Bitcoin Forum

I literally last night moved a lot of my coins off core to a copay wallet because my mac had run out of disk.  I wake up this morning and read the awesome news!

Installed, changed the bitcoin.conf file, started core, about 1min later I had reclaimed 55GB.

Thanks core devs!

Why is that , are you talking the new version ? what changed exactly because I read the changelog and I honestly didn't understand much , too much technical stuff .

I have not tried the prune with wallet version... However, I still think only the "un-prune" mode will truely benefit the network.

I heard the previous version did not support wallet function. Is the latest version supporting that?

same thing i've used the minimum 550, and now from 65 giga i've only 1.80 used, my ssd can breathe again

you don't even need the config, it's pretty easy with the command line on the shortcut

The new Bitcoin Core version (0.12.0) enables you to run a wallet in pruned mode. This means that you can use it without storing the whole blockchain. Essentially it can cut down the usage from around 60 GB of data to around ~2 GB. You only store the last X amount of blocks.

Is this better than using an SPV wallet, or is it the same?  I don't get the benefit of storing any of the blockchain, if you aren't going to store the whole thing.  Maybe I just don't understand how it works.

Of course it is. You are a pruned node, which is not the case with a SPV wallet. Essentially you can help others become pruned nodes as well, but you are unable to help people become full nodes. Security also depends on how many blocks (storage) you set to hold.

thats not what the original version of what prune mode was envisioned.

the original vision was to no longer keep spent data. but keep every unspent

now all of a sudden 2500 people who regularly upgrade are no longer going to hold full data should they enable lite node(which core wrongly calls prune)..
it should be called trim mode.. any gardener can explain the difference
pruning only cutting off the dead parts that are not needed.
trimming cutting off larger areas to improve asthetics and space for growth

but just keeping recent relay data is like cutting off the tree and only keeping the ripe fruit.. good old blockstream adding features to dilute the population of REAL FULL nodes. and leaving the community with a patch work of litenodes and compatible nodes.

if people dont have full history of unspents. then they cannot validate that a transaction is authentic.
why oh why do people think that making full node clients into crippled versions is a good thing. because fundamentally its not. if you want lite clients then download a lite client

stop trying to advertise that running in lite mode is better then sliced bread. if you want to say your a full node then dont cripple yourself or believe your still a full node after enabling such features

if your going to run (better to call it trim/lite) mode atleast accept your just a relay node and not a full archival node

Whatever it is or supposed to be called, trimmed or pruned, it is better for people who wants to run a node. Many people simply do not have 60 GB spare on their disks

to reserve for a Bitcoin node, especially the people running it on smaller SSD's. This might not be the ideal solution, but it's better for more people with limited resources.

There is a lot you can do with 50+ GB extra disk space, like storing porn and sharing it on paying torrents.  ;D

No, you cant help anyone else become any form of node as a pruned node. You dont share old blocks and in order to become a pruned node all blocks must be downloaded and verified.

Funny that Blockstream FUDsters would say that they are giving the community reasons to not run full nodes when not a while ago they were supporting BIP101 because Blockstream FUDsters are braindead zombies that will say "yes sir" to anyone that gets supported by Gavin.
No one on Core has said that running lite nodes is better... they are just giving people options. If your computer is too old to run a full node, now you can run at least a lite node, which is better nothing, but of course Gavinistas always must complain.

Interesting. It seems that I was wrong. I was under impression that it functioned so and actually thought that you're the one who told me this a while back. So essentially if you start fresh with setting for a pruned node you have to go through everything but only keep the latest X amount of blocks? What does a pruned node relay, or does it relay nothing?

Yes, you need to get all blocks.
Yes, you relay new blocks and transactions (I remember telling you this, maybe there was a mix up).
You cant however relay old blocks and as they are needed for a pruned node with wallet you cant help others synching.

So essentially you keep relaying blocks and transactions but can't help others become a node of any sort? Now I understand it, and it does make sense.

Which is precisely what it does. All the information on unspent outputs is retained. This is why a pruned node set to keep 550 MB of the most recent blocks ends up needing about 2GB space currently.

A pruned node is a full node, and does the same verification as a non-pruned node.

