Testnet

Bootnodes

Bootnodes are well-known peer addresses that your node dials on startup to join the testnet. Without them, your node would only discover peers on the same LAN (via mDNS).

What they are

When you run a node with P2P enabled (--p2p-listen), it needs to find other peers. On a local network, mDNS can discover nearby nodes. To join the public testnet from anywhere, your node must connect to at least one stable peer — a bootnode.

Bootnodes are simply nodes that have a stable, publicly reachable address (IP + port). The team or community runs them and publishes their multiaddrs so new nodes can dial in and then discover more peers via gossip.

Format

A bootnode address is a multiaddr, for example:

/ip4/73.84.106.121/tcp/4001

You pass one or more bootnodes to your node with --bootnodes (comma-separated).

How to use

Public testnet RPC is at https://testnet-rpc.boing.network/. Use the official bootnode list below (also on Join Testnet):

./boing-node --p2p-listen /ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/4001 \
  --bootnodes /ip4/73.84.106.121/tcp/4001,/ip4/73.84.106.121/tcp/4001 \
  --validator --rpc-port 8545 --faucet-enable

For local dev only, run a local multi-node setup: start one node with --p2p-listen /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/4001, then start a second node with --bootnodes /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/4001.

Official testnet bootnodes

Use these multiaddrs with --bootnodes (comma-separated). Also in TESTNET (PDF) and docs/TESTNET.md.

Today both entries point at the same host; a second geographic bootnode will be listed when ops adds one.

/ip4/73.84.106.121/tcp/4001
/ip4/73.84.106.121/tcp/4001