A slot is the smallest unit of Solana's leader rotation — about 400ms. Each slot has exactly one validator scheduled as the leader; if that validator produces a block in the slot, it earns the block's fees.
- Leader schedule
- Before each epoch starts, Solana deterministically assigns leader slots to validators — biased by activated stake (more stake → more slots). The schedule is the source of truth for "which validator was supposed to produce block N".
- Skip rate
- The percentage of leader slots a validator failed to produce. 0% is perfect; consistently above ~5% usually means an unhealthy node or a misconfigured one. Skip rate is one of the cleanest signals of operator quality because it's stake-neutral.
- Block fee
- Total fees the leader receives for a block they produced. Decomposes into 'base fee' (a fixed 5,000 lamports per signature) and 'priority fee' (an optional extra users pay to outbid others for inclusion).
- Priority fee
- Optional extra users pay to outbid others for transaction inclusion in busy blocks. Since SIMD-96, 100% of priority fees go to the block leader (no burn).
- MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)
- Profit traders extract by re-ordering, inserting, or front-running transactions in a block. On Solana, most MEV flows through the Jito block engine — searchers bid for inclusion, the leader collects 'tips' on-chain.
- Jito tips
- On-chain SOL transfers to one of Jito's 8 tip accounts, deposited by traders to land bundles in this validator's blocks. This site derives MEV tips directly from produced block data.
- Jito TipRouter
- The on-chain program that distributes Jito MEV tips. It takes a protocol fee, then routes the rest to the validator and its delegators. WhoEarns reports the raw tips observed in produced blocks, not a delayed payout feed.
- Lamport
- The smallest unit of SOL. 1 SOL = 1,000,000,000 lamports. All raw on-chain amounts are lamports; this site shows both lamport (string for BigInt safety) and SOL (decimal) representations.
- Vote account
- The on-chain account stakers delegate to. A validator has exactly ONE vote account that lives across the lifetime of the validator — it's the canonical identifier and survives identity-key rotations.
- Identity pubkey
- The validator's hot key — signs blocks and votes. Operators may rotate this key periodically (common security practice) while keeping the same vote account.
- Activated stake
- The total SOL currently delegated to a validator and "active" (delegations have a one-epoch warmup). Drives leader-slot allocation: more activated stake = more leader slots = more income.
- Commission
- The percentage cut the validator takes from inflation rewards before passing the rest to delegators. NOTE: this site shows the OPERATOR side income — what the validator earns. Delegator yield = (1 - commission) × operator yield.
- APR / APY (operator)
- Annualised return on activated stake from the operator side. Calculated as (block fees + on-chain Jito tips) / activated stake × ~182 epochs/year. Distinct from the delegator-facing APR which subtracts the validator commission.
Missing a term? Send a PR on GitHub or ping 0base.vc.