getBlockHeight

getBlockHeight returns the current block height of Solana, the Proof-of-History and Proof-of-Stake network whose native token is SOL. Block height counts the blocks that have actually been produced, which is distinct from the slot number: Solana mints a new slot roughly every 400 ms, but skipped slots produce no block, so height always trails the latest slot. The method is most often used to compare against a transaction's lastValidBlockHeight and decide whether that transaction can still land before its recent blockhash expires. Call it against https://solana.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY as a JSON-RPC 2.0 POST; the optional config object accepts commitment and minContextSlot.

Use cases

• Compare the returned height against a transaction's lastValidBlockHeight to know exactly when that transaction can no longer be confirmed and should be rebuilt with a fresh blockhash.
• Probe chain progress as a liveness check — a height that keeps advancing confirms your Solana endpoint is healthy and caught up.
• Gate a send-and-confirm retry loop on the height advancing, so you stop resubmitting once the blockhash window has passed.

Parameters

Response

Example request

1curl https://solana.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  -X POST \
3  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
4  -d '{
5  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
6  "id": 1,
7  "method": "getBlockHeight",
8  "params": [
9    {}
10  ]
11}'

Errors & troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Block height is not the slot number. Because Solana skips slots that produce no block, the height is always lower than the current slot — never use one where the other is required.
• Choose the commitment that matches how settled you need the value to be: processed for the freshest read, confirmed for a typical app, or finalized when the height must be irreversible.

Supported networks

• Mainnet
• Devnet

See also

• getSlot
• getLatestBlockhash
• getEpochInfo