Choose a Network

Dusk offers multiple network environments to support different stages of development, testing, and live usage. Each network serves a unique purpose, allowing developers, testers, and users to interact with the Dusk network under various conditions.

The available networks include:

1. Mainnet

The Dusk Mainnet is the live, production-ready network, where real assets are transacted, and all functionalities are accessible to end-users, businesses, and institutions. Mainnet enables secure, compliant, and privacy-preserving transactions, utilizing Dusk’s zero-knowledge technology for full-scale financial operations. All deployed contracts and assets here are available for real-world use cases, enabling a fully Decentralized Market Infrastructure (DeMI).

You can:

• Run a node on Dusk by following the guide.
• Look at transactions on the Mainnet block explorer.

2. Nocturne Testnet

The Nocturne Testnet provides a realistic, risk-free environment for developers and community members to experiment with Dusk’s features. Nocturne serves as the primary testing network, where new functionalities are deployed, validated, and stress-tested before being introduced to the Mainnet. This environment supports developers in refining their smart contracts, applications, and node setups without risk to real assets.

Some of the functions for the Nocturne Testnet are:

• Testing new protocol updates, security measures, and feature releases.
• Enabling developers to deploy and test smart contracts.
• Supporting community-run nodes for stress-testing and performance assessments.

You can:

• Run a node on Dusk by following the guide.
• Look at transactions on the Testnet block explorer.

3. Lunare Devnet

The Lunare Devnet is an experimental sandbox environment for internal development and initial testing of Dusk’s newest features. Lunare enables Dusk’s engineering team to iterate quickly on early-stage functionalities, benchmark them, and troubleshoot issues in a controlled setting. While Lunare offers a flexible testing ground, it is reserved for internal use and is not open to the general public.

Some of the functions for the Lunare Devnet are:

• Benchmarking new features and assessing their performance before launching them on Nocturne Testnet.
• Iterating on early-stage features without impacting public nodes.
• Testing edge cases and improvements in a controlled environment.

Note

The Lunare Devnet can only be accessed by Dusk’s engineering teams, as it is frequently reset and used primarily for quickly iterating on testing unstable, early-stage features.