# Introduction

## Monad Full Node and Validator Guide

Welcome to the BlockPro guide for running a **Full Node** and **Validator** on the **Monad testnet**.

**BlockPro:** [Twitter / X](https://x.com/BlockPro_)\
**Monad:** [Twitter / X](https://x.com/monad)

### What this guide covers

This guide walks through:

* server requirements
* server preparation
* full node installation
* validator setup basics
* node upgrades
* useful commands for monitoring and maintenance

### Important before you start

This setup example uses a **Hetzner Dedicated Server** because it is easy to demonstrate and widely available.

However, we **do not recommend Hetzner for running a Monad validator**.

#### Why

* Hetzner is not generally considered a crypto-friendly provider
* many validators are already hosted there
* too many validators under the same provider reduce decentralization and add infrastructure concentration risk

If you want to run a **validator**, it is better to first check where other operators are already hosted and choose a more unique combination of:

* hosting provider
* country
* location

### Validator decentralization dashboard

We built our own Monad validator dashboard to help operators choose better infrastructure.

With it, you can check:

* where validators are hosted
* which countries are already crowded
* which hosting providers are overused
* where a more unique deployment would improve decentralization

**Dashboard:**\
<https://monad-validators-testnet.block-pro.net/>

If you are only running a **full node**, Hetzner can still be acceptable for testing. But for a validator, we strongly suggest choosing a less saturated provider and geography.

### Hardware requirements

> Cloud providers such as AWS, GCP, Azure, and similar environments are not officially supported by Monad. Bare-metal is the recommended setup.

#### Minimum requirements

**CPU**

* 16 cores
* 4.5 GHz+ base clock

**Examples:**

* AMD Ryzen 9950X
* AMD Ryzen 7950X
* AMD EPYC 4584PX

**RAM**

* 32 GB or more

**Storage**

* 2 TB NVMe dedicated to TrieDB / Execution
* 500 GB for OS + MonadBFT
* PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe or better

**Network**

* 300 Mbit/s for validator
* 100 Mbit/s for full node

### Recommended system requirements

* Ubuntu 24.04+
* Linux kernel `>= 6.8.0.60`
* HyperThreading / SMT disabled in BIOS

> Monad docs warn that kernel versions from `6.8.0.56` through `6.8.0.59` can cause node hangs and stability issues.

### Monad node components

Monad runs as `systemd` services:

* `monad-bft` — consensus client
* `monad-execution` — execution client
* `monad-rpc` — RPC server
* `monad-mpt` — one-time TrieDB initialization
* `monad-cruft` — cleanup service
* `otelcol` — metrics collector

These services run under the `monad` user. :contentReference\[oaicite:3]{index=3}

### Next step

Continue to the **Node Installation** page.