- Improved RLP processing of zero-length string as 0x80 [#4283](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4283) [#4388](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/issues/4388)
- Increased level of detail in JSON-RPC parameter error log messages [#4510](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4510)
- New unstable configuration options to set the maximum time, in milliseconds, a PoS block creation jobs is allowed to run [#4519](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4519)
- Tune EthScheduler thread pools to avoid to recreate too many threads [#4529](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4529)
- Tune EthScheduler thread pools to avoid recreating too many threads [#4529](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4529)
- RocksDB snapshot based worldstate and plugin-api addition of Snapshot interfaces [#4409](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4409)
- Continuously try to build better block proposals until timeout or GetPayload is called [#4516](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4516)
- Avoid connecting to self when using static-nodes [#4521](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/4521)
### Bug Fixes
- Corrects emission of blockadded events when rewinding during a re-org. Fix for [#4495](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/issues/4495)