<p>This has nothing to do with pruning.  RPC calls like getbalance only use data stored in the wallet and/or UTXO database.  They don't have any need to refer to the archive of old blocks, and having it available wouldn't help anything.</p>

<p>VPSs often don't have a lot of RAM, and bitcoind in its default configuration needs a lot - say a gigabyte or more.  Is it possible that you're short on physical memory and therefore having to swap?  This can make a system very slow.  You can reduce bitcoind's memory usage somewhat with different options (see <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/50580/how-to-run-bitcoind-in-a-low-memory-environment">How to run bitcoind in a low memory environment</a>) but you may also have to configure your VPS with more memory (and pay more).</p>

<p>Another possibility is that your server is overloaded with other tasks.</p>

<p>Either way, running <code>top</code> will probably reveal something.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T22:44:09.807Z
2018-06-04T22:44:09.807Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>Hello I am running a pruning node on my VPS, and some of the RPC calls such as get balance take minutes to load. I need to check the balance every time the users access the website. I was wondering if running a full node would make these RPC calls faster. </p>

<p>The time command shows that bitcoin-cli is taking long due to I/O operations. What could I do?</p>

<p>~$time bitcoin-cli getbalance profit<br>
0.00000000</p>

<p>real    6m16.762s<br>
user    0m0.000s<br>
sys     0m0.000s</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T21:39:48.103Z
You're already running a full node. Pruning does not affect RPC speed.
Pieter Wuille
<bitcoin-core><bitcoind><json-rpc>
Does running a full node make rpc calls faster?
Frank Rincon
# Does running a full node make rpc calls faster?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-04)

Hello I am running a pruning node on my VPS, and some of the RPC calls such as get balance take minutes to load. I need to check the balance every time the users access the website. I was wondering if running a full node would make these RPC calls faster.

The time command shows that bitcoin-cli is taking long due to I/O operations. What could I do?

~$time bitcoin-cli getbalance profit  
0.00000000

real 6m16.762s  
user 0m0.000s  
sys 0m0.000s

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, bitcoind, json-rpc

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You're already running a full node. Pruning does not affect RPC speed.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-06-04. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

This has nothing to do with pruning. RPC calls like getbalance only use data stored in the wallet and/or UTXO database. They don't have any need to refer to the archive of old blocks, and having it available wouldn't help anything.

VPSs often don't have a lot of RAM, and bitcoind in its default configuration needs a lot - say a gigabyte or more. Is it possible that you're short on physical memory and therefore having to swap? This can make a system very slow. You can reduce bitcoind's memory usage somewhat with different options (see [How to run bitcoind in a low memory environment](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/50580/how-to-run-bitcoind-in-a-low-memory-environment)) but you may also have to configure your VPS with more memory (and pay more).

Another possibility is that your server is overloaded with other tasks.

Either way, running `top` will probably reveal something.


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