What happens to Solana validators that miss the Agave 4.4.1 upgrade?

Anza gave Solana node operators until epoch 1079 to install a patch that changes how the network counts the account data a transaction loads. A machine running an older build could stay online and still fall out of step with the accepted chain, with different consequences for validators earning staking rewards and services that wallets rely on for current data. Summary Anza asked staked and unstaked mainnet nodes to run Agave 4.4.1 or Firedancer 26.10.6 before epoch 1079, which it estimated would begin at around 13:30 UTC on 6 November. The patch set a minimum size for loader-v3 ProgramData accounts when the runtime counts loaded data. A transaction already near the data limit could produce a different result under the two rules. The software release and the feature gate are separate milestones. Operators can deploy compatible code before the chain begins applying it at the scheduled epoch. A validator that falls out of step can stop recording effective votes, which can reduce rewards for stake delegated to it. The vote and reward records would establish the effect on an individual operator. The same patch applied to unstaked infrastructure. An outdated RPC endpoint or an exchange ...