On October 5, the developers of the Ethereum consensus client Prysm released version 7.2.1 in preparation for the Glamsterdam activation on the Sepolia testnet. This update introduced a setting that automatically directs validators to the new gas limit of 200 million.
The Glamsterdam activation on Sepolia is scheduled for October 6 at 13:53:36 UTC.
The prior version, Prysm 7.2.0, was already compatible with the update; however, the configuration for the new gas limit was added to Sepolia after the release preparations were complete. As a result, validators using this version without manual adjustments would have continued to operate under the previous limit of 60 million.
Operators had the option to manually set the limit to 200 million through validator settings. In Prysm 7.2.1, this value is included in the GAS_LIMIT_SCHEDULE and will be applied automatically once Gloas is activated.
Gas Limit Increased More Than Threefold
The shift from a 60 million to a 200 million gas limit allows for the testing of significantly greater throughput. However, it also raises the requirements for nodes, which must timely receive, execute, and validate larger blocks.
This new value is not a strict protocol limitation. According to EIP-8261, the GAS_LIMIT_SCHEDULE sets a recommended and default value for consensus-level clients. Operators can still specify a different limit if they choose.
Additionally, the actual block limit will not instantly jump from 60 million to 200 million. The existing rule under EIP-1559 restricts changes between consecutive blocks, meaning the adjustment will occur gradually towards the new target.
As a result, validators on the older configuration would not produce invalid blocks. However, their preference for the 60 million limit would slow the network's progression towards the target level and hinder effective testing of Sepolia under increased load.
Glamsterdam Prepares for L1 Scaling
Glamsterdam combines the Amsterdam changes at the execution level with Gloas at the consensus level. Key innovations include the enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS) and block-level access lists (BAL).
BALs predefine which accounts and state areas a block will interact with, allowing for simultaneous data loading and independent transaction verification rather than predominantly sequential processing.
The Ethereum Foundation views these changes as foundational for further enhancing Layer 1 scalability. However, the 200 million gas limit currently applies only to the test in Sepolia, with no similar figure established for the mainnet yet.
Following Sepolia, developers plan to test Glamsterdam in Hoodi, although the activation date for the update on the Ethereum mainnet has yet to be determined.
In August, the Ethereum Foundation warned that the changes to the gas model in Glamsterdam may necessitate updates to wallets, indexers, and fee estimation tools.
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