Network RPC Methods

Manage network connections, peers, and get network information using Bitcoin Core RPC methods

Network RPC Methods

Network RPCs provide information about network status, peer connections, and allow management of network settings.

Network Information

getnetworkinfo

Returns information about the node’s network state.

bitcoin-cli getnetworkinfo

version · number

Bitcoin Core version number

subversion · string

User agent string

protocolversion · number

Protocol version

localservices · string

Services offered by this node (hex)

localservicesnames · array

Human-readable service names

localrelay · boolean

Whether transaction relay is enabled

timeoffset · number

Time offset in seconds

connections · number

Total number of connections

connections_in · number

Number of inbound connections

connections_out · number

Number of outbound connections

networkactive · boolean

Whether p2p networking is enabled

networks · array

Information per network (ipv4, ipv6, onion, i2p, cjdns)

relayfee · number

Minimum relay fee for transactions

incrementalfee · number

Minimum fee increment for mempool replacement

localaddresses · array

List of local addresses

warnings · string

Network warnings

Peer Management

getpeerinfo

Returns data about each connected network peer.

bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo

Returns array of peer objects with detailed information:

id · number

Peer index

addr · string

IP address and port of the peer

addrbind · string

Bind address of the connection to the peer

addrlocal · string

Local address as reported by the peer

network · string

Network type: ipv4, ipv6, onion, i2p, cjdns, not_publicly_routable

services · string

Services offered by peer (hex)

servicesnames · array

Human-readable service names

relaytxes · boolean

Whether we relay transactions to this peer

lastsend · number

Unix timestamp of last send

lastrecv · number

Unix timestamp of last receive

last_transaction · number

Unix timestamp of last valid transaction received

last_block · number

Unix timestamp of last block received

bytessent · number

Total bytes sent

bytesrecv · number

Total bytes received

conntime · number

Unix timestamp of connection time

pingtime · number

Last ping time in seconds

minping · number

Minimum observed ping time in seconds

version · number

Peer version

subver · string

Peer user agent string

inbound · boolean

True for inbound connections, false for outbound

synced_headers · number

Last header we have in common with peer

synced_blocks · number

Last block we have in common with peer

connection_type · string

Connection type: outbound-full-relay, block-relay-only, inbound, manual, addr-fetch, feeler

transport_protocol_type · string

Transport protocol: detecting, v1, v2 (BIP324 encrypted)

session_id · string

Session ID for v2 transport (empty for v1)

getconnectioncount

Returns the number of connections to other nodes.

bitcoin-cli getconnectioncount

result · number

Total number of connections

ping

Requests a ping be sent to all other nodes.

bitcoin-cli ping

Results are provided in getpeerinfo. The ping command measures processing backlog, not just network ping.

addnode

Adds, removes, or tries a connection to a node.

# Add a node
bitcoin-cli addnode "192.168.0.6:8333" "add"

# Remove a node
bitcoin-cli addnode "192.168.0.6:8333" "remove"

# Try connecting to a node once
bitcoin-cli addnode "192.168.0.6:8333" "onetry"

disconnectnode

Disconnects from a specified node.

# Disconnect by address
bitcoin-cli disconnectnode "192.168.0.6:8333"

# Disconnect by node ID
bitcoin-cli disconnectnode "" 1

Provide either address or nodeid, not both.

getaddednodeinfo

Returns information about manually added nodes.

# Get info about all added nodes
bitcoin-cli getaddednodeinfo

# Get info about specific node
bitcoin-cli getaddednodeinfo "192.168.0.6:8333"

addednode · string

Node address

connected · boolean

Whether currently connected

addresses · array

Connection addresses and connection status

getnodeaddresses

Returns known addresses from the node’s address manager.

# Get 10 random addresses
bitcoin-cli getnodeaddresses 10

# Get 5 IPv4 addresses
bitcoin-cli getnodeaddresses 5 "ipv4"

time · number

Unix timestamp when address was last seen

services · number

Services offered by node

address · string

Network address

port · number

Network port

network · string

Network type

Network Control

setnetworkactive

Enables or disables all P2P network activity.

# Disable networking
bitcoin-cli setnetworkactive false

# Enable networking
bitcoin-cli setnetworkactive true

result · boolean

Current network state after command

Disabling network activity will disconnect all peers. Re-enabling will not automatically reconnect to previous peers.

Ban Management

listbanned

Lists all manually banned IP addresses/subnets.

bitcoin-cli listbanned

address · string

Banned IP/subnet

ban_created · number

Unix timestamp when ban was created

banned_until · number

Unix timestamp when ban expires

setban

Adds or removes an IP/subnet from the banned list.

# Ban IP for 24 hours (default)
bitcoin-cli setban "192.168.0.6" "add"

# Ban subnet for 1 hour
bitcoin-cli setban "192.168.0.0/24" "add" 3600

# Remove ban
bitcoin-cli setban "192.168.0.6" "remove"

clearbanned

Clears all banned IPs.

bitcoin-cli clearbanned

Traffic Control

getnettotals

Returns information about network traffic, including bytes received and sent.

bitcoin-cli getnettotals

totalbytesrecv · number

Total bytes received

totalbytessent · number

Total bytes sent

timemillis · number

Current Unix time in milliseconds

uploadtarget · object

Upload target information:

• timeframe: Target timeframe in seconds
• target: Target in bytes (0 = no limit)
• target_reached: Whether target was reached
• serve_historical_blocks: Whether serving historical blocks
• bytes_left_in_cycle: Bytes left in current cycle
• time_left_in_cycle: Seconds left in current cycle

Connection Types

Bitcoin Core maintains different types of connections:

Transport Protocols

Network Types

Bitcoin Core supports multiple network types:

• ipv4: IPv4 connections
• ipv6: IPv6 connections
• onion: Tor hidden service connections
• i2p: I2P (Invisible Internet Project) connections
• cjdns: CJDNS network connections
• not_publicly_routable: Internal/private network connections