Solana Reduces Blockchain Slot Time to 350 Milliseconds

Solana has reduced its slot time to 350 milliseconds, marking the first time the network has shortened this parameter since launch, according to Solana Foundation Vice President of Technology Jacob Creech. “We’re in a new era of 350ms. Next stop, 300ms,” Creech said in a Friday post on X.

At the time of writing, Solana’s average slot time stood at around 360ms, down from the network’s original 400ms target, according to the Solana slot time explorer.

Solana begins phased slot time reduction

In June, the Solana Foundation outlined plans to eventually reduce slot times from 400ms to 200ms in an effort to lower latency and speed up transaction confirmations. The roadmap includes three additional reductions of 50ms each following the move to 350ms. Shorter slot times mean validators can process and confirm new blocks more quickly, potentially improving the overall responsiveness of the network.

Further reductions planned for mainnet

All four stages of the upgrade are expected to be activated on mainnet through Agave v4.2, a validator client developed by Anza. However, the implementation timeline remains tentative and could change depending on testing and network readiness.

SIMD-0525 sets the new framework

The shorter slot times are based on SIMD-0525, the Solana improvement proposal that established the framework for the reductions. The proposal was approved and merged on May 14, clearing the way for the network to begin moving toward its longer-term 200ms slot time target.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-cuts-blockchain-slot-time-350-milliseconds

https://github.com/solana-foundation/solana-improvement-documents/pull/525

https://x.com/jacobvcreech/status/2090709177580630248

https://solana.com/200ms