Make QDN relaying unconditional

QORTIUM-CHANGELOG.md

@@ -34,6 +34,17 @@ own chain.
 
 ## Change Entries
 
+### 2026-07-20 - qdn: make QDN relaying unconditional
+
+Removes the inherited operator switch that allowed a QDN-enabled node to opt out
+of relaying discovery, metadata, and chunks for other peers. QDN-enabled Qortium
+nodes now always participate in relay while retaining separate storage-policy,
+block-list, capacity, hop/time, and queue controls. Existing settings files that
+still contain `relayModeEnabled` remain loadable, but the value is ignored; the
+setting is no longer writable or shipped in Previewnet templates. The legacy
+`/arbitrary/relaymode` endpoint remains temporarily for compatibility and
+always returns `true`.
+
 ### 2026-07-19 - fix(qdn): honor identifiers on status query requests
 
 Makes the shorter QDN status endpoint honor an `identifier` query

preview/settings-preview-seed-netcup.json

@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@
   "recoveryModeTimeout": 0,
   "autoUpdateMode": "OFF",
   "qdnEnabled": true,
-  "relayModeEnabled": true,
   "qdnAuthBypassEnabled": true,
   "gatewayEnabled": true,
   "gatewayPort": 8090,

preview/settings-preview-seed.json

@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@
   "recoveryModeTimeout": 0,
   "autoUpdateMode": "OFF",
   "qdnEnabled": true,
-  "relayModeEnabled": true,
   "qdnAuthBypassEnabled": true,
   "gatewayEnabled": true,
   "gatewayPort": 8090,

preview/settings-preview.json

@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@
   "recoveryModeTimeout": 0,
   "autoUpdateMode": "NOTIFY",
   "qdnEnabled": true,
-  "relayModeEnabled": true,
   "qdnAuthBypassEnabled": true,
   "publicQdnPublishMaxSize": 104857600,
   "publicApiWriteMaxBodySize": 262144,

src/main/java/org/qortium/api/resource/ArbitraryResource.java

@@ -620,7 +620,9 @@ public String createArbitrary(ArbitraryTransactionData transactionData) {
 	@GET
 	@Path("/relaymode")
 	@Operation(
-			summary = "Returns whether relay mode is enabled or not",
+			summary = "Returns true because QDN relay is always enabled",
+			description = "Deprecated compatibility endpoint. QDN-enabled Qortium nodes always relay QDN data.",
+			deprecated = true,
 			responses = {
 					@ApiResponse(
 							content = @Content(mediaType = MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN, schema = @Schema(type = "boolean"))
@@ -631,7 +633,7 @@ public String createArbitrary(ArbitraryTransactionData transactionData) {
 	public boolean getRelayMode(@HeaderParam(Security.API_KEY_HEADER) String apiKey) {
 		Security.checkApiCallAllowed(request);
 
-		return Settings.getInstance().isRelayModeEnabled();
+		return true;
 	}
 
 	@GET

src/main/java/org/qortium/controller/arbitrary/ArbitraryDataFileListManager.java

@@ -88,12 +88,9 @@ public class ArbitraryDataFileListManager {
     /** Maximum number of hops that a file list relay request is allowed to make */
     public static int RELAY_REQUEST_MAX_HOPS = 4; // was 4, this is no longer ArbData, only metaData/Lists
     public static int SEARCH_DEPTH_MAX_HOPS = 6; // Only used to determine if we should forward or terminate a search for QDN data
-    private final Boolean isRelayAvailable;
-
     private ArbitraryDataFileListManager() {
         getArbitraryDataFileListMessageScheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(this::processNetworkGetArbitraryDataFileListMessage, 60 * 1000, 500, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
         arbitraryDataFileListMessageScheduler.scheduleAtFixedRate(this::processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessage, 60 * 1000, 500, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
-        this.isRelayAvailable = Settings.getInstance().isRelayModeEnabled();
     }
 