Please confirm that you understand this and realize your error now.

care to give Lauda a correction

and thank you for correcting that. can you also find a way to make this more aware in the literature etc as i know alot of people will have 2 comments
1. "if i can set it to store only 550mb of data, thats not enough for the unspents so something must get lost"
2. "why have i put it at 550mb default but my hard drive is showing 2gb"

making both people think what is the purpose of 550mb

try to make it clear that all unspents are available thus able to be used to validate transactions.. as from what i read about
"storing only 550mb of latest blocks" left alot of holes in what was actually happening. which we both know would make the node not able to fully validate if it didnt have full unspent data.

so try to make it clearer in the literature that the 550mb default is not the reality of data storage but is the 'trigger' to enable pruning of spents. and as a separate thing (im presuming) to hold separately the latest data aswell incase of orphans/forks etc.

as its just not worked that clearly

When did you become someone that needs spoon feeding?



https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/v0.11.0/doc/release-notes.md#block-file-pruning

If im not mistaken you need to download the entire blockchain the first time you run Bitcoin, to enable prune mode. So you are not saved from downloading the entire blockchain once, so someone that cannot run a node because he lacks space, will face the same problem... of course its cool to claim back extra space, but the ideal would be to not need to download the entire blockchain to run prune mode.

Is there something like this planned in the future or its considered impossible?

i know i know as i said before, that the real definition of pruning was as you said..
but the 550mb has got alot of people into a pickle that it must cut out some of the UTXO (laymens:unspent) to get to a possible level of 550mb hard drive space.

it needs to be clarified better that the 550mb is not total hard drive storage allocation of everything related to the blockchain but the separate parts related just to recent data that can change. and not related to archival data of unspents.

it may be wrote down in some places as far back as 2013-4-5 when the term pruning first came about. but the 2016 info on the actual release has made some left in a pickle thinking v0.12 is not the same as the original definition of pruning

So actually running Bitcoin Core in prune mode is only beneficial for you if you want to cut disk usage and if you run out of space on your SSD or something.
You can't help network, your online presence is not counting as a node.

But it still a great functionality nonetheless and I think this is the feature many of us find the most useful.

Do you people even take the time to read about things before claiming stuff? Right on this thread a couple of post above yours there is Gmaxwell himself explaining that you help the network by running a lite node so I don't know what you are talking about. How would it be useful if it still didn't help the network anyway.

The quotes are one click away from the 0.12 released notes. If thats too much for "some" they can ask for help.


A pruned node is still a full (verifying) node, it just cant help others become full nodes.

Next time try to spend some time to read before typing. It's funny how braindead people can achieve "Hero member" status just by spamming posts.

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

Your question doesn't make much sense. What do you mean with "old wallet"?

You cant change the wallet file with a pruned node, you cant import keys into the existing file either. Well you can do both, but it would require you to start from scratch, download the entire chain, build your databases and prune the raw blockchain data as you go along.

Bitcoin core = gods

to input a new privkey (EG a paperwallet ) requires starting from scratch each time?

any other work around, like disabling prune mode temporarily then enabling it again?

has anyone ran prune mode and then once pruned set it from 550 to 0 (disabling it) to see if it throws up errors, or if it just starts grabbing all data again, to allow people to get clogged up for an hour or less while they import privkeys and then enable prune mode again to then reprune whatever it grabbed in that hour..

rather than having to start truly from scratch?

yeah i was thinking about the fact that from now spv client are pretty much useless, you don't have the excuse anymore about the blockchain size and the ssd space that is insufficient

all other client are obsolete if you're not a retarded at securing your coins, still offline signing are useful, i don't remember but they are not possible with core

That was my problem, using my 5 year old wallet in a new prune node, only way around this (the only way to do this) use a full node data place your wallet.dat file load qt let it index all your txid's (like normal) shut down. Then enable prune mode. Basically prune mode makes a custom data folder just for your wallet. If you remove your wallet and reload prune qt, it will work ~ 2 weeks out but if you go past that you'll have to start all over. Best bet is to keep the wallet.dat and pruned data folder together and each time you run qt in prune mode make sure you keep the same wallet.dat file you started with. You cant resync in prune mode.

