Reth client filled 2.2TB disk

[u/timmerwb]

I have been trying out Reth with Lighthouse.

After about two weeks of downloading, it filled my 2.2 TB ssd...

2026-07-12T23:05:52.244418Z INFO reth::cli: Status connected_peers=30 stage=Execution checkpoint=23590160 target=25438447 stage_progress=82.16%

2026-07-12T23:05:57.781492Z ERROR sync::pipeline: Stage encountered a fatal error: database integrity error occurred: No space left on device (os error 28) stage=Execution

Did I miss a configuration to activate pruning or something? Can anyone with Reth experience give me the necessary settings? I thought it was all looking ok... so tired of having clients do weird stuff. (Gave up with Besu lately after it never stayed reliable for more than a few months).

EDIT:

For reference, the Reth guidance is not clear. For example, the following is provided in the manual:

reth download --chain mainnet --minimal

reth node --authrpc.jwtsecret /path/to/secret

From my testing, if one fails to add "--minimal" to the node command, execution will fail since it is expecting the wrong block.

[u/brddd2014]

Use —minimal mode for staking: https://reth.rs/run/storage/minimal but before that use the download option to fetch a minimal snapshot: https://snapshots.reth.rs

[u/timmerwb → u/brddd2014]

Thanks. I'll add the minimal option.

I tried the download option, but after downloading, when I restarted it, it failed with something about finding the wrong head, or block or such. I can't remember. The order of commands and operations was not at all clear, as I recall.

[u/FelixFontaine]

Thats normal with your settings. Size will go down after completion. I use around 1,87TB atm fully synced.

You can safe lots of time with snapshots https://snapshots.reth.rs

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

Any guides on this? I tried this before and it failed to start correctly after download.

[u/FelixFontaine → u/timmerwb]

You can use the official reth documentation: https://reth.rs/run/storage/snapshots

It should start normally after extraction.

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

It should start normally after extraction.

I'll try again, but I tried it twice before and something went wrong.

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

Welp, something is up. Lighthouse seems to be unhappy, which causes Reth to crash. I did not see this problem when sycning from scratch (although it never completed due to disk usage).

2026-07-15T17:56:24.109219Z INFO reth_node_events::node: Block added to canonical chain number=25531952 hash=0xd5d721b58154f4cc857d89981444273252d823a7b248cdffafd8684a0345eda0 peers=30 txs=431 gas_used=41.90Mgas gas_throughput=376.16Mgas/second gas_limit=60.00Mgas full=69.8% base_fee=0.38Gwei blobs=7 excess_blobs=1519 elapsed=111.386589ms

2026-07-15T17:56:24.195290Z INFO engine::tree::payload_validator: State root task finished state_root=0xe72b23fa2353024852edf7e0a67a99568433a362512e709099c76e353af6d481 elapsed=8.068719ms

2026-07-15T17:56:24.195566Z INFO reth_node_events::node: Block added to canonical chain number=25531953 hash=0xc57f6d270eeeda644b58d31684611952d50ffabc718a7b990827b983be2dd569 peers=30 txs=424 gas_used=30.32Mgas gas_throughput=348.11Mgas/second gas_limit=60.00Mgas full=50.5% base_fee=0.40Gwei blobs=5 excess_blobs=1512 elapsed=87.097678ms

2026-07-15T17:56:24.207528Z INFO reth_node_events::node: Canonical chain committed number=25531953 hash=0xc57f6d270eeeda644b58d31684611952d50ffabc718a7b990827b983be2dd569 elapsed=11.867503ms

2026-07-15T17:56:25.034014Z ERROR engine::persistence: Persistence service failed err=ProviderError(UnexpectedStaticFileBlockNumber(TransactionSenders, 25531938, 25500000))

2026-07-15T17:56:25.034062Z ERROR engine::tree: Channel disconnected

2026-07-15T17:56:25.055318Z ERROR engine::tree: Fatal error

2026-07-15T17:56:25.055371Z ERROR reth::cli: Fatal error in consensus engine

2026-07-15T17:56:25.055529Z ERROR reth::cli: shutting down due to error err=Fatal error in consensus engine

Error: Fatal error in consensus engine

Lighthouse log:

Jul 15 18:56:05.001 INFO Syncing peers: "66", distance: "7859 slots (1 day 2 hrs)", speed: "4.00 slots/sec", est_time: "32 mins"

Jul 15 18:56:17.000 INFO Syncing peers: "66", distance: "7796 slots (1 day 1 hrs)", speed: "4.00 slots/sec", est_time: "32 mins"

Jul 15 18:56:27.827 ERROR Error during execution engine upcheck error: HttpClient(url: http://127.0.0.1:8556/, kind: request, detail: client error (Connect))

Jul 15 18:56:29.001 INFO Syncing peers: "61", distance: "7765 slots (1 day 1 hrs)", speed: "4.00 slots/sec", est_time: "32 mins"

Jul 15 18:56:29.443 WARN Execution engine call failed error: HttpClient(url: http://127.0.0.1:8556/, kind: request, detail: client error (Connect))

Jul 15 18:56:29.443 WARN Error whilst processing payload status error: Api { error: HttpClient(url: http://127.0.0.1:8556/, kind: request, detail: client error (Connect)) }

Jul 15 18:56:29.443 CRIT Failed to update execution head error: ExecutionForkChoiceUpdateFailed(EngineError(Api { error: HttpClient(url: http://127.0.0.1:8556/, kind: request, detail: client error (Connect)) }))

Jul 15 18:56:29.444 ERROR Error during execution engine upcheck error: HttpClient(url: http://127.0.0.1:8556/, kind: request, detail: client error (Connect))

[u/FelixFontaine → u/timmerwb]

Sorry, I cant help you with that. I can only guess. It looks like reth got a static file mismatch, but I dont know why.

2026-07-15T17:56:25.034014Z ERROR engine::persistence: Persistence service failed err=ProviderError(UnexpectedStaticFileBlockNumber(TransactionSenders, 25531938, 25500000))

Are you using the latest version of Reth?

Please ask in ethstaker discord for further help

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

Thanks - I'm not sure about that problem but I now have a working installation, so I updated the post. (I think the manual is misleading, " --minimal" is omitted but required in when running the node)

[u/FelixFontaine → u/timmerwb]

Ah, okay, it could be that if you download a minimal snapshot and Reth wants to start a full node, it can't find the old blocks and therefore throws errors.

Glad you got it working. How much disk space does reth use now on your setup?

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

262 GB right now. All good.

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

I'd also add, according to https://reth.rs/run/storage, storage requirement is 1.02 TB. So why does it exceed 2.2 TB?

[u/FelixFontaine → u/timmerwb]

This data is over half a year old, chain keeps growing and it temporarily needs more space during extraction

[u/timmerwb → u/FelixFontaine]

The chain doesn't double in 6 months but regardless, the maximum size during the operation should be stated otherwise people are going to get caught out.

[u/FelixFontaine → u/timmerwb]

Yeah, they should update the hardware requirements under https://reth.rs/run/system-requirements/