Yes — it comes from the Solana public RPC and is refreshed on a schedule.

A fixed span of slots the network uses as its scheduling cycle, currently 432,000 slots. The bar shows how far through the current one the chain is.

No. This source is fully key-less.

Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

Why is the slot number bigger than the block height?

Some slots are skipped without producing a block, because the leader was offline or the fork containing the slot was abandoned, so slots outnumber blocks.

Does a high TPS mean many people are using Solana?

Not necessarily. Vote transactions are counted by validators alongside user transactions, and they are commonly excluded when measuring user TPS, so a raw figure does not map directly to user activity.

Solana Chain Stats Screensaver

The Solana Chain Stats screensaver shows solana network vitals read from its public JSON-RPC endpoint by the pipeline: the current epoch and how far through it is, slot and block height, and transactions per second. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Solana Chain Stats screensaver works

The background pipeline reads this from the Solana public RPC and saves a snapshot the saver loads.

Solana network vitals read from its public JSON-RPC endpoint by the pipeline: the current epoch and how far through it is, slot and block height, and transactions per second..

It refreshes on a schedule, so what you see stays current.

Colours can be changed in settings; nothing is stored beyond your own browser.

Reading Solana's network vitals

Solana is a blockchain designed for high throughput. Time on the network is divided into slots, the periods during which a designated leader validator ingests transactions and produces a block. Slots last a fraction of a second, and the target slot time has been shortened from its original 400 milliseconds in stages. Slots are grouped into epochs, the span for which a leader schedule is valid, and an epoch on the main network is 432,000 slots.

Slot number and block height are not the same. A slot can be skipped if its leader is offline or the fork containing it is abandoned, and a skipped slot does not increment block height. So the slot count runs ahead of the number of blocks actually produced, and the gap between the two shows how many slots have been skipped. The cumulative transaction count grows monotonically from the start of the chain.

Transactions per second, or TPS, needs a careful reading. Solana validators vote on blocks using transactions, and these vote transactions are commonly excluded when people talk about user TPS, so a raw figure that includes them overstates user activity such as payments or trades. The figure is also an average over a recent window and changes with network demand. The display is technical information, not a commentary on price or investment merit.

A worked example

Solana network vitals read from its public JSON-RPC endpoint by the pipeline: the current epoch and how far through it is, slot and block height, and transactions per second.

Settings & tips

Accent and Background recolour the display.
Run automation/run.py solana to refresh the feed.
Press ESC to leave fullscreen.

Frequently asked questions

Is this real data?: Yes — it comes from the Solana public RPC and is refreshed on a schedule.
What is an epoch?: A fixed span of slots the network uses as its scheduling cycle, currently 432,000 slots. The bar shows how far through the current one the chain is.
Is a key needed?: No. This source is fully key-less.
Is it free?: Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
Why is the slot number bigger than the block height?: Some slots are skipped without producing a block, because the leader was offline or the fork containing the slot was abandoned, so slots outnumber blocks.
Does a high TPS mean many people are using Solana?: Not necessarily. Vote transactions are counted by validators alongside user transactions, and they are commonly excluded when measuring user TPS, so a raw figure does not map directly to user activity.

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