getBlockHeight - Solana

Example code for the getBlockHeight JSON-RPC method. Complete guide on how to use getBlockHeight JSON-RPC in GetBlock Web3 documentation.

This method returns the current block height, which counts blocks actually produced and excludes skipped slots. Block height is the value transaction expiry is measured against.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
config	object	No	Configuration object controlling commitment

Config Object

Field	Type	Required	Description
commitment	string	No	Commitment level: processed, confirmed, or finalized. Defaults to finalized
minContextSlot	number	No	Minimum slot the request can be evaluated at

Request

cURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getBlockHeight",
    "params": [{"commitment": "finalized"}],
    "id": "getblock.io"
}'

@solana/web3.js

example.js

const { Connection } = require('@solana/web3.js');

const connection = new Connection('https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/', 'finalized');

const blockHeight = await connection.getBlockHeight();

console.log(blockHeight);

Request

example.py

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/',
    headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
    json={
        'jsonrpc': '2.0',
        'method': 'getBlockHeight',
        'params': [{"commitment": "finalized"}],
        'id': 'getblock.io'
    }
)

print(response.json()['result'])

Rust

example.rs

use reqwest::Client;
use serde_json::{json, Value};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = Client::new();

    let response = client
        .post("https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/")
        .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
        .json(&json!({
            "jsonrpc": "2.0",
            "method": "getBlockHeight",
            "params": [{"commitment": "finalized"}],
            "id": "getblock.io"
        }))
        .send()
        .await?
        .json::<Value>()
        .await?;

    println!("Result: {}", response["result"]);
    Ok(())
}

Response

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "result": 375812409
}

Response Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
jsonrpc	string	JSON-RPC protocol version ("2.0")
id	string	Request identifier matching the request
result	number	Current block height at the requested commitment

Use Cases

• Expiry Tracking: Compare against lastValidBlockHeight to know when to stop retrying

• Skip Rate Analysis: Difference block height against slot to measure skipped slots

• Sync Monitoring: Alert when an RPC node's block height lags the cluster

• Scheduling: Trigger periodic jobs on block height intervals rather than wall clock

Error Handling

Error Code	Message	Description
-32602	Invalid params	Unrecognized commitment level in the config object
-32016	Minimum context slot has not been reached	The node has not yet processed minContextSlot
-32005	Node is unhealthy	The node has fallen behind the cluster tip