--- title: Run a Parachain RPC Node description: Follow this guide to understand hardware and software requirements and how to set up and run an RPC node for any parachain, including system parachains. categories: - Infrastructure url: https://docs.polkadot.com/node-infrastructure/run-a-node/parachain-rpc/ word_count: 2044 token_estimate: 4141 version_hash: sha256:8cfd179d6235042937167b8ba0ee8461335c644e7e7bb6a828b5cd072eaa9f3e last_updated: '2026-06-04T16:06:19+00:00' --- # Run a Parachain RPC Node ## Introduction A parachain RPC node provides direct access to a specific parachain on the Polkadot network, enabling developers and applications to interact with its assets, governance, cross-chain messages, and more. Running your own node also supports essential infrastructure tasks, such as block indexing and compatibility with Polkadot SDK tools. Through the parachain RPC (WebSocket port 9944, HTTP port 9933), your node acts as the bridge between the parachain and applications. This page walks through setting up a node from scratch, covering hardware requirements and deployment options using Docker or systemd. ## Prerequisites ### Hardware Requirements RPC nodes serving production traffic require robust hardware: - **CPU**: 8+ cores; 16+ cores for high traffic - **Memory**: 64 GB RAM minimum; 128 GB recommended for high traffic - **Storage**: Storage requirements vary by parachain. Fast NVMe I/O is critical for RPC query performance - **System parachains**: [Snapshots](https://snapshots.polkadot.io/) _may_ be available - **Archive node (complete history)**: Using snapshots, expected storage requirements (including ~822 GB for the pruned relay chain) are: - **Asset Hub**: ~1.2 TB - **Bridge Hub**: ~1.1 TB - **Collectives**: ~1 TB - **People Chain**: ~900 GB - **Coretime**: ~900 GB - **Pruned node (recent state)**: ~200 GB total for both parachain and relay chain - **Non-system parachains**: Consult the parachain team or documentation, then add ~822 GB for the pruned relay chain - **Network**: - Public IP address - Stable internet connection with sufficient bandwidth - 1 Gbps connection for high traffic scenarios - Consider DDoS protection and rate limiting for production deployments - Open ports: - **30333**: Parachain P2P - **30334**: Relay chain P2P - **9944**: Polkadot SDK WebSocket RPC - **9933**: Polkadot SDK HTTP RPC !!! note For development or low-traffic scenarios, you can reduce these requirements proportionally. Consider using a reverse proxy ([nginx](https://nginx.org/), [Caddy](https://caddyserver.com/)) for production deployments. ### Software Requirements Required software: - **Operating system**: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (recommended) or similar Linux distribution - **[Docker](https://www.docker.com/get-started/)**: Required for obtaining binaries and running containers - **[rclone](https://rclone.org/downloads/)**: (Optional but recommended) Command-line program for managing files on cloud storage ## Obtain the Chain Specification To run an RPC node for a parachain, you need its chain specification file. This JSON file defines the network parameters, genesis state, and bootnodes. The process for obtaining the chain spec may differ depending on whether you’re running a system parachain or a regular parachain. ### System Parachains System parachain chain specs are available from multiple sources: - **[Chainspec Collection](https://paritytech.github.io/chainspecs/)**: (Recommended) Choose a file to download from the **List of Chainspecs** section. - **[Polkadot SDK repository](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk)**: Download directly from the Polkadot SDK repository: ```bash # Example for People Chain curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/master/cumulus/parachains/chain-specs/people-polkadot.json -o chain-spec.json ``` ### Other Parachains For non-system parachains, check the parachain's documentation for official chain specification files. ## Spin Up a Node Choose the deployment option that fits your project, and follow the steps in the appropriate tab to complete setup: - **Docker**: Best for simpler set up and maintenance - **systemd**: Best for production environments requiring more control This guide uses **People Chain** as an example. To set up a different parachain, replace the chain spec file, snapshot path, and chain name with the corresponding values for your target parachain. System parachain details: | System Parachain | Para ID | Chain Spec File | Snapshot Path | |--------------------|---------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------| | **Bridge Hub** | 1002 | `bridge-hub-polkadot.json` | `polkadot-bridge-hub-paritydb-archive` | | **People Chain** | 1004 | `people-polkadot.json` | `polkadot-people-rocksdb-archive` | | **Coretime Chain** | 1005 | `coretime-polkadot.json` | `polkadot-coretime-rocksdb-archive` | === "Docker" 1. Download your parachain's chain specification as described in [Obtain the Chain Specification](#obtain-the-chain-specification). 