---
id: core-multipliers
title: Multipliers
keywords:
  - core
  - multipliers
description: Core protocol design - multipliers.
---

---

The Zilliqa network - specifically, the DS committee and shard nodes - maintain
a list of lookup nodes. All blockchain data generated by the network are
forwarded to these lookup nodes, in order for them to function as
[full nodes](../../../basics/zilliqa-architecture/basics-zil-nodes.md).

On the other hand, the network has no direct knowledge of all existing
[seed nodes](../../../basics/zilliqa-architecture/basics-zil-nodes.md). Seed nodes, which are
also full nodes, need to receive the same data as the lookup nodes to remain
synced with the network. Among these seed nodes are the ones maintained by
Zilliqa Research to service the public API, as well as the ones hosted by
exchanges and ecosystem partners.

To address this communication gap, multipliers play the role of receiving
blockchain data-related messages from the network and forwarding them to seed
nodes. In addition to the aforementioned lookup nodes, the network also
maintains a list of these multiplier nodes, hence blockchain data is also sent
to them. The Zilliqa Mainnet runs with several multipliers, each one configured
to forward messages to a list of seed nodes identified by their IP address and
port.

The multiplier is a simple Go program that basically listens at a particular
port for incoming messages and forwards the messages to the forwarding list. It
periodically checks this list for any updates, enabling the addition or removal
of seed nodes anytime. The multiplier uses hashes to prevent duplicate messsages
from being forwarded repeatedly. It is robust enough to retry sending messages
to recipients in the event of I/O timeout errors, which could happen due to
network glitches on either end.