What Is a Telos Block Producer?
Telos block producers (BPs) are stakeholder-elected operators that run the Telos Zero network. Each registered BP may enter the active producer schedule according to Telos governance and voting rules.
On the post-Lightspeed network, an active BP performs two consensus roles in TelosZero Core:
- Block producer: publishes blocks during its scheduled production rounds and signs them with a dedicated K1 block-signing key.
- Savanna finalizer: continuously votes on valid blocks with a BLS key so a supermajority can form quorum certificates and make blocks irreversible.
The finalizer runs inside the BP's nodeos process; it is not a separate application. A producer without a correctly configured, registered, and active finalizer key is not ready for an active schedule slot.
Operator responsibilities
A BP is responsible for more than keeping one process online. Production operation includes:
- running an operator-approved TelosZero Core release;
- maintaining private primary and backup producers with distinct finalizer keys and backup block production paused until an exclusive K1 handoff;
- carrying blocks, transactions, and finalizer votes through redundant relay/sentry paths;
- protecting account, block-signing, and finalizer keys according to their different roles;
- preserving the continuous local voting history in
finalizers/safety.dat; - publishing accurate
chains.jsonandbp.jsonendpoint metadata; - monitoring block production, votes, finality, peers, storage, clocks, and failover readiness;
- participating in Telos governance and coordinated network operations.
Keys used by a BP
| Key | Purpose | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Account owner/active authority | Governance and on-chain account actions | Offline/multisig or a hardened control host, never the producer |
| K1 block-signing key | Signs blocks during scheduled rounds | Producer signing configuration or approved signer |
| BLS finalizer key | Signs Savanna finalizer votes | One unique key per producer-capable nodeos host |
Never use the BP account's active key as the block-signing key. Never reuse a BLS finalizer key across primary and backup hosts.
Start here
- Review the BP system requirements.
- Install TelosZero Core.
- Configure and register the block producer.
- Set up, verify, and protect the finalizer.
The Telos validator dashboard reports public chain, endpoint, version, schedule, and finalizer-table signals. It cannot prove private producer configuration, key custody, relay propagation, or safety.dat integrity; BPs must verify those controls themselves.