diff --git a/src/bin/perftest.rs b/src/bin/perftest.rs
index bc0952a..d8f8b80 100644
--- a/src/bin/perftest.rs
+++ b/src/bin/perftest.rs
@@ -135,13 +135,14 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
 
     let start = Instant::now();
     let mut stats_calculation_timer = time::interval(cfg.stats_calculation_interval);
+    let start_time = current_time();
     let mut block_count = 0;
     let mut num_messages_confirmed = 0;
     let mut num_messages_submitted = 0;
     let mut pending_messages = HashSet::new();
     let mut time_to_confirmation = vec![];
     let mut block_times = vec![];
-    let mut last_block_time = current_time();
+    let mut last_block_time = start_time;
     let mut iteration = 0;
     loop {
         select! {
@@ -151,16 +152,18 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
             },
             Some(block) = blocks_rx.recv() => {
                 let block_timestamp = block.header.as_ref().unwrap().timestamp;
-                block_count += 1;
-                block_times.push(block_timestamp - last_block_time);
-                last_block_time = block_timestamp;
-                for chunk in &block.shard_chunks {
-                    for tx in &chunk.transactions {
-                        for msg in &tx.user_messages {
-                            let msg_timestamp = msg.data.as_ref().unwrap().timestamp;
-                            time_to_confirmation.push(block_timestamp  - msg_timestamp as u64);
-                            num_messages_confirmed += 1;
-                            pending_messages.remove(&hex::encode(msg.hash.clone()));
+                if block_timestamp >= start_time {
+                    block_count += 1;
+                    block_times.push(block_timestamp - last_block_time);
+                    last_block_time = block_timestamp;
+                    for chunk in &block.shard_chunks {
+                        for tx in &chunk.transactions {
+                            for msg in &tx.user_messages {
+                                let msg_timestamp = msg.data.as_ref().unwrap().timestamp;
+                                time_to_confirmation.push(block_timestamp  - msg_timestamp as u64);
+                                num_messages_confirmed += 1;
+                                pending_messages.remove(&hex::encode(msg.hash.clone()));
+                            }
                         }
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/src/consensus/proposer.rs b/src/consensus/proposer.rs
index 14c3a72..37d062f 100644
--- a/src/consensus/proposer.rs
+++ b/src/consensus/proposer.rs
@@ -392,9 +392,9 @@ impl Proposer for BlockProposer {
                 let destination_addr = format!("http://{}", rpc_address.clone());
                 let mut rpc_client = SnapchainServiceClient::connect(destination_addr).await?;
                 let request = Request::new(BlocksRequest {
+                    shard_id: self.shard_id.shard_id(),
                     start_block_number: prev_block_number + 1,
                     stop_block_number: None,
-                    start_timestamp: None,
                 });
                 let missing_blocks = rpc_client.get_blocks(request).await?;
                 for block in missing_blocks.get_ref().blocks.clone() {
diff --git a/src/network/server.rs b/src/network/server.rs
index ddb1561..e982aff 100644
--- a/src/network/server.rs
+++ b/src/network/server.rs
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ impl SnapchainService for MySnapchainService {
     ) -> Result<Response<BlocksResponse>, Status> {
         let start_block_number = request.get_ref().start_block_number;
         let stop_block_number = request.get_ref().stop_block_number;
-        let start_timestamp = request.get_ref().start_timestamp;
 
         info!( {start_block_number, stop_block_number}, "Received call to [get_blocks] RPC");
 
@@ -100,13 +99,6 @@ impl SnapchainService for MySnapchainService {
         {
             Err(err) => Err(Status::from_error(Box::new(err))),
             Ok(blocks) => {
-                let blocks = match start_timestamp {
-                    None => blocks,
-                    Some(start_timestamp) => blocks
-                        .into_iter()
-                        .filter(|block| block.header.as_ref().unwrap().timestamp >= start_timestamp)
-                        .collect(),
-                };
                 let response = Response::new(BlocksResponse { blocks });
                 Ok(response)
             }
diff --git a/src/proto/rpc.proto b/src/proto/rpc.proto
index 7ff88b2..6cab444 100644
--- a/src/proto/rpc.proto
+++ b/src/proto/rpc.proto
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ import "blocks.proto";
 import "hub_event.proto";
 
 message BlocksRequest {
-  uint64 start_block_number = 1;
-  optional uint64 stop_block_number = 2;
-  optional uint64 start_timestamp = 3;
+  uint32 shard_id = 1;
+  uint64 start_block_number = 2;
+  optional uint64 stop_block_number = 3;
 }
 
 message BlocksResponse {
diff --git a/src/utils/cli.rs b/src/utils/cli.rs
index c7d8bb9..3857852 100644
--- a/src/utils/cli.rs
+++ b/src/utils/cli.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-use crate::consensus::proposer::current_time;
 use crate::proto::msg as message;
 use crate::proto::rpc::snapchain_service_client::SnapchainServiceClient;
 use crate::proto::{rpc, snapchain::Block};
@@ -42,9 +41,9 @@ pub async fn follow_blocks(
 
     loop {
         let msg = rpc::BlocksRequest {
+            shard_id: 0,
             start_block_number: i,
             stop_block_number: Some(i + FETCH_SIZE),
-            start_timestamp: Some(current_time()),
         };
 
         let request = tonic::Request::new(msg);