 
@@ -551,14 +548,18 @@ public void onNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessage(Peer peer, Message message) {
      * Received a ArbitraryDataList Message
      */
     private void processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
+        List<PeerMessage> messagesToProcess;
+        synchronized (arbitraryDataFileListMessageLock) {
+            messagesToProcess = new ArrayList<>(arbitraryDataFileListMessageList);
+            arbitraryDataFileListMessageList.clear();
+        }
 
-        try {
-            List<PeerMessage> messagesToProcess;
-            synchronized (arbitraryDataFileListMessageLock) {
-                messagesToProcess = new ArrayList<>(arbitraryDataFileListMessageList);
-                arbitraryDataFileListMessageList.clear();
-            }
+        processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessages(messagesToProcess);
+    }
 
+    /** Synchronous processing seam used by the scheduler and relay-behavior tests. */
+    void processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessages(List<PeerMessage> messagesToProcess) {
+        try {
             if (messagesToProcess.isEmpty()) return;
 
             // Store ALL peer messages per signature (not just the last one)
@@ -662,7 +663,8 @@ private void processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
 
                 // Determine how many peers to process based on request type
                 List<PeerMessage> peersToProcess;
-                if (isRelayRequest != null && isRelayRequest && this.isRelayAvailable) {
+                boolean relayRequest = Boolean.TRUE.equals(isRelayRequest);
+                if (relayRequest) {
                     // For relay requests, only process first peer to avoid duplicate forwards
                     peersToProcess = Collections.singletonList(peerMessages.get(0));
 
@@ -680,7 +682,7 @@ private void processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
                     ArbitraryDataFileListMessage arbitraryDataFileListMessage = (ArbitraryDataFileListMessage) message;
 
                     // Process direct download responses (not relay forwarding)
-                    if (!isRelayRequest || !this.isRelayAvailable) {
+                    if (!relayRequest) {
 
                         Long now = NTP.getTime();
 
@@ -769,7 +771,7 @@ private void processNetworkArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
 
                     // Forwarding - We are not the original requestor, just in the middle
                     LOGGER.trace("Status of isRelayRequest {}", isRelayRequest);
-                    if (isRelayRequest && this.isRelayAvailable) {
+                    if (relayRequest) {
                         Triple<String, Peer, Long> request = requestBySignature58.get(signature58);
                         Peer requestingPeer = request.getB();
                         if (requestingPeer != null) {
@@ -1064,7 +1066,7 @@ private void processNetworkGetArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
 
                     String nodeId = NetworkData.getInstance().getOurNodeId();
                     arbitraryDataFileListMessage = new ArbitraryDataFileListMessage(signature,
-                        hashes, NTP.getTime(), 0, ourAddress, nodeId, this.isRelayAvailable, this.getIsDirectConnectable());
+                        hashes, NTP.getTime(), 0, ourAddress, nodeId, true, this.getIsDirectConnectable());
 
                     arbitraryDataFileListMessage.setId(message.getId());
 
@@ -1092,11 +1094,8 @@ private void processNetworkGetArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
                     }
                 }
 
-                LOGGER.trace("We don't have hashes or all hashes - Checking Relay Mode");
-                // We may need to forward this request on
-
-                //if (this.isRelayAvailable ) { = We do not want to block the relay of file find requests, this prevents Direct-Connect finding
-                    // In relay mode - so ask our other peers if they have it
+                LOGGER.trace("We don't have hashes or all hashes - forwarding the QDN search");
+                // QDN-enabled Qortium nodes always relay discovery requests.
 
                     GetArbitraryDataFileListMessage getArbitraryDataFileListMessage = (GetArbitraryDataFileListMessage) message;
 
@@ -1135,9 +1134,6 @@ private void processNetworkGetArbitraryDataFileListMessage() {
                     } else {
                         LOGGER.trace("Relay Request has timed out");
                     }
-                //} else {
-                //    LOGGER.debug("Relay (fetch-reserve) is disabled");
-                //}
             }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             LOGGER.error(e.getMessage(), e);