Skip to main content

Differences from Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Knots includes numerous enhancements over Bitcoin Core. This page summarizes the key differences.

Consensus​

Important

Bitcoin Knots follows identical consensus rules to Bitcoin Core. Your node will validate blocks exactly the same way.

The differences are in:

  • Default policy settings
  • Available configuration options
  • Additional features and RPC commands
  • User interface improvements

Policy Differences​

Mempool & Relay Policies​

FeatureBitcoin CoreBitcoin Knots
datacarriersizeFixed 80 bytesConfigurable (default 83)
datacarriercostN/AConfigurable weight multiplier
rejecttokensN/AFilter BRC-20/token transactions
rejectparasitesN/AFilter CAT21 spam transactions
bytespersigopstrictN/AStricter sigops enforcement
dustdynamicN/ADynamic dust threshold
permitbarepubkeyN/ABare pubkey output policy

Example: Filtering Spam​

bitcoin.conf
# Reject CAT21 spam and Runes tokens
rejectparasites=1
rejecttokens=1

# Or set very low data carrier limit
datacarriersize=42

Wallet Features​

Legacy Wallet Support​

Bitcoin Core has deprecated legacy wallets. Knots maintains support:

# Create a legacy wallet (Knots)
bitcoin-cli createwallet "mylegacy" false false "" false false

# Legacy wallet features remain available
bitcoin-cli dumpprivkey <address>

Additional Wallet Commands​

CommandDescription
sweepprivkeysImport and sweep private keys
dumpmasterprivkeyExport HD master private key
signmessagewithprivkeyBIP-322 enhanced signing

Codex32 Support​

Knots includes Codex32 seed phrase import for hardware wallet recovery.

RPC Enhancements​

New Commands​

# List mempool transactions (Knots)
bitcoin-cli listmempooltxs

# Get block file locations
bitcoin-cli getblocklocations <blockhash>

# Fee histogram data
bitcoin-cli getmempoolinfo

Enhanced Commands​

Many existing commands have additional options:

# getblocktemplate with extended options
bitcoin-cli getblocktemplate '{"rules": ["segwit"], "capabilities": ["proposal"]}'

# Enhanced createrawtransaction
bitcoin-cli createrawtransaction [...] # Additional fee options

GUI Improvements​

FeatureBitcoin CoreBitcoin Knots
Dark ModeNoYes
Network MonitorBasicEnhanced
Mempool Stats WidgetNoYes
Block Explorer ViewNoYes
Tor GUI PairingNoYes

Enabling Dark Mode​

Dark mode is available in Qt preferences or via:

bitcoin-qt -style=fusion

Networking​

Tor Integration​

Knots includes built-in Tor subprocess management:

bitcoin.conf
# Enable embedded Tor (Knots)
torsubprocess=1

UPnP Support​

UPnP was removed from Bitcoin Core but restored in Knots:

bitcoin.conf
# Enable UPnP port mapping
upnp=1

V2 Transport Default​

Knots defaults to v2 encrypted transport where available.

Mining​

Block Size Control​

The -blockmaxsize option was removed from Core but restored in Knots:

bitcoin.conf
# Limit block size (bytes)
blockmaxsize=750000

Transaction Priority​

Knots maintains transaction priority for miners:

bitcoin.conf
# Priority-based transaction selection
blockprioritysize=50000

Configuration Options​

Knots adds many configuration options. Key ones include:

bitcoin.conf
# Policy
datacarriersize=42
datacarriercost=1.0
rejectparasites=1
rejecttokens=1
permitbarepubkey=0
bytespersigop=20
bytespersigopstrict=1

# Privacy
torsubprocess=1

# Mining
blockmaxsize=750000
blockprioritysize=50000

# Network
upnp=1

See Configuration Reference for the complete list.

Checkpoints​

Knots maintains and enforces historical checkpoints more strictly than Core, with the enforce_checkpoints patch.

Software Expiry Warnings​

Knots includes software expiry warnings to encourage users to stay updated, especially for important security fixes.

Summary​

Bitcoin Knots is ideal if you want:

  • More control over relay/mempool policies
  • Legacy wallet functionality
  • Enhanced GUI features
  • Built-in Tor support
  • Mining configuration options
  • Extended RPC capabilities

If you just need a standard node with minimal configuration, Bitcoin Core may be simpler.

See Also​