Run a Mordor node

Mordor is Ethereum Classic’s proof-of-work test network. Its chain is a fraction of mainnet’s size, which makes it the place to try the client, test contracts, and rehearse a mainnet deployment before it matters.

Everything on Run an Ethereum Classic node applies here: stopping safely, reading the log, and telling when the sync is done. This page covers what differs. Running a node gives the commands for each platform, including Windows and Docker, with Mordor’s beside Ethereum Classic’s.

What Mordor is¶

--mordor selects it. Its chain ID is listed under supported networks, its network ID is MordorChainConfig.NetworkID in params/config_mordor.go, and its genesis is in params/genesis_mordor.go. A running node reports both IDs:

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$ geth --mordor attach --exec 'eth.chainId()'
"0x3f"
$ geth --mordor attach --exec 'net.version'
"7"

Pass --mordor on every command¶

Give --mordor to every geth command for a Mordor node, including attach, dumpconfig, export and import, and pass it beside --datadir and --config too. Without the flag, geth does not treat a Mordor data directory as Mordor.

Started without it, a Mordor data directory logs Starting Core-Geth on Ethereum Classic... and reports network ID 63 instead of Mordor’s 7. Mordor nodes refuse to peer with a node whose network ID differs from theirs. A configuration file does not carry the network either: see the warning under Configuration.

Start it, and where the data lives¶

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$ geth --mordor --datadir <datadir>

Without --datadir, the node uses a mordor directory beside Ethereum Classic’s classic directory, ~/.ethereum/mordor on Linux. Inside it, the layout is the one described under where your data lives.

An account is not tied to a network: the same key controls the same address on Ethereum Classic and on Mordor alike. What differs by default is the directory geth reads it from, since the keystore sits inside each network’s own data directory, so a keyfile created under Ethereum Classic’s default directory does not appear here unless you copy it into this directory’s keystore/ or point --keystore at it directly.

A new Mordor node’s first lines name the network. Check them before anything else:

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INFO [09-13|01:26:34.012] Starting Core-Geth on Mordor testnet...
INFO [09-13|01:26:34.287] Initialising Ethereum protocol           network=7 dbversion=<nil>
INFO [09-13|01:26:34.288] Writing custom genesis block
INFO [09-13|01:26:34.304] Loaded most recent local block           number=0 hash=a68ebd..59a3f1 td=131,072 age=7y2w2d

network=7 is Mordor’s network ID, and a68ebd..59a3f1 is its genesis hash, shortened. The sync ends the same way it does on Ethereum Classic:

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INFO [09-13|01:45:24.101] Snap sync complete, auto disabling
INFO [09-13|01:45:24.101] Enabled artificial finality features     reason=synced peers=13

The warnings explained for a first sync of Ethereum Classic can appear on Mordor too.

Disk and time¶

A Mordor node’s disk, memory and sync time are measured under Mordor on the hardware page.

Test coins¶

Mine on Mordor is the other way to get coins. Two public faucets are set up to give out Mordor coins. This is what each showed on 2026-09-13:

Mordor beside Ethereum Classic on one host¶

Two nodes on one host need separate data directories and separate ports. Each flag below moves one listener:

A second node that reuses the first one’s peer, HTTP or WebSocket port exits at startup with bind: address already in use (Troubleshooting). A metrics port that is already taken does not stop the node: its metrics server fails to start, and it logs Failure in running metrics server. Ports and listeners covers the shared metrics and profiling default.

With the Ethereum Classic node on the defaults, the Mordor node needs only the ports it would otherwise share:

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$ geth --classic --datadir <classic-datadir> --http
$ geth --mordor --datadir <mordor-datadir> --port 30304 --http --http.port 8547

On Linux and macOS, each node’s IPC socket is inside its own data directory. On Windows, every node’s IPC endpoint is the named pipe \\.\pipe\geth.ipc unless --ipcpath names another, so give the second node its own, such as --ipcpath geth-mordor.ipc.

On Linux, this lists what each node listens on:

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$ ss -lntup

Attach¶

geth --mordor attach finds a node that uses the default data directory:

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$ geth --mordor attach --exec 'eth.blockNumber'

For a node with its own --datadir, give the socket’s path:

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$ geth --mordor attach --exec 'eth.blockNumber' <datadir>/geth.ipc

On Windows, give the pipe’s name instead of a path. geth --mordor attach with no name connects to \\.\pipe\geth.ipc, which with two nodes running is whichever node holds that name.

Without --mordor, geth attach looks for Ethereum Classic’s socket and does not find a Mordor node:

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Fatal: Unable to attach to remote geth: dial unix <home>/.ethereum/classic/geth.ipc: connect: no such file or directory

For a node that runs as a systemd service, attach as the service’s user, as the Linux users guide shows.