Overview
The beacon.validator.queue table provides daily historical estimates of the validator entry and exit queues on the Ethereum Beacon Chain. These queue durations represent the expected time for all pending activations or exits to be processed, based on Ethereum protocol rules and validator balance state. Queue estimates differ before and after Pectra (activated on 2025-05-07), due to major changes in how the Beacon Chain processes activations and exitsSample Query
Fetch historical stats of the estimated time taken to clear the entry and exit queues by days.Validator Queues
The validator queue system is a critical component of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake mechanism. When validators want to join the network, they must wait in an entry queue until activated. Similarly, validators wanting to exit must wait in an exit queue.Churn Rate
The speed at which validators move through these queues is governed by the “churn rate” - the number of validators and ETH that can enter or exit per epoch. There are two different churn rates before and after Pectra-upgrade.Pre-Pectra
Before Pectra-upgrade (2025-05-07), queue calculations were based on validator counts, with churn determined by how many validators could enter or exit per epoch. The total time of the exit/entry queue is derived based on this methodology:- We index the balances of all validators on the Beacon chain daily, which informs us of the status of all the validators (entering, exiting, slashed, active, etc)
- From the historical balances model, we identify validators in the “pending_queued” status (entry queue) and “active_exiting” status (exit queue)
- For each day, we determine the effective churn rate by counting the validators that can enter or exit from each eligible
activation_epochandexit_epoch - We then count the total validators entering and exiting and estimate the estimated wait times based on queue size and churn rate
- Since each epoch has 32 slots and there are 12 slots per second, we can estimate the queue duration practical time units (minutes, hours, days)
Post-Pectra
Post-Pectra, the churn rate is fixed at 256 ETH per epoch (~57,600 ETH per day), independent of validator count. As a result, the exit queue will no longer be determined by the number of validators per epoch.Table Columns
Unique Key: date| Column Name | Description |
|---|---|
date | Calendar date of queue snapshot |
validators_entry_queued | Number of validators queued for activation |
entry_churn_per_epoch | Pre-Pectra: per-epoch validator churn. Post-Pectra: NULL (fixed churn applies) |
total_entry_queue_epochs | Estimated epochs to clear the entry queue |
total_entry_queue_minutes | Minutes required to clear the entry queue |
total_entry_queue_hours | Hours required to clear the entry queue |
total_entry_queue_days | Days required to clear the entry queue |
validators_exit_queued | Number of validators queued for exit |
exit_churn_per_epoch | Pre-Pectra: per-epoch validator churn. Post-Pectra: NULL |
total_exit_queue_epochs | Estimated epochs to clear the exit queue |
total_exit_queue_minutes | Minutes required |
total_exit_queue_hours | Hours required |
total_exit_queue_days | Days required |
_created_at | Record creation timestamp |
_updated_at | Record update timestamp |