P-Chain Disable Validator

We can directly disable a validator on the P-Chain using the DisableL1ValidatorTx transaction and without needing to go through the VMC flow.

Why Direct P-Chain Disabling Exists

The direct disable flow is crucial for possible emergency situations like:

• The L1 goes down or becomes unreachable
• The Validator Manager Contract (VMC) is down or malfunctioning
• Something in the system is malfunctioning and immediate action is needed

These issues all become critical when the owner of the validators needs to retrieve their validator P-Chain AVAX used to keep it running (e.g; they deposited 1000 AVAX to never have to worry about topping up balances and now can't get it back)

How It Works

Direct P-Chain Transaction: You can issue a DisableL1ValidatorTx directly on the P-Chain to disable any validator without interacting with the L1's Validator Manager contract at all.

Weight Preservation: When a validator is disabled this way, their weight still counts towards the L1's total weight - they're just inactive.

Re-activation: Disabled validators can be re-activated at any time by increasing their balance with an IncreaseBalanceTx. Anyone can call this transaction for any validator on the P-Chain.

Key Management: When a validator is disabled, the keys are no longer stored on disk, providing additional security.

Permanent Removal Requires Contract: To completely and permanently remove a validator from the set, you still need to call initiateValidatorRemoval() through the contract flow

Chapter Conclusion

Throughout this chapter, we've explored the complete validator lifecycle - from adding validators through the VMC, modifying their weights, removing them properly, and handling emergency situations with direct P-Chain disabling.

This is all you will need to know in order to manage the validator set of your permissioned L1.

Appendix: Direct P-Chain Disable Flow