StratumRace

Measure Bitcoin mining pool block notification speed. StratumRace connects to mining pools via the Stratum protocol, observes block transitions in real-time, and measures which pools notify miners fastest.

You can run it two ways:

• Command-line mode — Terminal output only. Minimal dependencies (just Python).
• Dashboard mode — Local web UI with leaderboards, charts, and real-time updates.

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Command-Line Mode

Run the collector directly for terminal-based race results. No web server, no browser — just Python and a pools config file.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/proofofmike/stratum-race.git
cd stratum-race
python3 collector/str_race.py --pools config/pools.json --tag-block-miners

That's it. The script connects to all configured pools, establishes a baseline, and prints race results as blocks are found (~every 10 minutes).

Example Output

[14:32:07.891] atlaspool    OBSERVED block start 00000000...a4f2eae (height resolved post-run)
[14:32:07.983] ckpool       match …a4f2eae delay=92.4 ms
[14:32:08.016] parasite     match …a4f2eae delay=125.7 ms
[14:32:08.099] viabtc       match …a4f2eae delay=208.5 ms
[14:32:08.134] f2pool       match …a4f2eae delay=243.1 ms
...

Each race shows which pool delivered a full block template first (offset = 0ms) and how far behind the others were.

Common Options

Flag	Description
--pools config/pools.json	Pool configuration file (required)
--tag-block-miners	Look up block height and miner from mempool.space after each race
--duration 3600	Run for N seconds then exit (default: 0 = run forever)
--pool-group solo	Only connect to pools in the "solo" group
--json-out results.json	Write structured JSON results on exit
--csv-out results.csv	Write CSV summary on exit
--verbose	Print full pool table and per-race detail

Running in the Background

To run continuously on a server:

# Run forever, tag miners, log to file
nohup python3 collector/str_race.py \
    --pools config/pools.json \
    --tag-block-miners \
    --json-out ~/races.json \
    > ~/stratum-race.log 2>&1 &

# Check on it
tail -f ~/stratum-race.log

# Stop it
kill %1

Or with a fixed duration (e.g., 24 hours):

nohup python3 collector/str_race.py \
    --pools config/pools.json \
    --tag-block-miners \
    --duration 86400 \
    --json-out ~/races-24h.json \
    > ~/stratum-race.log 2>&1 &

What --tag-block-miners Does

After each race confirms, the collector queries mempool.space to determine:

• The block height of the new block
• Which mining pool found it (e.g., "Foundry USA", "AntPool")

This information is included in the JSON output and end-of-run summary. Without this flag, races are identified only by their prevhash.

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Dashboard Mode

Run a local web dashboard that shows real-time leaderboards, block timelines, and historical statistics. Includes the collector, an HTTP/WebSocket server, and a background aggregator in one process.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install python3-venv (if not already installed)

Node.js is not required — the frontend comes pre-built.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/proofofmike/stratum-race.git
cd stratum-race
./standalone/run.sh

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser. The leaderboard populates after the first block is found (~10 minutes).

Manual Setup

git clone https://github.com/proofofmike/stratum-race.git
cd stratum-race

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r standalone/packaging/requirements.txt

python -m standalone.main --pools config/pools.json

Dashboard Options

Flag	Default	Description
--host	0.0.0.0	Bind address
--port	8080	Bind port
--data-dir	./data	Directory for race data and aggregates
--pools	config/pools.json	Path to pool configuration file
--pool-group	all	Pool group filter
--vantage	local	Vantage point label (shown in the UI)
--frontend-dir	auto-detect	Path to built frontend

What You'll See

• Leaderboard — Pools ranked by median notification speed
• Recent Blocks — Per-block race results as they happen
• Block Detail — Click any block for a per-pool offset timeline
• History — Aggregate stats over configurable time periods

Running the Dashboard in the Background

nohup ./standalone/run.sh --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080 > ~/stratumrace.log 2>&1 &

Access from any machine on your network at http://<your-ip>:8080.

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Pool Configuration

The included config/pools.json connects to 34 major mining pools. Customize it:

{
  "pools": [
    {
      "name": "my_pool",
      "display_name": "My Pool",
      "host": "stratum.mypool.com",
      "port": 3333,
      "operator": "My Pool",
      "pool_type": "solo",
      "groups": ["all", "custom"]
    }
  ]
}

Required fields: name, display_name, host, port, groups.

Use --pool-group custom (CLI) or --pool-group custom (dashboard) to connect only to pools tagged with that group.

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Troubleshooting

"ensurepip is not available" / venv creation fails

• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install python3.XX-venv (replace XX with your Python version)

No races appearing

• Wait for the next Bitcoin block (~10 minutes average)
• Check for connection warnings — some pools may be unreachable from your network

Dashboard: blank page

• The pre-built frontend should work out of the box
• If you modified frontend source: cd frontend && npm install && npm run build

Port already in use

• Use --port 9090 (or any available port)

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How It Works

The collector connects to each pool's Stratum endpoint and subscribes to mining.notify messages. When a new block is found on the Bitcoin network, pools send updated work to their miners. StratumRace measures the arrival time of each pool's notification relative to the fastest pool.

• Race signal: clean_jobs=true + new prevhash (indicates a new block)
• Confirm window: 15 seconds (arrivals after this are excluded)
• Winner: First pool to deliver a full block template (with transactions)
• Offsets: Milliseconds behind the winner for each other pool

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Architecture

Command-line mode:           Dashboard mode:

  str_race.py                 ┌─────────────────────────────┐
  (connects to pools,         │     Single Python Process    │
   prints to terminal,        │                              │
   writes JSON/CSV)           │  Collector → Server → Browser│
                              │              ↕               │
                              │          Aggregator          │
                              │              ↕               │
                              │         Local Storage        │
                              └─────────────────────────────┘

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Development

pip install -r standalone/packaging/requirements-dev.txt
python3 -m pytest tests/ -q

Source layout:

• collector/str_race.py — Stratum protocol client and race detection
• standalone/ — HTTP server, aggregator, orchestration (dashboard mode)
• lib/ — Shared computation (stats, aggregation, storage)
• frontend/ — Vue 3 SPA (source + pre-built dist)
• config/pools.json — Pool configuration