USER FAQ: what does each part of the node logs mean?

(above CLI is on Mac OS)
In general (definition credits to @wei):

  • “bps” = blocks per second
  • “target” = longest peer chain connected so far
  • “best” = current highest block number synced so far (downloaded)
  • “finalized” = always 0 because there is no “final block”, but a probabilistic finality after k number of deep blocks
  • “down arrow” = download speed
  • “up arrow” = upload speed

If the logs are showing idle repeatedly, please refer to this forum post. In general, it should be ok. Node Terminal Stuck at "Idle"