> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.celo.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Operating a Community RPC Node

This guide covers how to operate a community RPC node on Celo.

***

<Note>
  ****Terminology****

  The term "validator" appears in code and documentation due to historical reasons, but refers to community RPC providers.
</Note>

To be eligible for rewards, registered and elected nodes must operate independent RPC endpoints. This guide assumes your node has been properly [registered](/contribute-to-celo/community-rpc-nodes/registering-as-rpc-node).

## Running the RPC Service

To operate the required RPC endpoint, follow the [Running a node guide](/infra-partners/operators/run-node).

## Rewards

### Claiming Rewards

Validator rewards for RPC nodes must be claimed, which is possible anytime after allocation. Use this CLI command:

```bash theme={null}
celocli epochs:send-validator-payment --from $YOUR_ADDRESS --for $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS
```

Where:

* `$YOUR_ADDRESS` is your Celo account address sending the transaction
* `$VALIDATOR_ADDRESS` is your validator's Celo account address

Note: anyone can run this command, but rewards distribute according to your validator group's commission rate.

### Verifying Rewards

Confirm successful reward distribution by checking for `ValidatorEpochPaymentDistributed` events on a block explorer like [CeloScan](https://celoscan.io/address/0xf424b5e85b290b66ac20f8a9eab75e25a526725e).

### Tracking Rewards

For accounting purposes, you can:

* Query Celo nodes for `ValidatorEpochPaymentDistributed` events.
* Query the [EpochManager contract](/contracts/core-contracts) for `validatorPendingPayments` to view total allocated payments.

### Group Commission Settings

Validator rewards distribution is affected by the validator group's commission rate. A commission rate of `1` means the entire reward goes to the validator group. Ensure you understand your group's commission settings to correctly anticipate reward allocations.

Check commission settings with:

```bash theme={null}
celocli validatorgroup:show $CELO_GROUP_ADDRESS
```

Update commission settings with the [celocli validatorgroup:commission](/cli/validatorgroup) command.