diff --git a/consensus/wal.go b/consensus/wal.go
index d6bc7fa7b..166c95d9e 100644
--- a/consensus/wal.go
+++ b/consensus/wal.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	// amino overhead + time.Time + max consensus msg size
+	// TODO: Can we clarify better where 24 comes from precisely?
 	maxMsgSizeBytes = maxMsgSize + 24
 
 	// how often the WAL should be sync'd during period sync'ing
diff --git a/crypto/merkle/simple_proof.go b/crypto/merkle/simple_proof.go
index 93b6f9fea..79a4729eb 100644
--- a/crypto/merkle/simple_proof.go
+++ b/crypto/merkle/simple_proof.go
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	maxAunts = 100
+	// MaxAunts is the maximum number of aunts that can be included in a SimpleProof.
+	// This corresponds to a tree of size 2^100, which should be sufficient for all conceivable purposes.
+	// This maximum helps prevent Denial-of-Service attacks by limitting the size of the proofs.
+	MaxAunts = 100
 )
 
 // SimpleProof represents a simple Merkle proof.
@@ -114,8 +117,8 @@ func (sp *SimpleProof) StringIndented(indent string) string {
 }
 
 // ValidateBasic performs basic validation.
-// NOTE: - it expects LeafHash and Aunts of tmhash.Size size
-//			 - it expects no more than 100 aunts
+// NOTE: it expects the LeafHash and the elements of Aunts to be of size tmhash.Size,
+// and it expects at most MaxAunts elements in Aunts.
 func (sp *SimpleProof) ValidateBasic() error {
 	if sp.Total < 0 {
 		return errors.New("negative Total")
@@ -126,8 +129,8 @@ func (sp *SimpleProof) ValidateBasic() error {
 	if len(sp.LeafHash) != tmhash.Size {
 		return errors.Errorf("expected LeafHash size to be %d, got %d", tmhash.Size, len(sp.LeafHash))
 	}
-	if len(sp.Aunts) > maxAunts {
-		return errors.Errorf("expected no more than %d aunts, got %d", maxAunts, len(sp.Aunts))
+	if len(sp.Aunts) > MaxAunts {
+		return errors.Errorf("expected no more than %d aunts, got %d", MaxAunts, len(sp.Aunts))
 	}
 	for i, auntHash := range sp.Aunts {
 		if len(auntHash) != tmhash.Size {
diff --git a/crypto/merkle/simple_proof_test.go b/crypto/merkle/simple_proof_test.go
index 1a517905b..68e6912fb 100644
--- a/crypto/merkle/simple_proof_test.go
+++ b/crypto/merkle/simple_proof_test.go
@@ -15,9 +15,12 @@ func TestSimpleProofValidateBasic(t *testing.T) {
 		{"Good", func(sp *SimpleProof) {}, ""},
 		{"Negative Total", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.Total = -1 }, "negative Total"},
 		{"Negative Index", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.Index = -1 }, "negative Index"},
-		{"Invalid LeafHash", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.LeafHash = make([]byte, 10) }, "expected LeafHash size to be 32, got 10"},
-		{"Too many Aunts", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.Aunts = make([][]byte, maxAunts+1) }, "expected no more than 100 aunts, got 101"},
-		{"Invalid Aunt", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.Aunts[0] = make([]byte, 10) }, "expected Aunts#0 size to be 32, got 10"},
+		{"Invalid LeafHash", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.LeafHash = make([]byte, 10) },
+			"expected LeafHash size to be 32, got 10"},
+		{"Too many Aunts", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.Aunts = make([][]byte, MaxAunts+1) },
+			"expected no more than 100 aunts, got 101"},
+		{"Invalid Aunt", func(sp *SimpleProof) { sp.Aunts[0] = make([]byte, 10) },
+			"expected Aunts#0 size to be 32, got 10"},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
diff --git a/docs/spec/blockchain/blockchain.md b/docs/spec/blockchain/blockchain.md
index cd31c5dc1..1683da006 100644
--- a/docs/spec/blockchain/blockchain.md
+++ b/docs/spec/blockchain/blockchain.md
@@ -434,6 +434,8 @@ All votes must have a valid signature from the corresponding validator.
 The sum total of the voting power of the validators that voted
 must be greater than 2/3 of the total voting power of the complete validator set.
 
