diff --git a/docker/compose/movement-full-node/docker-compose.bardock-follower.yml b/docker/compose/movement-full-node/docker-compose.bardock-follower.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a2ed64b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/compose/movement-full-node/docker-compose.bardock-follower.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+services:
+  setup:
+    image: ghcr.io/movementlabsxyz/movement-full-node-setup:${CONTAINER_REV}
+    container_name: setup
+    environment:
+      DOT_MOVEMENT_PATH: /.movement
+      # needs to have a connection to the movement-celestia-da-light-node
+      MOVEMENT_DA_LIGHT_NODE_CONNECTION_PROTOCOL: https
+      MOVEMENT_DA_LIGHT_NODE_CONNECTION_HOSTNAME: m1-da-light-node.testnet.bardock.movementlabs.xyz
+      MOVEMENT_DA_LIGHT_NODE_CONNECTION_PORT: 443
+      INDEXER_PROCESSOR_POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING: postgres://postgres:password@postgres:5432/postgres
+      AWS_REGION: ${AWS_REGION:?AWS_REGION is not set}
+      AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}
+      AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}
+      MOVEMENT_SYNC: follower::follower-test-$MOVEMENT_SHARED_RANDOM_1<=>{maptos,maptos-storage,movement-da-db}/**
+      MAYBE_RUN_LOCAL: "false"
+    volumes:
+      - ${DOT_MOVEMENT_PATH}:/.movement
+      # mount if exists
+      - ~/.aws/:/root/.aws:ro
+
+    healthcheck:
+      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "echo 'health check'" ]
+      retries: 10
+      interval: 10s
+      timeout: 5s
+
+  # turn off underlying da light nodes
+  celestia-light-node:
+    image: busybox
+    container_name: celestia-light-node
+    command: sleep infinity
+    environment:
+      - DOT_MOVEMENT_PATH=/.movement
+      - CELESTIA_RPC_ADDRESS=celestia-light-node:26657
+    volumes:
+      - ${DOT_MOVEMENT_PATH}:/.movement
+    depends_on:
+      setup:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    healthcheck:
+      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "echo 'health check'" ]
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 3s
+    restart: on-failure:3
+
+  # turn off celestia-light-node-synced
+  celestia-light-node-synced:
+    image: busybox
+    container_name: celestia-light-node-synced
+    command: echo "No sync check when following."
+    environment:
+      - DOT_MOVEMENT_PATH=/.movement
+    volumes:
+      - ${DOT_MOVEMENT_PATH}:/.movement
+    depends_on:
+      celestia-light-node:
+        condition: service_healthy
+
+  # turn off movement-celestia-da-light-node
+  movement-celestia-da-light-node:
+    image: busybox
+    container_name: movement-celestia-da-light-node
+    command: sleep infinity
+    healthcheck:
+      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "echo 'health check'" ]
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 3s
+
+  # turn off movement-faucet-service
+  movement-faucet-service:
+    image: busybox
+    container_name: movement-faucet-service
+    command: sleep infinity
+    healthcheck:
+      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "echo 'health check'" ]
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 3s
+
+  movement-full-node:
+    environment:
+      ETH_RPC_CONNECTION_PROTOCOL: https
+      ETH_RPC_CONNECTION_HOSTNAME: ethereum-holesky-rpc.publicnode.com
+      ETH_RPC_CONNECTION_PORT: 443
+      ETH_WS_CONNECTION_PROTOCOL: wss
+      ETH_WS_CONNECTION_HOSTNAME: ethereum-holesky-rpc.publicnode.com
+      ETH_WS_CONNECTION_PORT: 443
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/compose/movement-full-node/docker-compose.mainnet-follower.yml b/docker/compose/movement-full-node/docker-compose.mainnet-follower.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/partial.rs b/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/partial.rs
index feb005721..c9570c7c3 100644
--- a/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/partial.rs
+++ b/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/partial.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ use tracing::debug;
 pub struct MovementPartialNode<T> {
 	executor: T,
 	light_node_client: MovementDaLightNodeClient,
-	settlement_manager: McrSettlementManager,
+	settlement_manager: Option<McrSettlementManager>,
 	commitment_events: Option<CommitmentEventStream>,
 	movement_rest: MovementRest,
 	config: Config,
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ impl<T> MovementPartialNode<T>
 where
 	T: DynOptFinExecutor + Send + 'static,
 {
-	pub fn settlement_manager(&self) -> &McrSettlementManager {
+	pub fn settlement_manager(&self) -> &Option<McrSettlementManager> {
 		&self.settlement_manager
 	}
 
