settings: add auto-generated warning msg for editing the file manually

Hopefully, refraining users from modifying the file unless they are
certain about the potential consequences.

Co-authored-by: Ryan Ofsky <ryan@ofsky.org>

1 files changed, 4 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/test/functional/feature_settings.py b/test/functional/feature_settings.py
index 4175699152..0214e781de 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_settings.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_settings.py
@@ -23,10 +23,11 @@ class SettingsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         settings = node.chain_path / "settings.json"
         conf = node.datadir_path / "bitcoin.conf"
 
-        # Assert empty settings file was created
+        # Assert default settings file was created
         self.stop_node(0)
+        default_settings = {"_warning_": "This file is automatically generated and updated by Bitcoin Core. Please do not edit this file while the node is running, as any changes might be ignored or overwritten."}
         with settings.open() as fp:
-            assert_equal(json.load(fp), {})
+            assert_equal(json.load(fp), default_settings)
 
         # Assert settings are parsed and logged
         with settings.open("w") as fp:
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ class SettingsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
         # Assert settings are unchanged after shutdown
         with settings.open() as fp:
-            assert_equal(json.load(fp), {"string": "string", "num": 5, "bool": True, "null": None, "list": [6, 7]})
+            assert_equal(json.load(fp), {**default_settings, **{"string": "string", "num": 5, "bool": True, "null": None, "list": [6, 7]}})
 
         # Test invalid json
         with settings.open("w") as fp: