Can block height change ?

[upal]

When I register the block height of a transaction with the following API, does that remain fixed forever ?

https://blockchain.info/rawtx/txHash

...and one more thing. I was checking this : http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockhash/273824 ...It used to return a proper block hash a few days ago. Now it says the following. Why so ?

ERROR: unknown (Most likely my bitcoind stopped working or this page is too large/complex.)

[yogi]

Not sure what you mean by 'register the block height of a transaction', but the likelihood of a block being orphaned becomes exponentially more improbable the deeper it is in the chain.

[upal]

Not sure what you mean by 'register the block height of a transaction', but the likelihood of a block being orphaned becomes exponentially more improbable the deeper it is in the chain.

I mean I was doing some calculation on the following transaction taking it as a reference.

https://blockchain.info/rawtx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

As far as I can remember, the block height I registered for this transaction was 273824. But now it seems, its block height is 266559 !!! So, I am confused, if it is my mistake or block height can change with time !!!

[yogi]

Not sure what you mean by 'register the block height of a transaction', but the likelihood of a block being orphaned becomes exponentially more improbable the deeper it is in the chain.

I mean I was doing some calculation on the following transaction taking it as a reference.

https://blockchain.info/rawtx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

As far as I can remember, the block height I registered for this transaction was 273824. But now it seems, its block height is 266559 !!! So, I am confused, if it is my mistake or block height can change with time !!!

What do you mean when you say 'block height I registered'?

You can not specify what height your transaction is in the block. It is up to the miner to include your transaction, or not.

[upal]

Not sure what you mean by 'register the block height of a transaction', but the likelihood of a block being orphaned becomes exponentially more improbable the deeper it is in the chain.

I mean I was doing some calculation on the following transaction taking it as a reference.

https://blockchain.info/rawtx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

As far as I can remember, the block height I registered for this transaction was 273824. But now it seems, its block height is 266559 !!! So, I am confused, if it is my mistake or block height can change with time !!!

What do you mean when you say 'block height I registered'?

You can not specify what height your transaction is in the block. It is up to the miner to include your transaction, or not.

registered means I noted down that value.

[yogi]

registered means I noted down that value.

Ah, ok.

While not impossible it is highly improbable that the block height of that transaction change by such a degree. A much more likely scenario is that the original number was erroneous.

[upal]

registered means I noted down that value.

Ah, ok.

While not impossible it is highly improbable that the block height of that transaction change by such a degree. A much more likely scenario is that the original number was erroneous.

OMG !!! Does it happen in Bitcoin protocol ? The block height can change !!! OOOPS.

Neways, can u plz tell me why this is happening ?

I was checking this : http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockhash/273824 ...It used to return a proper block hash a few days ago. Now it says the following. Why so ?

Code:

ERROR: unknown (Most likely my bitcoind stopped working or this page is too large/complex.)

[empoweoqwj]

Not sure what you mean by 'register the block height of a transaction', but the likelihood of a block being orphaned becomes exponentially more improbable the deeper it is in the chain.

I mean I was doing some calculation on the following transaction taking it as a reference.

https://blockchain.info/rawtx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

As far as I can remember, the block height I registered for this transaction was 273824. But now it seems, its block height is 266559 !!! So, I am confused, if it is my mistake or block height can change with time !!!

By 'block height' do you mean 'block length'?

[upal]

Not sure what you mean by 'register the block height of a transaction', but the likelihood of a block being orphaned becomes exponentially more improbable the deeper it is in the chain.

I mean I was doing some calculation on the following transaction taking it as a reference.

https://blockchain.info/rawtx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

As far as I can remember, the block height I registered for this transaction was 273824. But now it seems, its block height is 266559 !!! So, I am confused, if it is my mistake or block height can change with time !!!

By 'block height' do you mean 'block length'?

I am not sure what is 'block length', but in the link mentioned above blockchain.info returns a value against block_height, which if I deduct from current main chain block height (https://blockchain.info/q/getblockcount), returns the no. of confirmations.

[deepceleron]

Most of the blockexplorer.com "q" links like the OP, and other functions such as transaction hash lookup, are not working, likely for the exact reason it told you: Most likely my bitcoind stopped working.

The information in the other links is not contained in the blockchain, it is all derived information from the database that blockchain.info runs, including the comments. In addition, the numbers in that URL are internal database numbers that do not correspond with the actual block height, as orphaned blocks also are given numbers.

The transaction you reference can be seen here: https://blockchain.info/tx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

It was included in network block 266559.

[upal]

Most of the blockexplorer.com "q" links like the OP, and other functions such as transaction hash lookup, are not working, likely for the exact reason it told you: Most likely my bitcoind stopped working.

The information in the other links is not contained in the blockchain, it is all derived information from the database that blockchain.info runs, including the comments. In addition, the numbers in that URL are internal database numbers that do not correspond with the actual block height, as orphaned blocks also are given numbers.

The transaction you reference can be seen here: https://blockchain.info/tx/114f37f3e30c7d9b5d5339e9a1652f2f065d0413fe34ee1121de0f21a50aaed3

It was included in network block 266559.

So, does it mean, the values we see on blockchain.info, e.g. no. of confirmations, are not reliable ?

[sidazhang]

registered means I noted down that value.

Ah, ok.

While not impossible it is highly improbable that the block height of that transaction change by such a degree. A much more likely scenario is that the original number was erroneous.

OMG !!! Does it happen in Bitcoin protocol ? The block height can change !!! OOOPS.

Neways, can u plz tell me why this is happening ?

I was checking this : http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockhash/273824 ...It used to return a proper block hash a few days ago. Now it says the following. Why so ?

Code:

ERROR: unknown (Most likely my bitcoind stopped working or this page is too large/complex.)

Probably a bug in in blockexplorer
blockchain info endpoint is just fine
https://blockchain.info/block-height/273824