@@ -142,14 +142,17 @@ impl MovementPartialNode<Executor> {
 		let executor = Executor::try_from_config(config.execution_config.maptos_config.clone())
 			.context("Failed to create the inner executor")?;
 
-		debug!("Creating the settlement client");
-		let settlement_client = McrSettlementClient::build_with_config(&config.mcr)
-			.await
-			.context("Failed to build MCR settlement client with config")?;
-		let (settlement_manager, commitment_events) =
-			McrSettlementManager::new(settlement_client, &config.mcr);
-		let commitment_events =
-			if config.mcr.should_settle() { Some(commitment_events) } else { None };
+		let (settlement_manager, commitment_events) = if config.mcr.should_settle() {
+			debug!("Creating the settlement client");
+			let settlement_client = McrSettlementClient::build_with_config(&config.mcr)
+				.await
+				.context("Failed to build MCR settlement client with config")?;
+			let (settlement_manager, commitment_events) =
+				McrSettlementManager::new(settlement_client, &config.mcr);
+			(Some(settlement_manager), Some(commitment_events))
+		} else {
+			(None, None)
+		};
 
 		debug!("Creating the movement rest service");
 		let movement_rest =
diff --git a/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/tasks/execute_settle.rs b/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/tasks/execute_settle.rs
index 9277282af..372ea3f77 100644
--- a/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/tasks/execute_settle.rs
+++ b/networks/movement/movement-full-node/src/node/tasks/execute_settle.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use tracing::{debug, error, info, info_span, Instrument};
 
 pub struct Task<E, S> {
 	executor: E,
-	settlement_manager: S,
+	settlement_manager: Option<S>,
 	da_db: DaDB,
 	da_light_node_client: MovementDaLightNodeClient,
 	// Stream receiving commitment events, conditionally enabled
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ pub struct Task<E, S> {
 impl<E, S> Task<E, S> {
 	pub(crate) fn new(
 		executor: E,
-		settlement_manager: S,
+		settlement_manager: Option<S>,
 		da_db: DaDB,
 		da_light_node_client: MovementDaLightNodeClient,
 		commitment_events: Option<CommitmentEventStream>,
@@ -152,10 +152,17 @@ where
 			&& da_height % self.settlement_config.settle.settlement_super_block_size == 0
 		{
 			info!("Posting block commitment via settlement manager");
-			match self.settlement_manager.post_block_commitment(commitment).await {
-				Ok(_) => {}
-				Err(e) => {
-					error!("Failed to post block commitment: {:?}", e);
+			match &self.settlement_manager {
+				Some(settlement_manager) => {
+					match settlement_manager.post_block_commitment(commitment).await {
+						Ok(_) => {}
+						Err(e) => {
+							error!("Failed to post block commitment: {:?}", e);
+						}
+					}
+				}
+				None => {
+					error!("Settlement manager not initialized");
 				}
 			}
 		} else {
diff --git a/process-compose/movement-full-node/process-compose.test-followers.yml b/process-compose/movement-full-node/process-compose.test-followers.yml
index d45f6b1db..f42a3a1b1 100644
--- a/process-compose/movement-full-node/process-compose.test-followers.yml
+++ b/process-compose/movement-full-node/process-compose.test-followers.yml
@@ -65,12 +65,7 @@ processes:
 
   setup-follower-2:
     environment:
-      - "ETH_RPC_CONNECTION_PROTOCOL=http"
-      - "ETH_RPC_CONNECTION_HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0"
-      - "ETH_RPC_CONNECTION_PORT=8090"
-      - "ETH_WS_CONNECTION_PROTOCOL=ws"
-      - "ETH_WS_CONNECTION_HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0"
-      - "ETH_WS_CONNECTION_PORT=8090"
+      # use invalid eth hostnames to check that non-settling follower doesn't have build issues. 
       - "MAYBE_RUN_LOCAL=true"
       - "MOVEMENT_DA_LIGHT_NODE_HTTP1=false"
     command: |