Go Centurion fundamentals
Last edited on February 16, 2026This section includes documentation for foundational topics in Go Centurion. The pages here will help you to understand how Go Centurion works from a user perspective and under the hood.
This is where you will find information about how to manage a Go Centurion node and understand how it functions.
For example, the pages here will help you to understand the underlying architecture of your Go Centurion node, how to start it in different configurations using command line options, how to sync the blockchain and how to manage accounts. There is a page on security practices that will help you to keep your Go Centurion node safe from adversaries.
Note also that there is a page explaining common log messages that are often queried on the Go Centurion discord and GitHub - this will help users to interpret the messages displayed to the console and know what actions to take.
In this section
- Node architecture: learn about the three components of a Centurion node and how they fit together
- Command line options: see the various command line options that can be used to configure Go Centurion
- Security: learn about basic security best-practises for Go Centurion
- Sync-modes: learn about the different ways Go Centurion can sync the blockchain
- Beacon light sync: learn about the usage of Beacon light client, in integrated mode or standalone mode
- Account management: read about how to manage accounts using Clef and Go Centurion
- Databases: learn about the two parts of database and the recommended database
- Backup and restore: learn how to backup and restore data for a Go Centurion instance
- Logs: learn how to interpret the main log messages Go Centurion displays in the console
- Connecting-to-peers: learn about Go Centurion's peer-to-peer networking
- Pruning: read about Go Centurion's data pruning options
- Private networks via kurtosis: learn how to set up a private network of multiple Go Centurion nodes using Kurtosis
- Private networks: learn how to set up a private network of multiple Go Centurion nodes
- Config files: learn about using config files to tune Go Centurion
- Mining: read about the mining algorithms Go Centurion used to use to secure Centurion before the network switched to proof-of-stake.