That or just make a new wallet.dat and keep using it. Basically the prune qt works in tandem with your wallet.dat they have to stay in sync ~ under 2 weeks together, else it wont work.. Due to you only having the last 2 weeks of blockchain data.

Or you can start from scratch place your wallet.dat file into a empty data folder and start from 6+ years ago. It loads ALOT faster through prune mode.

Hope this made a little sense :)

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Does not work for me who constantly swapping wallet.dat

ya likewise, what i have done is run 2 nodes, 1 full node other pruned and sync my "cold wallet" and removed the wallet.dat file, and shut down the prune node. When i want access to my cold wallet i'll do like i did before with the full node, copy my wallet.dat file unto the custom prune data folder and let it "catch up" to the latest blocks.

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congratulation for some people who had installed latest stable version of Bitcoin Core: 0.12.0
i wish i can mine bitcoin and use the latest bitcoin core next version.

So if I have a wallet created a year ago, and had several transactions by receiving funds, but did not sync. So I have to download the whole chain again to sync, is that right?

Im not entirely sure I understand your question, but if you did not sync a pruned node for too long it might have to start from scratch yes. If you have an existing non-pruned node that you last synced a year ago and want to turn into a pruned one now you can do that and only need to sync the last year.

Lauda, thanks for clearing this up.  I thought there must be a big "catch" if you aren't storing the whole blockchain.  This makes perfect sense.  I'm going to continue running a full nodes so that I can help other new nodes.  Right now I am running a full node on a Raspberry Pi 2, I'll probably need to upgrade within the next year.

Well just tried loading my cold wallet, with my "cold" pruned blockchain data and did not work, wont sync or what ever even though they both stop at the same place in the blockchain, in theory they should just start where it left off at. But its not, like it doesn't know where it stop at and it only has access to the latest 2 weeks of data...

Not a happy camper with this "pruned" version

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I never installed core because of the so high disk consumption, but this "pruning" does not seem to be too different from other lightweight clients. If you are not going to have the whole blockchain, what is the point of it really?

Honestly only reason i keep a full node to have access to my wallet.dat file and no one else. I don't even have port forwarding opening hate all those connects/reconnects tearing down my poor router..

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Sounds great for those who want to run core but want abit of space back.  Great idea to have it download the entire blockchain before going into prune mode,  meaning that everyone has to independently verify the entire blockchain.   ;)

so is pruned mode activated from the console then?  what is the command?

Is the prune mode activated automatically in 0.12?

I have the old 0.11 Core and I want to keep the whole block chain.

Hello mates!

Please, I have one question (maybe it's an stupid question).
How is the correct way to prune the database?

I'm with Windows version.
Run the core, download all the blockchain (finally 66Gb in disk).
Go to command line and text:
prune=5000
and receive:
Method not found (code -32601)

Then try with another possible spelling of the command, but nothing happens...

My next step was trying to set it in the bitcoin.conf file.
WTH! I have not this file!
well, I created it, nothing happens.

I dont know what I was doing bad :(

No, you need to enable pruning.


You create a file named bitcoin.conf in your bitcoin folder, write prune=5000 in it and restart core.

Make sure its not named bitcoin.conf.txt or something like that.

Oh and make sure you keep that 66 gb folder backup before you do, else if something goes wrong you'll have to start from scratch and redownload it all.. again.

That includes changing wallets.dat file out too.. will have to "re prune" it

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going back to my first post i was trying to correct lauda who seemed to suggest it only stored recent blocks.


kind of funny that shorena would defend lauda (who thinks bitcoin is programmed in java) and then argue that im wrong. when i was saying the correct info..

as for my point about clarifying it.


not everyone knows that there are 4 categories of data. and alot of people think WTF is a UTXO..
the problem is that things need to be laymens. EG dont call it UTXO, call it unspents, its only 3 characters longer to type yet gives an easier understanding of the meaning.
i know geeks like to look smart by making up new buzzwords so they can get 5 minutes of fame telling the world how they create the buzzword that caught on and become fashionable.. but to the 7 billion people on the planet, buzzwords are causing bitcoin to become less open and transparent to the world.

and this very topic has proven to have got alot of people into a pickle about it. and people still unsure about it. so obviously the developers need to do more on the laymen communication side of things.

after all if it takes 3 pages of random questions. then obviously the documentation is lacking the basics..
thats all i was saying

Not sure where you think I "defended" Lauda and for what reason. I usually dont care who the other person is, but try to make sure the information they get is correct.


