When you open a Zcash wallet or start a Zcash node for the first time, it needs to locate and connect to other computers on the network. This is where DNS seeders come in. They are like a phonebook for the Zcash network; they help new nodes find their first connections so they can start sending and receiving transactions.
Until recently, the Zcash network relied on a small number of DNS seeders operated by Electric Coin Company (ECC), Zcash Foundation (ZF) and Jack Grigg (AKA str4d), who is a Zcash Core Developer and former ECC employee.
On January 8th, the DNS seeders operated by ECC stopped responding. It’s likely that ECC seeders going offline resulted in slower than usual bootstrapping for new Zcash clients, as they would time-out when attempting to connect to the offline ECC seeders. While the Zcash network itself continued to operate normally, this reduced the number of available seeders and created a need for additional infrastructure to ensure reliable peer discovery for users.
What We Did
In response, ZF deployed five new DNS seeders across multiple regions:
- United States: South Carolina and Oregon
- Europe: Belgium, Germany, and Finland
Combined with ZF’s existing seeder in Iowa, this brings the total number of ZF-operated seeders to six. These seeders are now live and helping nodes connect to the Zcash network.
Why This is Important
Having multiple DNS seeders in different geographic locations is important for two reasons:
Reliability. If one seeder goes offline, others are available to help users connect. This ensures that wallets and nodes can always find peers on the network, even during outages.
Performance. Users in Europe can now connect to seeders that are geographically closer to them, which can improve startup times for wallets and nodes.
Our Commitment to the Ecosystem
This work is part of Zcash Foundation’s ongoing commitment to supporting the Zcash network’s infrastructure. As one of the primary organizations in the ecosystem responsible for maintaining and developing Zcash, we take our role seriously. When we identified a gap in the network’s infrastructure, we moved to address it.
The Zcash network’s strength comes from its decentralization; no single organization controls the network, and multiple independent parties contribute to its operation. By expanding our seeder infrastructure, we are helping to ensure that the network remains resilient and accessible to users around the world.
Looking Ahead
We are considering additional deployments in other regions to further improve coverage and reliability. Shielded Labs is working to deploy additional seeders as well. If you operate Zcash infrastructure and would like to coordinate on network resilience, we welcome collaboration; please contact us via Discord or utilize this Docker image with a README to spin up a seeder on your own.
For technical details about this deployment, the infrastructure code is available in our public repositories.
