Proxies
What proxies are for and how to import them into Combine.
A proxy server is an additional link between you and the internet. It acts as an intermediary that separates the user from the visited website, creating conditions where the site believes the proxy is the real user's IP. The proxy substitutes the IP address, and traffic passes through an additional server.
Combine offers the option to use proxies. Combine supports both static and mobile IPv4 proxies. This option is optional; you decide whether to use proxies while operating wallets or not. Proxies are purchased separately from third-party services. Where and which proxies to buy is entirely up to you.
What proxies are for:
Many people think that proxies are only necessary when interacting with a protocol through the UI because there is direct interaction with the site, and the site can easily read the IP address you are using. But how are proxies used in the automatic modes of Combine? Let's figure it out.
The path your transaction takes: almost every blockchain has its own RPCs that receive the initial request from your wallet, process it, and send the request to the sequencer of the specific blockchain, where the transactions are distributed among validators (some networks use mempools, others use different mechanisms, but that's not the point). The key point here is that only the RPC sees your request and your IP; the sequencer or another transaction processing mechanism in the blockchain does not see your IP, only the RPC's IP that forwards the request.
The risk of not using proxies in Combine's automatic modes is that RPCs can collect data on which wallet addresses accessed them from which IP addresses and later pass this data to the blockchain/protocol team. The blockchain/protocol team, based on this analysis, might label such wallets as "Sybil" and exclude them from airdrops.
In practice, there have been no cases where blockchains distributing airdrops identified Sybil attacks by collecting device and IP address information. In the vast majority of cases, they rely solely on on-chain analysis. However, various Tier-2 projects, such as Connext, collected data about their users and later excluded them from airdrops. Therefore, this measure is more of a precaution than a mandatory condition, and each user decides whether they are willing to take even this minimal risk.
If you add proxies to Combine and link them to wallets, all actions originating from your wallets through the Combine application will be proxied, minimizing the risk of being detected by IP. While using the Combine application, proxies are used both when making transactions through UI-Touch and when launching wallets in automatic mode (Bridge mode/Block mode, etc.).
Frequently Asked Questions:
🔳 Many may notice that a proxy can actually be working, but in Combine, it might be marked as "not working" in the Proxy column, or it might have a status of "working" but not actually work. Why is that?
Within the application, we use a third-party checker to verify the functionality of the proxies. The proxy status through the checker is updated every 3-5 minutes, and sometimes, at the moment of checking, the proxy might "blink" for a couple of seconds, causing the checker to mark it as "not working" for the next 5 minutes, even though it is actually working. Therefore, it's better not to rely too much on this status.
It's important to understand that if your proxy is indeed not working, there will be errors in the logs. The software will not make a transaction bypassing the proxy. If the proxy is not working, the software will try to send a request to the RPC through it, but if the proxy is down, you will see an error in the logs.
If the proxy status shows "not working" but transactions are processed correctly in the logs, it means the proxy is working, and there is no need to take any action.
🔳 Updating wallet balances does not go through proxies. Only transaction requests from your wallets are routed through proxies. Balances and the current Gwei in a specific network are fetched using your local IP.
Therefore, if balances are not loading, the first thing you should do is change your IP using a VPN. If you don't want to change your IP, change the RPC. It's better to use custom RPCs, such as those from Ankr, which have an extended request limit and are much less likely to put your IP in rate limit.
🔳 Zora adheres to sanctions, and all countries on the OFAC list are banned by Zora. When attempting to access any Zora service from an IP address in a banned country, you will receive failures.
Therefore, firstly, choose neutral countries when purchasing proxies, and also check proxy checkers to see which data center the proxy server is located in. It can happen that you purchase a proxy supposedly from Spain, but the data center shows Moscow, and such a proxy will not work with Zora and other services that ban sanctioned countries.
🔳 If you see an error in the logs and technical support tells you the problem is with the proxy, first press the Resume button in the logs, as your proxy might have started working again, and a repeated request might solve your problem.
If even after pressing Resume you still get an error, remove the proxy from one wallet and press Resume again. If the transaction goes through, the problem is indeed with the proxy. In this case, you have two options: either wait for the proxy to "come back to life" or contact the provider and request a replacement for the working proxies. We cannot assist you in this matter; it is an issue with the proxy provider.
Adding proxies:
You can import proxies into Combine either one by one or in bulk using a TXT file.
Single imports:
Go to Setting -> Proxy;
Click Add Proxy;
In the Proxy name field, enter a name for the proxy so you can easily find it in the list;
In the Type field, select the proxy protocol. You can add socks5 and http/s proxies;
In the Host and Port fields, enter the proxy details provided by your proxy provider;
Enter the Username and Password for the proxy;
Click Check Proxy and, if the proxy details are entered correctly and the proxy is working, you will see a corresponding pop-up notification with a green checkmark;
If the proxy is working and all details are entered correctly, the Add Proxy button will become active. Click this button, and your proxy will appear in the list.
Batch Import:
Click Add batch Proxy;
Select the delimiter (@ or :) used in your txt file with the proxy data;
Enter the proxy name. If you are uploading 10 proxies, all proxies will be named "Name + sequential number," e.g., Proxy 1, Proxy 2, and so on;
If Auto attach proxy to accounts is set to By Index, the proxies will automatically be assigned to wallets according to their order number after import;
Click Upload and select the appropriate file on your device;
Proxies should be in the file in the following format:
https://46.3.144.241:8000:w9Q704:Td9wF0
If there are errors in the data in the file, your proxies will not be uploaded. Always double-check that you have chosen the correct delimiter and that the proxy protocol (socks5:// and https://) is written in lowercase letters. Additionally, non-working proxies will not be uploaded.
Adding mobile proxies:
Click Add Proxy;
In the Proxy name field, enter a name for the proxy so you can easily find it in the list;
In the Type field, select the proxy protocol. You can add socks5 and http/s proxies;
In the Host and Port fields, enter the proxy details provided by your proxy provider;
Enter the Username and Password for the proxy;
In the IP Rotate Trigger field, enter the URL for changing the IP address;
Click Check Proxy, and if the proxy details are entered correctly and the proxy is working, you will see a corresponding pop-up notification with a green checkmark;
If the proxy is working and all details are entered correctly, the Add Proxy button will become active. Click this button, and your proxy will appear in the list.
Export Proxy:
To export the added proxies, click Export proxies;
In the File format field, select the file format for exporting the proxy data (CSV or JSON);
In the File name field, enter the file name or leave it as default;
Select the data to be included in the file. To remove unnecessary data, click the "x" next to the data you want to exclude;
Click Export Data and specify the location on your device where the file will be exported.
Section Action:
By clicking the first icon (i) in the list, you can view all the data of a specific proxy;
By clicking the pencil icon, you can edit all the data of a specific proxy;
To delete a proxy, click the trash can icon. To delete all proxies at once, click Delete all Proxies.
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