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

# Chain congestion

> What to do when the network is congested: gas settings, RPC switching, and monitoring.

### What is chain congestion?

When blockchain networks such as Arbitrum or Base become busy, they can experience periods of **chain congestion**. This can lead to higher transaction fees, transaction failures, or long confirmation times. Gains is designed to operate efficiently, but network congestion is outside the app's control.

* Gas fees rise as users compete to get their transactions included.
* Transactions may be delayed, reverted or not included at all if gas fees are too low.
* User experience degrades, especially during periods of extremely high network activity.

You can check live gas prices and network load yourself on each chain's block explorer:

| Chain    | Gas / network monitor                                         | Status page                                                    |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Arbitrum | [Arbiscan gas tracker](https://arbiscan.io/gastracker)        | [status.arbitrum.io](https://status.arbitrum.io)               |
| Base     | [Basescan gas tracker](https://basescan.org/gastracker)       | [status.base.org](https://status.base.org)                     |
| Polygon  | [Polygonscan gas tracker](https://polygonscan.com/gastracker) | [status.polygon.technology](https://status.polygon.technology) |
| MegaETH  | [MegaETH explorer](https://mega.etherscan.io)                 | —                                                              |

Network-wide gas comparisons are also available on [ultrasound.money](https://ultrasound.money) (Ethereum L1) and via [chainlist.org](https://chainlist.org) for RPC health.

### How to manage chain congestion

* **Monitor network conditions**: when Gains detects unusual congestion or high gas prices on the underlying chain, it displays alerts, banners, tooltips, and notices.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/gains/IoupFIThDEsTzJuI/images/rSBgvba7LmnFA0BEFYGV-image.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=IoupFIThDEsTzJuI&q=85&s=3eb2f653da82c32cad677170669fca82" alt="" width="904" height="135" data-path="images/rSBgvba7LmnFA0BEFYGV-image.png" />

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/gains/IoupFIThDEsTzJuI/images/qi3FTQleyqiGa7qaTf4z-image.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=IoupFIThDEsTzJuI&q=85&s=980e40fda85cb114749be05774b49604" alt="" width="319" height="236" data-path="images/qi3FTQleyqiGa7qaTf4z-image.png" />

* **Adjust gas settings**: you can access this option in the footer. Consider changing to `Aggressive`, but pay attention to the higher estimated transaction cost shown in the tooltip.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/gains/IoupFIThDEsTzJuI/images/puNyLjlCsgqavq0IeRRq-image.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=IoupFIThDEsTzJuI&q=85&s=b14e7c6a2c7a4aa1b7bbe2b18624ad29" alt="" width="338" height="271" data-path="images/puNyLjlCsgqavq0IeRRq-image.png" />

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/gains/FCyVOdVfN-_VqQ5X/images/xAjE6PPsCZsRO8HUOEpM-image.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=FCyVOdVfN-_VqQ5X&q=85&s=71c94821f8ce7b6e8f3f44a169cb9530" alt="" width="279" height="86" data-path="images/xAjE6PPsCZsRO8HUOEpM-image.png" />

* **Change your RPC endpoint**: an RPC is the gateway between your wallet and the blockchain. Default RPCs can become slow or unresponsive during congestion. [chainlist.org](https://chainlist.org) lists alternatives and can help add them to your wallet.