diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs
index a7c2c81f..754f0d12 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/blockchain.rs
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ impl Web3Rpcs {
 
         // TODO: should this be spawned and then we just hold onto the handle here?
         let mut consensus_finder =
-            ConsensusFinder::new(Some(self.max_head_block_age), Some(self.max_head_block_lag));
+            ConsensusFinder::new(Some(self.max_head_block_age), self.max_head_block_lag);
 
         // TODO: what timeout on block receiver? we want to keep consensus_finder fresh so that server tiers are correct
         let triple_block_time = average_block_interval(self.chain_id).mul_f32(3.0);
diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs
index 73436aee..1c9a5876 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/consensus.rs
@@ -354,14 +354,14 @@ pub struct ConsensusFinder {
     rpc_heads: HashMap<Arc<Web3Rpc>, Web3ProxyBlock>,
     /// no consensus if the best known block is too old
     max_head_block_age: Option<Duration>,
-    /// tier 0 will be prefered as long as the distance between it and the other tiers is <= max_tier_lag
-    max_head_block_lag: Option<U64>,
+    /// no consensus if the best consensus block is too far behind the best known
+    max_head_block_lag: U64,
     /// Block Hash -> First Seen Instant. used to track rpc.head_delay. The same cache should be shared between all ConnectionsGroups
     first_seen: FirstSeenCache,
 }
 
 impl ConsensusFinder {
-    pub fn new(max_head_block_age: Option<Duration>, max_head_block_lag: Option<U64>) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(max_head_block_age: Option<Duration>, max_head_block_lag: U64) -> Self {
         // TODO: what's a good capacity for this? it shouldn't need to be very large
         let first_seen = Cache::new(16);
 
@@ -782,8 +782,7 @@ impl ConsensusFinder {
 
         // TODO: move this default. should be in config, not here
         // TODO: arbitrum needs more slack
-        let max_lag_block_number = highest_block_number
-            .saturating_sub(self.max_head_block_lag.unwrap_or_else(|| U64::from(5)));
+        let max_lag_block_number = highest_block_number.saturating_sub(self.max_head_block_lag);
 
         trace!("max_lag_block_number: {}", max_lag_block_number);