XRPL Amendments Explained
An amendment is a change to the XRP Ledger’s rules. It switches on for everyone at once, and only after more than 80% of the trusted validators have voted for it for two weeks without a break. 97 have switched on since 2016, 14 of them in 2026. Right now fixCleanup3_4_0 has a majority.
The vote right now
Every amendment the current server software supports and validators are voting on, read from the ledger on 19 October 2026:
fixCleanup3_4_0 passed the line on 9 October 2026. If it holds, it switches on at the first flag ledger after 23 October 2026.
How the vote works
- Who votes. The validators each server trusts, its UNL. Every validator states, in its validations, which amendments it supports.
- The bar. More than 80%: the threshold is 80% of the trusted validations, rounded down, and the votes must exceed it (SystemParameters.h, AmendmentTable.cpp).
- The wait. “Amendments must maintain two weeks of support from more than 80% of trusted validators to be enabled.” If support drops below 80%, “the two week period restarts” (xrpl.org).
- The switch. It turns on in a flag ledger, one of every 256, for every server at the same ledger.
- Undoing it. “Disabling a passed amendment requires a new amendment to do so.”
A server running software that does not know an enabled amendment becomes amendment blocked: it can no longer check ledgers, submit or process transactions, take part in consensus or vote (xrpl.org). That is why node operators upgrade when an amendment they have not got gains a majority.
What amendments added
| Switched on | Amendment | What it added |
|---|---|---|
| 27 June 2016 | MultiSign | several keys sign for one account |
| 31 March 2017 | Escrow | XRP locked until a time or a condition |
| 31 March 2017 | PayChan | payment channels for many small payments |
| 8 May 2020 | DeletableAccounts | an account can be deleted and most of its reserve recovered |
| 18 June 2020 | Checks | a payment the receiver cashes later |
| 31 October 2022 | NonFungibleTokensV1_1 | NFTs on the ledger itself |
| 8 February 2024 | Clawback | an issuer can take back its own tokens |
| 22 March 2024 | AMM | automated market maker pools on the exchange |
| 2 November 2024 | PriceOracle | price feeds published on the ledger |
| 4 May 2025 | DeepFreeze | an issuer can stop a frozen holder receiving too |
| 4 September 2025 | Credentials | attestations an account can hold and show |
| 1 October 2025 | MPTokensV1 | Multi-Purpose Tokens |
| 4 February 2026 | PermissionedDomains | groups defined by the credentials their members hold |
| 12 February 2026 | TokenEscrow | escrow for tokens, not only XRP |
| 18 February 2026 | PermissionedDEX | order books open only to a permissioned domain |
| 8 October 2026 | PermissionDelegationV1_1 | one account may send chosen transaction types for another |
| 9 October 2026 | BatchV1_1 | several transactions that succeed or fail together |
Questions
- What is an XRP Ledger amendment?
- A change to the ledger’s rules, such as a new transaction type. It is built into the server software first, then switched on for everyone at once when the trusted validators vote it in.
- How many votes does an amendment need?
- More than 80% of the trusted validators, held for two weeks without a break. If support drops below that, the two weeks start again.
- Can an amendment be undone?
- Only by another amendment. Once switched on, it stays on unless validators vote in a new change that reverses it.
- What does “amendment blocked” mean?
- A server whose software does not know an amendment the network has switched on stops: it cannot check ledgers, submit transactions or vote until it is upgraded.