<p>I don't see how you'd get data about old reorganized blocks except by having access to an old node that saw them happen.</p>
<p>Simply put, a node that was only synchronized after the reorganization occurred will never even <em>see</em> the reorganized block.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-14T12:27:00.990Z
2023-10-14T12:27:00.990Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>I'm attempting to do some research surrounding stale blocks within the Bitcoin network. From my understanding the best and really only way to obtain data for blocks that no longer exist in the main chain/branch (including stale blocks) is to execute the <a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-reference#getchaintips" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>getchaintips</code></a> RPC command. This command appears to be dependent on how long the specific node has been running (as blocks that are not in the main chain have no reason to be downloaded to newer nodes).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I no longer have access to the node or data I had setup in 2013 and therefore I have a limited set of stale blocks to deal with (my current node is only several months old).</p>
<p>Alternatively, I've ran this command on an online RPC query <a href="http://chainquery.com/bitcoin-api/getchaintips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> but the earliest recorded block height is 283,421. Luckily, this also allows me to query <code>getblock</code> and actually view the information from the discarded blocks, but does not list any blocks before 283,421 (Mined in January of 2014).</p>
<p>The online block explorer Blockchain.info keeps track of <a href="https://www.blockchain.com/btc/orphaned-blocks" rel="nofollow noreferrer">stale blocks</a> but sadly they only go back to block #291,122.</p>
<p>While doing a bit of googling, I was able to find more of an &quot;extensive&quot; list on <a href="https://pastebin.com/raw/LZxst5vD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PasteBin</a> which dates back to block height 179,641. However, I cannot use <code>getblock</code> on any of these hashes from my node as it was not in existence when these blocks were originally mined.</p>
<hr />
<p><strong>My question</strong>: Are there any ways to query for stale blocks that have been discarded without requiring a node old enough to witness them?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-19T06:10:56.767Z
Keep in mind that there may have been orphaned blocks that propagated so poorly that they were never even seen by any node that did such archiving. So the records will always be slightly incomplete. Another thing is that it's trivial to create backdated fake "orphaned" blocks. I don't think there's an incentive other than to screw with your studies, but it's cheap to do the POW for sufficiently old blocks.
Jannes
<json-rpc><stale-block>
Obtaining historical stale blocks (chaintips) without old node
Mason Ticehurst
# Obtaining historical stale blocks (chaintips) without old node

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-19)

I'm attempting to do some research surrounding stale blocks within the Bitcoin network. From my understanding the best and really only way to obtain data for blocks that no longer exist in the main chain/branch (including stale blocks) is to execute the [`getchaintips`](https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-reference#getchaintips) RPC command. This command appears to be dependent on how long the specific node has been running (as blocks that are not in the main chain have no reason to be downloaded to newer nodes).

Unfortunately, I no longer have access to the node or data I had setup in 2013 and therefore I have a limited set of stale blocks to deal with (my current node is only several months old).

Alternatively, I've ran this command on an online RPC query [here](http://chainquery.com/bitcoin-api/getchaintips) but the earliest recorded block height is 283,421. Luckily, this also allows me to query `getblock` and actually view the information from the discarded blocks, but does not list any blocks before 283,421 (Mined in January of 2014).

The online block explorer Blockchain.info keeps track of [stale blocks](https://www.blockchain.com/btc/orphaned-blocks) but sadly they only go back to block #291,122.

While doing a bit of googling, I was able to find more of an "extensive" list on [PasteBin](https://pastebin.com/raw/LZxst5vD) which dates back to block height 179,641. However, I cannot use `getblock` on any of these hashes from my node as it was not in existence when these blocks were originally mined.

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**My question**: Are there any ways to query for stale blocks that have been discarded without requiring a node old enough to witness them?

**Tags:** json-rpc, stale-block

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Keep in mind that there may have been orphaned blocks that propagated so poorly that they were never even seen by any node that did such archiving. So the records will always be slightly incomplete. Another thing is that it's trivial to create backdated fake "orphaned" blocks. I don't think there's an incentive other than to screw with your studies, but it's cheap to do the POW for sufficiently old blocks.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-10-14. Score: 2

I don't see how you'd get data about old reorganized blocks except by having access to an old node that saw them happen.

Simply put, a node that was only synchronized after the reorganization occurred will never even *see* the reorganized block.


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