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What do the different validator states mean?

In the Staking app, your validator may be marked with one of several states. In chronological order according to the stages your deposit and validator progress through, here's what they mean:

  • in-transit: A validator has been reserved for you, and we're awaiting your deposit.
  • deposited: As the name suggests, this means a deposit has been detected. The wait time before you'll see this status is approximately 13.6 hours: 2048 blocks (~12 seconds each) and 64 epochs (~6.4 minutes) must pass before your deposit is complete, at which point you proceed to the activation queue. At this point, your validator does not yet have an index, but it does have a key and can be seen on-chain.
  • pending: By now, your deposit has been recognized and processed, but you're yet to get up and running. To ensure stability, only eight validators can be activated per epoch (1,800 per day, according to network rules. As a result, the length of your wait depends on how many other deposits are in the network's queue. You can check this on beaconcha.in's "Pending" page.
  • active: After your deposit progresses through the queue and is activated, your validator is now proposing and attesting blocks, and earning rewards.
  • exiting: Your validator's voluntary exit has been queued, or is already in progress. Your validator continues to function and earn rewards during this phase.
  • exited: The validator is no longer operating and funds have been withdrawn.