2. (Optional but recommended) Download pre-synced [snapshots](https://snapshots.polkadot.io/) to cut initial sync time from days to hours: !!! note Snapshots are available for system parachains and the Polkadot relay chain. For other parachains, check with the parachain team for snapshot availability or sync from genesis. 1. Create new directories: ```bash mkdir -p my-node-data/chains/people-polkadot/db mkdir -p my-node-data/chains/polkadot/db ``` 2. Download and save the archive parachain snapshot: ```bash # Check https://snapshots.polkadot.io/ for the latest snapshot URL export SNAPSHOT_URL_PARACHAIN="https://snapshots.polkadot.io/polkadot-people-rocksdb-archive/INSERT_LATEST" rclone copyurl $SNAPSHOT_URL_PARACHAIN/files.txt files.txt rclone copy --progress --transfers 20 \ --http-url $SNAPSHOT_URL_PARACHAIN \ --no-traverse --http-no-head --disable-http2 \ --inplace --no-gzip-encoding --size-only \ --retries 6 --retries-sleep 10s \ --files-from files.txt :http: my-node-data/chains/people-polkadot/db/ rm files.txt ``` ??? interface "rclone parameters" - **`--transfers 20`**: Uses 20 parallel transfers for faster download - **`--retries 6`**: Automatically retries failed transfers up to 6 times - **`--retries-sleep 10s`**: Waits 10 seconds between retry attempts - **`--size-only`**: Only transfers if sizes differ (prevents unnecessary re-downloads) 3. Repeat the process for the pruned relay chain snapshot: ```bash # Check https://snapshots.polkadot.io/ for the latest snapshot URL export SNAPSHOT_URL_RELAY="https://snapshots.polkadot.io/polkadot-rocksdb-prune/INSERT_LATEST" rclone copyurl $SNAPSHOT_URL_RELAY/files.txt files.txt rclone copy --progress --transfers 20 \ --http-url $SNAPSHOT_URL_RELAY \ --no-traverse --http-no-head --disable-http2 \ --inplace --no-gzip-encoding --size-only \ --retries 6 --retries-sleep 10s \ --files-from files.txt :http: my-node-data/chains/polkadot/db/ rm files.txt ``` 3. Launch the parachain node using the official [Parity Docker image](https://hub.docker.com/r/parity/polkadot-parachain): === "Archive" ```bash docker run -d --name people-chain-rpc --restart unless-stopped \ -p 9944:9944 \ -p 9933:9933 \ -p 9615:9615 \ -p 30334:30334 \ -p 30333:30333 \ -v $(pwd)/people-polkadot.json:/people-polkadot.json \ -v $(pwd)/my-node-data:/data \ parity/polkadot-parachain:stable2603 \ --name=PeopleChainRPC \ --base-path=/data \ --chain=/people-polkadot.json \ --prometheus-external \ --prometheus-port 9615 \ --unsafe-rpc-external \ --rpc-port=9944 \ --rpc-cors=all \ --rpc-methods=safe \ --rpc-max-connections=1000 \ --state-pruning=archive \ --blocks-pruning=archive \ -- \ --base-path=/data \ --chain=polkadot \ --state-pruning=256 \ --blocks-pruning=256 \ --rpc-port=0 ``` === "Pruned" ```bash docker run -d --name people-chain-rpc --restart unless-stopped \ -p 9944:9944 \ -p 9933:9933 \ -p 9615:9615 \ -p 30334:30334 \ -p 30333:30333 \ -v $(pwd)/people-polkadot.json:/people-polkadot.json \ -v $(pwd)/my-node-data:/data \ parity/polkadot-parachain:stable2603 \ --name=PeopleChainRPC \ --base-path=/data \ --chain=/people-polkadot.json \ --prometheus-external \ --prometheus-port 9615 \ --unsafe-rpc-external \ --rpc-port=9944 \ --rpc-cors=all \ --rpc-methods=safe \ --rpc-max-connections=1000 \ --state-pruning=1000 \ --blocks-pruning=256 \ -- \ --base-path=/data \ --chain=polkadot \ --state-pruning=256 \ --blocks-pruning=256 \ --rpc-port=0 ``` !!! note The `parity/polkadot-parachain` image works for system parachains and parachains built with standard Cumulus templates. For parachains with custom runtimes, check the parachain's documentation for their specific Docker image or binary. Refer to the [Port Mappings](#port-mappings) and [Node Configuration Parameters](#node-configuration-parameters) sections for details on the command's configurations. === "systemd" 1. Download the `polkadot-parachain` binary from the latest stable [Polkadot SDK release](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/releases): ```bash # Download the latest stable release (check releases page for current version) wget https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/releases/download/polkadot-stable2603/polkadot-parachain # Make it executable and move to system path chmod +x polkadot-parachain sudo mv polkadot-parachain /usr/local/bin/ # Verify installation polkadot-parachain --version ``` 2. Download your parachain's chain specification as described in [Obtain the Chain Specification](#obtain-the-chain-specification). 