Mining RPC Methods

Mining, block generation, and network hashrate estimation using Bitcoin Core RPC methods

Mining RPC Methods

Mining RPCs provide functionality for generating blocks, estimating network hashrate, and interacting with mining pool software.

Most mining RPCs are primarily used for testing on regtest/testnet or by mining pool operators. Solo mining on mainnet is generally not profitable.

Network Hashrate

getnetworkhashps

Returns the estimated network hashes per second based on recent blocks.

# Get network hashrate over last 120 blocks
bitcoin-cli getnetworkhashps

# Get hashrate over last 2016 blocks (difficulty period)
bitcoin-cli getnetworkhashps 2016

# Get hashrate at specific height
bitcoin-cli getnetworkhashps 120 700000

result · number

Estimated network hashes per second

getmininginfo

Returns mining-related information.

bitcoin-cli getmininginfo

blocks · number

Current block height

currentblockweight · number

Weight of the last block

currentblocktx · number

Number of transactions in last block

difficulty · number

Current difficulty

networkhashps · number

Estimated network hashes per second

pooledtx · number

Number of transactions in mempool

chain · string

Network name (main, test, signet, regtest)

warnings · string

Any network warnings

Block Generation (Regtest/Testnet)

generatetoaddress

Mines blocks to a specified address. Only works on regtest.

# Generate 10 blocks to address
bitcoin-cli -regtest generatetoaddress 10 "bcrt1q..."

result · array

Array of block hashes generated

This RPC only works on regtest network. For mainnet/testnet, use external mining software.

generatetodescriptor

Mines blocks to a specified descriptor. Only works on regtest.

# Generate 11 blocks to descriptor
bitcoin-cli -regtest generatetodescriptor 11 "wpkh([d34db33f/84h/0h/0h]xpub6ERApfZwUNrhLCkDtcHTcxd75RbzS1ed54G1LkBUHQVHQKqhMkhgbmJbZRkrgZw4koxb5JaHWkY4ALHY2grBGRjaDMzQLcgJvLJuZZvRcEL/0/*)#3wqxq7ju"

result · array

Array of block hashes generated

generate

Deprecated. Replaced by the -generate CLI option.

# Use this instead:
bitcoind -regtest -generate

Mining Pool Operations

getblocktemplate

Returns data needed to construct a block to mine.

# Get block template
bitcoin-cli getblocktemplate '{"rules": ["segwit"]}'

version · number

Block version

previousblockhash · string

Hash of previous block

transactions · array

Array of transaction objects with:

• data: Serialized transaction (hex)
• txid: Transaction ID
• hash: Transaction witness hash
• depends: Transaction dependencies (1-based indices)
• fee: Transaction fee in satoshis
• sigops: Legacy signature operations count
• weight: Transaction weight

coinbaseaux · object

Data for coinbase transaction

coinbasevalue · number

Maximum value for coinbase (subsidy + fees)

target · string

Hash target (hex)

mintime · number

Minimum timestamp for block

curtime · number

Current timestamp

bits · string

Compressed difficulty target

height · number

Height of next block

default_witness_commitment · string

Witness commitment for coinbase (if SegWit enabled)

This RPC requires the node to be configured for mining (e.g., with -miner configuration) and have at least one peer connection.

submitblock

Submits a new block to the network.

bitcoin-cli submitblock "0400000000000000000000..."

result · string | null

• null: Block was accepted
• Error string: Block was rejected with reason

Possible rejection reasons:

• duplicate: Block already exists
• duplicate-invalid: Block previously marked invalid
• inconclusive: Node not sure if block is valid
• rejected: Block violated consensus rules
• high-hash: Block doesn’t meet proof-of-work requirement

submitheader

Submits a block header (without transactions) to check validity.

bitcoin-cli submitheader "00000020890fbf6..."

Useful for testing block header validity without constructing full block.

Priority and Fee Estimation

prioritisetransaction

Modifies transaction priority for block inclusion.

# Increase transaction priority by 10,000 satoshis
bitcoin-cli prioritisetransaction "txid" 0 10000

# Decrease priority
bitcoin-cli prioritisetransaction "txid" 0 -10000

result · boolean

Returns true if successful

This affects the transaction’s priority in this node’s mempool and block template generation. It does not affect other nodes.

Block Assembly

getblockhash

Returns the hash of a block at given height.

bitcoin-cli getblockhash 0

result · string

Block hash at specified height

Mining Configuration

For mining operations, configure your bitcoin.conf:

# Enable mining
server=1

# Set minimum relay fee (optional)
minrelaytxfee=0.00001

# For regtest mining
regtest=1
[regtest]
rpcuser=your_username
rpcpassword=your_password

Mining Pool Integration

Typical mining pool workflow:

1. Get block template

   bitcoin-cli getblocktemplate '{"rules": ["segwit"]}'
   

2. Construct coinbase transaction with pool’s address and witness commitment

3. Build merkle root from transactions

4. Create block header with nonce field

5. Mine block by incrementing nonce until valid proof-of-work found

6. Submit block

   bitcoin-cli submitblock "block_hex_data"
   

Testing Block Generation

For testing on regtest:

# Start regtest node
bitcoind -regtest -daemon

# Create a wallet
bitcoin-cli -regtest createwallet "test"

# Generate address
ADDR=$(bitcoin-cli -regtest getnewaddress)

# Mine 101 blocks (100 + 1 to make first coinbase spendable)
bitcoin-cli -regtest generatetoaddress 101 "$ADDR"

# Check balance
bitcoin-cli -regtest getbalance

Difficulty Information

Understanding difficulty values:

• Difficulty: Multiple of minimum difficulty (1.0 = minimum)
• Target: Maximum hash value for valid block (lower = harder)
• Bits: Compact representation of target
• Chainwork: Cumulative proof-of-work in chain (hex)

Difficulty adjusts every 2016 blocks (~2 weeks) to maintain 10-minute block time.