Parameters

Polkadot Parameters

Many of these parameter values can be updated via on-chain governance. If you require absolute certainty of these parameter values, it is recommended you directly check the constants by looking at the chain state and/or storage.

Periods of common actions and attributes

NOTE: Polkadot generally runs at ¼th the speed of Kusama, except in the time slot duration itself. See Kusama Parameters for more details on how Polkadot's parameters differ from Kusama's.

  • Slot: 6 seconds *(generally one block per slot, although see note below)

  • Epoch: 4 hours (2_400 slots x 6 seconds)

  • Session: 4 hours (Session and Epoch lengths are the same)

  • Era: 24 hours (6 sessions per Era, 2_400 slots x 6 epochs x 6 seconds)

PolkadotTimeSlots*

Slot

6 seconds

1

Epoch

4 hours

2_400

Session

4 hours

2_400

Era

24 hours

14_400

*A maximum of one block per slot can be in a canonical chain. Occasionally, a slot will be without a block in the chain. Thus, the times given are estimates. See Consensus for more details.

Accounts, Identity and Crowdloans

  • The Existential Deposit is 1.000 DOT

  • The deposit required to set an Identity is 20.258 DOT

  • The minimum contribution required to participate in a crowdloan is 5.000 DOT

Governance

DemocracyTimeSlotsDescription

Voting period

28 days

403_200

How long the public can vote on a referendum.

Launch period

28 days

403_200

How long the public can select which proposal to hold a referendum on, i.e., every week, the highest-weighted proposal will be selected to have a referendum.

Enactment period

28 days

403_200

Time it takes for a successful referendum to be implemented on the network.

CouncilTimeSlotsDescription

Term duration

7 days

100_800

The length of a council member's term until the next election round.

Voting period

7 days

100_800

The council's voting period for motions.

The Polkadot Council consists of up to 13 members and up to 20 runners up.

Technical committeeTimeSlotsDescription

Cool-off period

7 days

100_800

The time a veto from the technical committee lasts before the proposal can be submitted again.

Emergency voting period

3 hours

1_800

The voting period after the technical committee expedites voting.

Staking, Validating, and Nominating

Maximum number of Validators that can be nominated by a nominator - 16

PolkadotTimeSlotsDescription

Term duration

1 Day

14_400

The time for which a validator is in the set after being elected. Note, this duration can be shortened in the case that a validator misbehaves.

Nomination period

1 Day

14_400

How often a new validator set is elected according to Phragmén's method.

Bonding duration

28 days

403_200

How long until your funds will be transferrable after unbonding. Note that the bonding duration is defined in eras, not directly by slots.

Slash defer duration

28 days

403_200

Prevents overslashing and validators "escaping" and getting their nominators slashed with no repercussions to themselves. Note that the bonding duration is defined in eras, not directly by slots.

Parachains

Crowdloans and AuctionsTimeSlotsDescription

Auction duration

7 days

100_800

The total duration of the slot auction, subject to the candle auction mechanism.

Opening period

2 days

28_800

The opening period of the slot auction.

Ending period

5 days

72_000

The ending period of the slot auction.

Parachain SlotTimeSlotsDescription

Lease period

12 weeks

1_209_600

The length of one lease period in a parachain slot.

Total slot duration

2 years

10_512_000

The maximum duration a parachain can lease by winning a slot auction (8 lease periods).

Treasury

TreasuryTimeSlotsDescription

Periods between spends

24 days

345_600

When the treasury can spend again after spending previously.

Burn percentage is currently 1.00%.

Precision

DOT have 10 decimals of precision. In other words, 10 ** 10 (10_000_000_000 or ten billion) Plancks make up a DOT.

The denomination of DOT was changed from 12 decimals of precision at block #1_248_328 in an event known as Denomination Day. See Redenomination for details.

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