3. Create user and directory structures: ```bash # Create a dedicated user sudo useradd -r -s /bin/bash polkadot # Create data directory sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/people-chain-rpc # Copy the chain spec to the directory sudo cp people-polkadot.json /var/lib/people-chain-rpc/ # Set permissions sudo chown -R polkadot:polkadot /var/lib/people-chain-rpc ``` 4. Create a systemd service file for the Polkadot SDK RPC node: ```bash sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/people-chain-rpc.service ``` 5. Open the new service file and add the configuration for either an archive (complete history) or pruned (recent state) node: === "Archive" ```ini [Unit] Description=People Chain RPC Node After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=polkadot Group=polkadot WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/polkadot-parachain \ --name=PeopleChainRPC \ --chain=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc/people-polkadot.json \ --base-path=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc \ --port=30333 \ --rpc-port=9944 \ --rpc-external \ --rpc-cors=all \ --rpc-methods=safe \ --rpc-max-connections=1000 \ --prometheus-port=9615 \ --prometheus-external \ --state-pruning=archive \ --blocks-pruning=archive \ -- \ --chain=polkadot \ --base-path=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc \ --port=30334 \ --state-pruning=256 \ --blocks-pruning=256 \ --rpc-port=0 Restart=always RestartSec=10 LimitNOFILE=65536 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` === "Pruned" ```ini [Unit] Description=People Chain RPC Node After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=polkadot Group=polkadot WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/polkadot-parachain \ --name=PeopleChainRPC \ --chain=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc/people-polkadot.json \ --base-path=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc \ --port=30333 \ --rpc-port=9944 \ --rpc-external \ --rpc-cors=all \ --rpc-methods=safe \ --rpc-max-connections=1000 \ --prometheus-port=9615 \ --prometheus-external \ --state-pruning=1000 \ --blocks-pruning=256 \ -- \ --chain=polkadot \ --base-path=/var/lib/people-chain-rpc \ --port=30334 \ --state-pruning=256 \ --blocks-pruning=256 \ --rpc-port=0 Restart=always RestartSec=10 LimitNOFILE=65536 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` Refer to the [Port Mappings](#port-mappings) and [Node Configuration Parameters](#node-configuration-parameters) sections for details on the command's configurations. 6. Start the service: ```bash # Reload systemd sudo systemctl daemon-reload # Enable service to start on boot sudo systemctl enable people-chain-rpc # Start the Polkadot SDK node: sudo systemctl start people-chain-rpc ``` ### Port Mappings - **`9944`**: Polkadot SDK RPC endpoint (WebSocket/HTTP) - **`9933`**: Polkadot SDK HTTP RPC endpoint - **`9615`**: Prometheus metrics endpoint - **`30333/30334`**: P2P networking ports ### Node Configuration Parameters - **`--unsafe-rpc-external`**: Enables external RPC access. **This command should only be used in development or properly secured environments**. For production, use a reverse proxy with authentication. - **`--rpc-cors=all`**: Allows all origins for CORS. - **`--rpc-methods=safe`**: Only allows safe RPC methods. - **`--state-pruning`**: Archive keeps complete state history, pruned keeps last specified number of blocks. - **`--blocks-pruning`**: Archive keeps all blocks, pruned keeps last specified number of finalized blocks. - **`--prometheus-external`**: Exposes metrics externally. ## Monitor Node Synchronization Monitor the node synchronization status: ```bash curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "system_syncState", "params":[]}' \ http://localhost:9944 ``` When synchronization is complete, `currentBlock` will be equal to `highestBlock`:
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "system_syncState", "params":[]}' \ http://localhost:9944 
{
  "jsonrpc":"2.0",
  "id":1,
  "result":{
    "startingBlock":0,
    "currentBlock":3394816,
    "highestBlock":3394816
  }
}
!!! tip You can use the `system_health` command to verify your node is running properly. ```bash curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "system_health", "params":[]}' \ http://localhost:9944 ``` ## Commands for Managing Your Node Use the following commands to manage your node: === "Docker" - **View node logs**: ```bash docker logs -f people-chain-rpc ``` - **Stop container**: ```bash docker stop people-chain-rpc ``` - **Start container**: ```bash docker start people-chain-rpc ``` - **Remove container**: ```bash docker rm people-chain-rpc ``` === "systemd" - **Check status**: ```bash sudo systemctl status people-chain-rpc ``` - **View node logs**: ```bash sudo journalctl -u people-chain-rpc -f ``` - **Stop service**: ```bash sudo systemctl stop people-chain-rpc ``` - **Enable service**: ```bash sudo systemctl enable people-chain-rpc ``` - **Start service**: ```bash sudo systemctl start people-chain-rpc ``` ## Conclusion Running a parachain RPC node provides critical infrastructure for accessing Polkadot network services. By following this guide, you have set up a production-ready RPC node that: - Provides reliable access to parachain functionality for applications and users. - Supports flexible deployment with both Docker and systemd options. - Implements comprehensive monitoring, security, and maintenance practices. - Can be adapted for any parachain by substituting the appropriate chain specification. Whether you're running a node for system parachains (People Chain, Bridge Hub, Coretime Chain) or other parachains in the ecosystem, regular maintenance and monitoring will ensure your RPC node continues to provide reliable service. Stay updated with the latest releases and best practices to keep your infrastructure secure and performant.