+The number of votes in a commit is limited to 10000 (see `types.MaxVotesCount`).
+
 ### Vote
 
 A vote is a signed message broadcast in the consensus for a particular block at a particular height and round.
diff --git a/docs/spec/blockchain/encoding.md b/docs/spec/blockchain/encoding.md
index a171020b0..12586807e 100644
--- a/docs/spec/blockchain/encoding.md
+++ b/docs/spec/blockchain/encoding.md
@@ -155,7 +155,9 @@ See details of SimpleProof, below.
 ### MakeParts
 
 Encode an object using Amino and slice it into parts.
-Tendermint uses a part size of 65536 bytes.
+Tendermint uses a part size of 65536 bytes, and allows a maximum of 1601 parts
+(see `types.MaxBlockPartsCount`). This corresponds to the hard-coded block size
+limit of 100MB.
 
 ```go
 func MakeParts(block Block) []Part
@@ -288,7 +290,9 @@ func computeHashFromAunts(index, total int, leafHash []byte, innerHashes [][]byt
 }
 ```
 
-The number of aunts is limited to 100 (`maxAunts`) to protect the node against DOS attacks.
+The number of aunts is limited to 100 (`MaxAunts`) to protect the node against DOS attacks.
+This limits the tree size to 2^100 leaves, which should be sufficient for any
+conceivable purpose.
 
 ### IAVL+ Tree
 
diff --git a/docs/spec/blockchain/state.md b/docs/spec/blockchain/state.md
index 15fc37761..0430819fa 100644
--- a/docs/spec/blockchain/state.md
+++ b/docs/spec/blockchain/state.md
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ type State struct {
 }
 ```
 
+Note there is a hard-coded limit of 10000 validators. This is inherited from the
+limit on the number of votes in a commit.
+
 ### Result
 
 ```go
diff --git a/types/params.go b/types/params.go
index 61c1d2da6..9d2b1b9b4 100644
--- a/types/params.go
+++ b/types/params.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ const (
 	// BlockPartSizeBytes is the size of one block part.
 	BlockPartSizeBytes = 65536 // 64kB
 
-	// MaxBlockPartsCount is the maximum count of block parts.
+	// MaxBlockPartsCount is the maximum number of block parts.
 	MaxBlockPartsCount = (MaxBlockSizeBytes / BlockPartSizeBytes) + 1
 )
 
diff --git a/types/validator_set.go b/types/validator_set.go
index 343c7723f..eda3a0b22 100644
--- a/types/validator_set.go
+++ b/types/validator_set.go
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ type ValidatorSet struct {
 // the new ValidatorSet will have an empty list of Validators.
 // The addresses of validators in `valz` must be unique otherwise the
 // function panics.
+// Note the validator set size has an implied limit equal to that of the MaxVotesCount -
+// commits by a validator set larger than this will fail validation.
 func NewValidatorSet(valz []*Validator) *ValidatorSet {
 	vals := &ValidatorSet{}
 	err := vals.updateWithChangeSet(valz, false)
diff --git a/types/vote_set.go b/types/vote_set.go
index 028065f7c..9e42b8cde 100644
--- a/types/vote_set.go
+++ b/types/vote_set.go
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	// MaxVotesCount is the maximum votes count. Used in ValidateBasic funcs for
-	// protection against DOS attacks.
+	// MaxVotesCount is the maximum number of votes in a set. Used in ValidateBasic funcs for
+	// protection against DOS attacks. Note this implies a corresponding equal limit to
+	// the number of validators.
 	MaxVotesCount = 10000
 )