Ethereum schedules Glamsterdam upgrade for Hoodi on Oct. 26

The Ethereum Foundation has scheduled the Glamsterdam network upgrade for the Hoodi testnet on Oct. 26, giving node operators and developers a chance to test changes to block production, validation and gas accounting before any mainnet date is set. The Foundation’s announcement sets activation for epoch 132,352, slot 4,235,264, at 17:42:48 UTC. Hoodi’s gas limit will rise to 200 million at the same time.

Glamsterdam combines an execution-layer upgrade called Amsterdam with a consensus-layer upgrade called Gloas. It follows activation on Sepolia on Oct. 6. The Foundation says the Hoodi announcement covers the testnet only; mainnet timing remains undecided.

What changes in how Ethereum builds and checks blocks?

Glamsterdam changes the order in which block building and validation work is handled. Under enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS, a proposer includes a builder’s commitment to an execution payload. The builder then reveals that payload, and the protocol handles payment to the proposer.

This separates consensus validation from execution validation, giving validators more time to check the execution payload. A payload timeliness committee attests to whether the builder revealed the payload and its associated blob data on time. The change brings proposer-builder separation into Ethereum’s consensus protocol, reducing reliance on trusted middleware for the exchange.

The other major change is block-level access lists, introduced by EIP-7928. These lists record which accounts and storage locations a block accesses, along with post-transaction state changes. Ethereum clients can use that record to read state from disk and validate transactions in parallel, then compute state roots more efficiently. The Ethereum.org Glamsterdam guide describes the upgrade as a change to how Ethereum creates and verifies blocks.

Why does Hoodi’s gas limit rise with the upgrade?

The scheduled Hoodi gas limit increases to 200 million at activation, matching Sepolia. Glamsterdam also changes gas accounting so costs better reflect resource use and state growth. The Foundation says the upgrade separately meters state creation and updates state-access costs; other changes cover transaction gas, calldata, access lists and block accounting.

Those rule changes can affect applications. Contracts that depend on fixed gas stipends, hardcoded gas limits or assumptions about remaining gas may need adjustment. Developers are advised to test contracts and gas estimation against the new rules on Sepolia and Hoodi.

Who needs to act before the Hoodi fork?

Hoodi node operators must update both execution-layer and consensus-layer clients to releases that support the scheduled activation. Validators need compatible beacon-node and validator-client software, and may need to review new ePBS duties and builder tooling. Application developers can use the upgraded testnet to check whether gas accounting, logs, opcodes or client interfaces affect their software.

The change announced so far is a scheduled Glamsterdam testnet activation with a 200 million gas limit. The next milestones to watch are compatible client releases and the Hoodi fork itself; the Foundation says a separate announcement will cover any mainnet schedule.

References

• Foundation’s announcement — blog.ethereum.org
• Ethereum.org Glamsterdam guide — ethereum.org