<blockquote>
<p>So, after starting the node with pruned configuration, we see that old blocks are still being downloaded because in a matter of 20 minutes we had more than 10 gigabytes used space.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Pruning does not mean not downloading; it means deleting them after they've been downloaded and verified.</p>
<p>Bitcoin Core always downloads and validates the entire history (for now).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T13:32:04.240Z
Thank you for response. So we have to have enough storage so that the entire blockchain can be downloaded and verified?

If so, with pruned = 1 after verification of full node, from which block will the storage begin to save? Since the last of the concrete moment?
SamYan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T13:42:26.903Z
No, the (older, verified) blocks will be deleted after a while, while newer ones are still being downloaded. You only need a few GB storage for a pruned node.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T14:30:37.287Z
I still do not understand. Thank you for being able to enlighten me again. We need to synchronize the blockchain as of October 1, which is when we will start the project. The blocks prior to that date are not necessary since the wallets that we will use will be newly created from that date. So is it correct that we have prune = 1? When we run the node and the blockchain is verified, would only blocks from October 1st be saved on the hard drive?
SamYan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T14:50:13.577Z
In short, I need to save the blocks starting from X block. I don't need to download the previous blocks or from genesis.
SamYan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T15:20:35.953Z
You can't avoid downloading them all (with Bitcoin Core today at least), regardless of whether you prune or not. With `prune=0` you keep everything. With `prune=N` you will keep the last N megabytes of blocks. With `prune=1` you keep everything, but can manually ask Bitcoin Core to delete stuff using the `pruneblockchain` RPC.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T15:25:45.323Z
So, from what I understand, I can remove up to X block height using the pruneblockchain RPC command. It's right?
SamYan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T15:27:36.357Z
Yes, exactly. If you have `prune=1` configured, Bitcoin Core won't delete any blocks on its own, but lets you manually delete blocks up to a certain height by calling that RPC. You can even call it while it's still synchronizing. However, even in that case you will need to download and verify all old historical blocks; it just lets you delete them after verification.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T15:55:12.963Z
Thank you for clarify. Solved!
SamYan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T13:28:26.087Z
2023-08-29T13:28:26.087Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>We are working on a Bitcoin project for which we need to have the bitcoin node. The point is that we do not need to have the entire bitcoin node downloaded but only from the moment we start the project and therefore we opt for pruned node. The current setting is <code>pruned = 1</code>, because we don't need to prune the old blocks every X size of blocks.
So, after starting the node with pruned configuration, we see that old blocks are still being downloaded because in a matter of 20 minutes we had more than 10 gigabytes used space.</p>
<p>We have a wrong idea about &quot;pruned node&quot; or we have something wrong or partially configured?</p>
<p><strong>Blockchain info</strong>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/mvpu7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mvpu7.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

<bitcoin-core><blockchain><pruning>
Blockchain pruned node still downloading old blocks
SamYan
# Blockchain pruned node still downloading old blocks

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-08-29)

We are working on a Bitcoin project for which we need to have the bitcoin node. The point is that we do not need to have the entire bitcoin node downloaded but only from the moment we start the project and therefore we opt for pruned node. The current setting is `pruned = 1`, because we don't need to prune the old blocks every X size of blocks.
So, after starting the node with pruned configuration, we see that old blocks are still being downloaded because in a matter of 20 minutes we had more than 10 gigabytes used space.

We have a wrong idea about "pruned node" or we have something wrong or partially configured?

**Blockchain info**
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/mvpu7.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/mvpu7.png)

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, blockchain, pruning


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-08-29. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

> So, after starting the node with pruned configuration, we see that old blocks are still being downloaded because in a matter of 20 minutes we had more than 10 gigabytes used space.

Pruning does not mean not downloading; it means deleting them after they've been downloaded and verified.

Bitcoin Core always downloads and validates the entire history (for now).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for response. So we have to have enough storage so that the entire blockchain can be downloaded and verified?  If so, with pruned = 1 after verification of full node, from which block will the storage begin to save? Since the last of the concrete moment?  
> **username_1**: No, the (older, verified) blocks will be deleted after a while, while newer ones are still being downloaded. You only need a few GB storage for a pruned node.  
> **username_0**: I still do not understand. Thank you for being able to enlighten me again. We need to synchronize the blockchain as of October 1, which is when we will start the project. The blocks prior to that date are not necessary since the wallets that we will use will be newly created from that date. So is it correct that we have prune = 1? When we run the node and the blockchain is verified, would only blocks from October 1st be saved on the hard drive?  
> **username_0**: In short, I need to save the blocks starting from X block. I don't need to download the previous blocks or from genesis.  
> **username_1**: You can't avoid downloading them all (with Bitcoin Core today at least), regardless of whether you prune or not. With `prune=0` you keep everything. With `prune=N` you will keep the last N megabytes of blocks. With `prune=1` you keep everything, but can manually ask Bitcoin Core to delete stuff using the `pruneblockchain` RPC.  
> **username_0**: So, from what I understand, I can remove up to X block height using the pruneblockchain RPC command. It's right?  
> **username_1**: Yes, exactly. If you have `prune=1` configured, Bitcoin Core won't delete any blocks on its own, but lets you manually delete blocks up to a certain height by calling that RPC. You can even call it while it's still synchronizing. However, even in that case you will need to download and verify all old historical blocks; it just lets you delete them after verification.  
> **username_0**: Thank you for clarify. Solved!  

---

