Ethereum’s Fusaka Devnet 3, launched late last week, is moving into a critical testing phase as client teams refine blob configurations, address validator onboarding challenges, & investigate unexpected network behaviors. During the latest All Core Devs Testing Call #46, moderators & client developers outlined both progress & persistent hurdles.

Devnet 3 Live & Stabilizing

Parithosh Jayanthi confirmed that Fusaka Devnet 3 is live & finalizing. Since launch, three Blob Parameter Overrides (BPOs) have already been completed. The next update, BPO-4, is scheduled for rollout tomorrow, reducing the current 18 blobs per block to a lower count for stress-testing different configurations.

Tracking tools like Dora Explorer provide real-time visibility into network finality & blob production, offering client teams greater transparency in evaluating the network’s behavior.

Rate Limiting & Validator Distribution

To simulate real-world conditions, developers introduced bandwidth constraints based on EIP-7870 recommendations. Approximately 30% of nodes are gigabit “super-nodes”, while the majority are capped at 100 Mbps down / 50 Mbps up. This deliberate throttling is meant to test how varying bandwidths affect blob propagation across the network.

Validator key distribution remains uneven, prompting staking top-ups to normalize participation across different clients. This ensures broader coverage, with every client pair represented in the test environment.

Despite this milestone, challenges remain:

  • Nimbus is experiencing block publishing failures linked to state root mismatches.
  • Lodestar is under investigation for peering & validator registration timestamp issues.
  • Despite these setbacks, block delivery is largely stable, with most slots finalized successfully.

The MEV Relay Dashboard confirms consistent block flow, though further debugging is needed to fully stabilize validator-client interactions.

Orphan Blocks & Connectivity Issues

Developers noted a higher-than-expected rate of orphan blocks, which appear randomly across different clients. Unlike typical patterns where a single client may be at fault, this distribution suggests potential links to MEV-related workflows.

Additionally, Nimbus EL/CL clients continue to face bootnode connectivity failures, preventing them from reliably joining the network. These issues are being investigated asynchronously by the networking teams.

Next Steps for Fusaka Devnet 3

Moving forward, client teams have identified the following priorities:

  1. BPO-4 deployment to adjust blob counts & measure effects.
  2. Continued investigation into Nimbus bootnode connectivity.
  3. Debugging Lodestar’s validator registration anomalies.
  4. Monitoring & mitigating orphan block patterns.
  5. Expanding validator top-ups to maintain balanced testing coverage.

Parithosh emphasized that solving orphan block inconsistencies & validator integration issues remains critical before advancing to the shadow fork & large-scale testnets planned for the next testing phase.

Conclusion

Fusaka Devnet 3 is proving to be a robust yet complex testbed for Ethereum’s future upgrades. The coordinated debugging efforts across client teams suggest that Devnet 3 will continue to evolve as a proving ground for Ethereum’s upcoming Glamsterdam hard fork preparations.

If you find any issues in this blog or notice any missing information, please feel free to reach out at yash@etherworld.co for clarifications or updates.

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