Running Your Own Node

Every Monero wallet has to talk to the network through a node — a computer running the Monero software that holds a copy of the blockchain and relays transactions. You have a choice: run your own node, or connect to someone else's remote node. That choice carries real privacy trade-offs. In this lesson you will learn what a node does, the difference between your own and a remote one, and how to decide.

What a Node Actually Does

A node (the daemon, monerod) does the heavy lifting your wallet depends on:

• It stores and validates the full blockchain, enforcing every consensus rule.
• It relays your transactions to the peer-to-peer network when you send.
• It answers your wallet's queries about blocks so your wallet can find your funds.

Your wallet is separate from the node. The wallet holds your keys and does the private scanning; the node provides the blockchain data. This separation is why you can point the same wallet at different nodes.

Your Own Node vs. a Remote Node

There are two ways to connect:

• Your own node — you run monerod on your computer or a home server, download the full blockchain once, and your wallet talks only to your machine.
• A remote node — your wallet connects to a node someone else operates (a public community node or one bundled by a wallet app). Nothing to download; you are using their copy of the chain.

The Privacy Trade-Off

This is the heart of the decision. When you use a remote node, that node sees:

• Your IP address (unless you hide it — see below).
• The fact that your wallet is requesting data and the transactions you submit through it.

Importantly, a remote node cannot see your balance, your keys, or decode your private transactions — your wallet does the sensitive scanning locally, and Monero's stealth addresses and RingCT keep amounts and parties hidden even from the node. But a malicious remote node operator could still try to correlate your IP with transactions you broadcast, or log your activity. Running your own node removes that third party entirely: nobody outside your machine learns your IP or sees your wallet's queries. This is the strongest option for network privacy.

Reducing the Remote-Node Risk

If you prefer the convenience of a remote node, you can sharply reduce the privacy downside:

• Connect over Tor so the node never learns your real IP — see Connecting Over Tor.
• Use a node you trust, ideally one run by a reputable community member or yourself remotely.
• Remember Dandelion++ already obscures which node a transaction originated from at the network level, as covered in Dandelion Network Privacy.

These layers mean even remote-node users keep strong privacy if they take a couple of precautions.

Should You Run Your Own Node?

Consider it based on your threat model and resources:

1. Best privacy and self-reliance? Run your own node. You verify the chain yourself and leak nothing to third parties.
2. Limited storage or a phone-only setup? A remote node over Tor is a reasonable, private-enough choice for most people.
3. Want a middle ground? Run your own node at home and connect your phone to it over Tor when away — your node, your IP privacy.

Running a node also quietly strengthens the whole network by adding another independent validator and relay, which supports the Monero community.

How to Run Your Own Node — Step by Step

Running a node sounds technical, but the official software does almost everything for you. Here is the full process, from download to a wallet talking to your own node. Pick the GUI path if you want the simplest route, or the command-line path for a headless home server.

Step 1 — Download the official Monero software

Always download from the official project site, getmonero.org/downloads — never from a random link. You have two options, and both include the node software (monerod):

• Monero GUI — the desktop wallet app, with a node built in. Best for most people.
• Monero CLI — the command-line tools (just monerod and the CLI wallet). Best for a server, Raspberry Pi, or headless box.

Step 2 — Verify the download (recommended)

Before running it, verify the files match the official hashes so you know nothing was tampered with. The site publishes a signed hashes.txt, and the official verification guide shows how to check it on Windows, macOS and Linux. It takes a minute and is worth the habit.

Step 3a — The easy way: run a node from the Monero GUI

1. Open the Monero GUI and choose Advanced mode the first time it asks (Simple mode hides the node controls).
2. When prompted for how to connect, pick "Start a local node" (rather than "Connect to a remote node").
3. Choose where to store the blockchain — keep the default, or point it at a drive with enough free space (see Step 4).
4. The GUI launches monerod for you and begins syncing. You can watch progress at the bottom of the window. That's it — when it finishes, your wallet is using your own node.

Step 3b — The server way: run monerod from the command line

On a headless machine, unpack the CLI download and start the daemon:

./monerod

It will connect to peers and start downloading the blockchain. Useful options:

• ./monerod --prune-blockchain — keep a pruned copy (roughly a third of the size) while still validating everything. Great for smaller drives.
• ./monerod --detach — run it in the background as a daemon.
• Type status in the console (or run ./monerod status) to see sync progress; exit stops it cleanly.

To survive reboots, run it as a service (a systemd unit on Linux). The official user guides include ready-made examples.

Step 4 — Storage and sync time

Plan for the disk and the wait:

• A full blockchain is large and grows over time; a pruned node needs roughly a third of that. Either way, give it some headroom on an SSD if you can.
• The initial sync downloads and verifies the entire history, so it can take anywhere from several hours to a couple of days depending on your disk and connection. This happens once — after that the node just keeps up with new blocks automatically.

Step 5 — Point your wallet at your node

If you used the GUI's local node, this is already done. For a separate wallet (CLI wallet, or a phone/desktop wallet on the same network), set the node address to your machine:

• Same computer: 127.0.0.1:18081 (18081 is the wallet/RPC port; 18080 is the peer-to-peer port).
• Another device on your home network: use your node machine's local IP, e.g. 192.168.1.50:18081.

Your keys never leave the wallet — the wallet only asks the node for public blockchain data.

Step 6 — (Optional) Help the network and reach it from anywhere

• Leave the node running and, if you like, allow inbound connections on port 18080 so it relays for others and strengthens decentralization.
• To use your home node securely from your phone when you're out, reach it over Tor instead of exposing it to the internet — covered next in Connecting Over Tor.
• Running your own node is also the foundation for accepting Monero with BTCPay Server.

Practical Notes

• A full node needs disk space for the blockchain and an initial sync that can take a while; after that it stays current automatically.
• You can keep a node running and point multiple wallets and devices at it.
• Whichever you choose, your keys never leave your wallet — the node only ever sees public network data.

Choosing a node is really a choice about who, if anyone, sees your IP and network activity. Your own node gives the cleanest privacy; a trusted remote node over Tor is a fine alternative for everyday use. Either way your funds stay yours. Next we will harden that network layer further in Connecting Over Tor.