Operator Service V3

Operator V3 Documentation

You must run Operator Service v3.1.10 and follow this documentation page if your Vault version is below 5 on Ethereum or below 3 on Gnosis. You can check your Vault contract version in the Details section of the Vault page or on the contract page in the block explorer. If your Vault version is higher, please refer to the latest documentation →.

We recommend upgrading to enjoy the full set of features. See the V4 Upgrade Guide →.

Key differences from V4

• Deposit data files — V3 requires generating and uploading a deposit_data.json file before validators can be registered. V4 handles this automatically.
• No compound validators — V3 only supports 0x01 validators (32 ETH limit). V4 supports 0x02 validators with balances up to 2048 ETH, reducing the number of validators needed and infrastructure overhead via consolidation.
• No automated withdrawals — V4 supports partial withdrawals and execution-layer triggered exits (Pectra), enabling faster withdrawal processing without full validator exits.
• No fee automation — V4 can automatically split and claim Vault fees to multiple shareholders on a schedule.
• No Meta Vaults — V4 can process Meta Vaults, which delegate assets across multiple sub-vaults for diversified staking.
• No automated node setup — V4 can automatically install and manage Reth and Lighthouse clients.

Setup Guide

1. Prerequisites → — Node infrastructure and Vault requirements
2. Installation → — Install the Operator Service
3. Prepare Operator → — Generate keys, create hot wallet, upload deposit data
4. Start Operator → — Launch the Operator Service with your configuration

Alternative Key Management

V3 supports external key management with different commands than V4:

• Remote Signer → — Isolate validator signing keys using an external signer like Web3Signer
• HashiCorp Vault → — Store and load validator keys from a remote HashiCorp Vault instance
• API Mode → — Delegate signing and key operations to an external service via API

Additional Actions

The following vault and validator management tasks are shared across V3 and V4:

Manage Vault

• Vault Administration → — Branding, fees, roles
• Add Extra Rewards → — Distribute incentives to your Vault
• Vault Performance → — Performance grades and scoring

Manage Validators

• Monitoring → — Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboards
• Rated Network → — Self-reporting to Rated Network
• Manual Exit → — Emergency validator exits (uses validators-exit in V3)
• Recover Validators → — Recover active validator keystores