Warning: Unknown block versions being mined? just seen this warning

[gabrio81]

hi guys,

I was just syncing my Bitcoin Core, which I usually do on regular basis and I just noticed this message at the top:

Warning: Unknown block versions being mined! It's possible unknown rules are in effect.

Do I need to worry about that? What does it mean? It seems is syncing as usual...

thanks,
Gabrio

[1714114159]

1714114159

[AdolfinWolf]

I don't think so. It seems to be something that occurs regularly..

https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/46318/bitcond-v0-12-1-updatetip-6-of-last-100-blocks-have-unexpected-version

Yes. You can ignore this.

This means that some miners have mined (still compatible) blocks with a version number unknown to Bitcoin Core.

Generally this indicates that some miners have mined blocks that signal non Bitcoin Core compatible soft- or hard-forks. Very likely a 2MB hardfork after BIP109 implemented by Bitcoin Classic.

And it generally means that nothing special is happening really..

[gabrio81]

I don't think so. It seems to be something that occurs regularly..

https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/46318/bitcond-v0-12-1-updatetip-6-of-last-100-blocks-have-unexpected-version

Yes. You can ignore this.

This means that some miners have mined (still compatible) blocks with a version number unknown to Bitcoin Core.

Generally this indicates that some miners have mined blocks that signal non Bitcoin Core compatible soft- or hard-forks. Very likely a 2MB hardfork after BIP109 implemented by Bitcoin Classic.

And generally means nothing special really..

thanks!

[crypto_curious]

Same message here as of 2nd May 2019. Bitcoin Core version 0.17.1.

Code:

2019-05-02T14:17:55Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000002580da1308bd623edb0eaf6a1ddc35aace928052b5227a height=574275 version=0x20000000 log2_work=90.599005 tx=408895371 date='2019-05-02T14:17:26Z' progress=1.000000 cache=79.7MiB(595054txo) warning='50 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:30:01Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000090bed4a88f3b8f718b65f50cc24f0e07d4b01c0cc2b5e height=574276 version=0x20400000 log2_work=90.599026 tx=408898676 date='2019-05-02T14:29:36Z' progress=1.000000 cache=80.3MiB(599990txo) warning='51 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:32:19Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000d24d81d9c210e3a6b395b7e7131e0e65b65a0b9f55900 height=574277 version=0x20000000 log2_work=90.599047 tx=408902035 date='2019-05-02T14:32:01Z' progress=1.000000 cache=80.8MiB(604257txo) warning='50 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:34:38Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000023c074d1e9f750124bcbf3a87caa260e4a2bcda406a517 height=574278 version=0x20000000 log2_work=90.599068 tx=408904262 date='2019-05-02T14:34:20Z' progress=1.000000 cache=80.9MiB(605372txo) warning='49 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:36:36Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000001863e339a9037ca713a77efa29ec3252539ffb9efd97a3 height=574279 version=0x20400000 log2_work=90.599089 tx=408907160 date='2019-05-02T14:36:17Z' progress=1.000000 cache=81.2MiB(607521txo) warning='49 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:38:43Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000002c3471ec9a32c8d4a5adf7d0933dff3a63d9b1c549640a height=574280 version=0x20400000 log2_work=90.59911 tx=408909101 date='2019-05-02T14:38:27Z' progress=1.000000 cache=81.3MiB(608660txo) warning='50 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:40:23Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000257f1d1eb33a76b8267333f1791b70e34e9c99cfed453 height=574281 version=0x20000000 log2_work=90.599131 tx=408910477 date='2019-05-02T14:40:09Z' progress=1.000000 cache=81.5MiB(609814txo) warning='50 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T14:52:59Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000012a1da95dbb758f4bfa8301e55a4761856abfc57369e6c height=574282 version=0x20000000 log2_work=90.599152 tx=408913469 date='2019-05-02T14:52:45Z' progress=1.000000 cache=82.1MiB(615014txo) warning='50 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'
2019-05-02T15:02:08Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000278b0686b2ab188e9ef13a499a996b6bdfeb4a16dc71ab height=574283 version=0x20400000 log2_work=90.599173 tx=408916402 date='2019-05-02T15:01:19Z' progress=1.000000 cache=82.6MiB(618858txo) warning='50 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version.'

50% of blocks using different version of software, or signalling for something? What is that?

[achow101]

50% of blocks using different version of software, or signalling for something? What is that?

The warning is benign. There is no soft fork happening and miners aren't currently signalling for anything. This warning is triggered because miners are using overt Asicboost which basically uses the block version number as a nonce. This means that blocks are being produced with unexpected version numbers which triggers this warning.

[calkob]

50% of blocks using different version of software, or signalling for something? What is that?

The warning is benign. There is no soft fork happening and miners aren't currently signalling for anything. This warning is triggered because miners are using overt Asicboost which basically uses the block version number as a nonce. This means that blocks are being produced with unexpected version numbers which triggers this warning.

Am i right in saying that this warning has been removed in 0.18.0 ?

[achow101]

Am i right in saying that this warning has been removed in 0.18.0 ?

Yes. It has been removed since it's constantly triggering now.

[fillippone]

Am i right in saying that this warning has been removed in 0.18.0 ?

Yes. It has been removed since it's constantly triggering now.

Relevant release note:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/15471

[Charles Sweeney]

I am using the latest version of Bitcoin Core and I get the "warning" in the debug log.

Version:

"version": 190001,
"subversion": "/Satoshi:0.19.0.1/",

Warning:

"2020-01-31T13:48:49Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000b5b0e9239b0f34b17bd7127d8ea3e7df71fcff32c4da7 height=615367 version=0x20600000 log2_work=91.614776 tx=498470771 date='2020-01-31T13:48:17Z' progress=1.000000 cache=507.2MiB(3674023txo) warning='66 of last 100 blocks have unexpected version'"

I understand it's harmless but I don't like the look of it, particularly as I am not an expert in this field and any "warning" spooks me - especially if it's got anything to do with money!  I was pretty concerned when I first read it, so it was straight on to Google, ending up here (nice to be back btw).

If it must be reported, I think it could be phrased better.  Why be warned about something that is harmless??  Something like "info" or "notice" would be far better.  Would have saved me the time researching it and worrying about it!

[ranochigo]

-snip-

Just to explain the existence of its warning; with a different version numbers, the client would automatically assume that the miners could be voting for activation of an unknown rule for the network. This could be dangerous for the client if the client doesn't know what the miners are signalling for and thus what the change is about.

In this case, it's simply the fact that the miners are using overt ASICBoost which changes the versionbit to one that is non-standard. The client would automatically display a warning as it has an unknown version but it wouldn't be that big of a concern to most since it only appears in the debug.log.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

This warning has been continuous on my node in the debug log for months upon months. I’ve been told by various people that it’s nothing to worry about.

There was a similar warning that became obsolete during one of the more recent upgrades. They should remove this one too.

[Charles Sweeney]

Just to explain the existence of its warning; with a different version numbers, the client would automatically assume that the miners could be voting for activation of an unknown rule for the network. This could be dangerous for the client if the client doesn't know what the miners are signalling for and thus what the change is about.

In this case, it's simply the fact that the miners are using overt ASICBoost which changes the versionbit to one that is non-standard. The client would automatically display a warning as it has an unknown version but it wouldn't be that big of a concern to most since it only appears in the debug.log.

Thanks, ranochigo.  That's interesting, so potentially it could be dangerous, so perhaps the "warning" word is correct.  So the client is throwing a warning because it's completely in the dark but everyone else knows what it is.  I think I can live with that!

[larryfranky]

This is nothing to worry about.