I agree.


Maybe "laymens" dont need to know this at all, but just that when they set "prune" to "550" that there are other important information that need to be stored on top of the 550 MB. I sometimes get feeling that core (or classic, doesnt matter) is less and less aimed at "laymans", but will be run by "geeks" or other enthusiasts anyway.


I mostly get the feeling that "geeks" or "nerds" have a tendency to avoid buzzwords (web 2.0, Industry 4.0 etc.), because they have no clear meaning. As long as the term is precise enough it will do though.


RTFM is all I was saying. I think we have a different philosophy here. When I encounter a problem I usually try to find the answer in the available documents, if that does not help and Im familiar with the language I try the source (if available), the IRC channel, a mailing list (if one exists and questions are allowed) and a forum.

There is no shame in having to ask or to ask first instead of trying the manual or docs. I dont think the patch notes could have been clearer, but since you think otherwise maybe we can take this as an example how they could be improved?

i too like to research, but im finding it more and more apparent that i am being asked by others about what this means and what that means.

put it this way do people ask "how does an iphone work" or do they just try it and see... because even though there is code behind it. its done without using buzzwords. that have no laymen meaning when communicating its usefulness away from the sourcecode.
EG does UTXO (saving typing just 3 less keys on a keyboard) really make things better. "unspents" just makes more sense.
there is ultimately no reason in any way possible that the word UTXO should have any preference when used in public bitcoin communications

bitcoin core can have real complex code but then make very simple explanations to bring it down to laymens prospective. i have spent the last 2 years atleast translating code into laymens and it is starting to get apparent that although core pretends to want decentralization and pretends to add features to make more available to the majority, but always fails in the description and details to gain that growth

EG my background is in the coding of adding comments and also having separate documentation for pseudocode and procedure charts to bring the code down to a level anyone can grasp. including case-scenarios and analogies

i have asked a few of the dev coders, aswell as some of the famous youtubers who like to simplify bitcoin and even a few in the bitcoin foundation to do something about opening up bitcoins understanding to the masses. yet even now bitcoin core seems to want to remain as the closed off centre of bitcoin that does not want to share or be part of the community.

its got nothing to to with my lack of understanding or research and more so about the general public endlessly asking questions.

blockstream aka bitcoin core really need to work on their communications, because even their number one fan, Lauda seems to have failed to grasp it

Probably, yes at least depending on the one you talk to.


Well, its a grown term and it grew from those very familiar with bitcoin. We might need new terms over time, I agree, but I dont think patch notes are the right place to introduce them.


I have to assume here, because I didnt talk to anyone about this, but I would assume that its not that they dont want the results. Doing this kind of work sounds like something coders hate. Many coders I know claim their code can be read without comments, docs or all that other "nonsense". They of course fail to see that someone might not be able to read the code if they are not familiar with that language or at least a variety of other languages. Im pretty sure though that any project (be that core, classic or any of the others forks) would gladly welcome results.


I dont think this is limited to any specific project within bitcoin. I have to say the patch notes for classic 0.11.2 are simple[1], but there is also nothing overly complex to pitch. The roadmap on the other hand is very vague[2] and I am e.g. not sure what "Software based on Bitcoin Core implementation 0.11.2 and 0.12.0." should tell me. There is no information about which parts are picked and which are not, e.g. does classic include pruning?

Yes, I agree cores patch notes could have been easier. Patch notes in 'simple language' might be a good idea (for any project), but unless someone volunteers to do the work I dont think it will happen.

[1] https://github.com/bitcoinclassic/bitcoinclassic#what-is-bitcoin
[2] https://github.com/bitcoinclassic/documentation/blob/master/roadmap/roadmap2016.md

can anyone explain why a pruned node can't be used as a wallet?

It can.

very good allow me to run core on shitty ssd with few giga and install my games