XRP Ledger Amendment Blocks Nearly Half Of All Servers Over Upgrade Delays

Alexey Bondarev
Alexey BondarevDec, 19 2025 6:25
XRP Ledger heads into May 27 mainnet upgrade, with 40% of 846 nodes already running version 3.1.3 ahead of fix activation. (Image: Shutterstock)
XRP Ledger heads into May 27 mainnet upgrade, with 40% of 846 nodes already running version 3.1.3 ahead of fix activation. (Image: Shutterstock)

XRP network operators face a significant infrastructure challenge as outdated servers prepare for automatic disconnection. Nearly 418 out of 999 XRP Ledger servers will become amendment-blocked, forcing operators to upgrade or lose network participation.

What Happened: Mandatory Upgrade

Krippenreiter, a community tracker on X, warned that the amendment-blocking process will prevent outdated rippled servers from determining ledger validity, submitting transactions, processing payments or participating in consensus.

The mechanism represents a built-in safety feature rather than a network failure, automatically sidelining servers running obsolete software when new protocol rules activate.

All designated Unique Node List validators remain operational and will continue validating transactions as expected.

XRPL.org's release notes for rippled 2.6.2 detail a new fixDirectoryLimit amendment alongside critical bug fixes that production infrastructure operators should implement immediately.

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Why It Matters: Consensus Continuity

The amendment-blocking process follows XRP Ledger's standard governance protocol, requiring sustained supermajority support from trusted validators over two weeks before activation.

Krippenreiter emphasized that consensus derives from the trusted validator set, with fee escalation mechanisms designed to increase transaction costs during high-traffic periods to prevent spam and overload attempts.

Other XRPL observers characterized the situation as routine maintenance occurring during nearly every amendment cycle.

However, hundreds of public servers falling behind simultaneously creates practical complications for wallets, explorers and businesses relying on third-party infrastructure, potentially reducing redundancy and creating temporary service disruptions.

The XRP Ledger amendment activation remains ongoing, and this article will be updated as the situation develops.

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Alexey Bondarev

Alexey Bondarev is the Head of Content at Yellow.com, having reported on crypto for the last 10 years. He specializes in in-depth Research and Learn pieces, with a focus on analytical reporting, industry context, and the bigger forces shaping crypto, from the AI era and security technologies to fintech innovation. He believes that everything digital will imminently overcome everything analogue and is working hard to make that come true.

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