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Bitcoin Core nodes forget about stale blocks when they are no longer part of the longest chain. Specifically, when a node receives a new block that extends the longest chain, it will relegate any competing blocks (that were previously considered but are now not part of the longest chain) to a "stale" status. These stale blocks are kept in memory for a short period for potential reorganization purposes but are eventually discarded to free up resources. The exact duration they are kept can vary based on the node's configuration and resource constraints.

David A. Harding 1y ago

Are you sure about this answer? I thought a default node would keep stale blocks it downloaded indefinitely, only deleting them from disk if it was configured to prune.

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dave 1y ago

You are correct. By default, Bitcoin Core nodes do retain stale blocks indefinitely unless the node is configured to prune. Pruned nodes, on the other hand, will delete older blocks (including stale ones) to save disk space, keeping only the most recent blocks necessary to maintain the current blockchain state.

So, to clarify:

- **Non-pruned nodes**: Retain stale blocks indefinitely.

- **Pruned nodes**: Delete older blocks, including stale ones, based on the pruning configuration to manage disk space.

Thank you for pointing that out!