net_peerCount — Ethereum JSON-RPC

Status: Available

Returns the number of peers currently connected to the Ethereum node, encoded as a hexadecimal integer.

POSThttps://triport.io/eth

Network: Ethereum
Auth: x-token: $TRIPORT_API_KEY (or Authorization: Bearer)
Rate limit: free — 10 RPS sustained · up to 20 burst · basic 20 · pro 100 · business 250; Burst capacity

Endpoint and plans: Ethereum RPC endpoint.

Request

cURLJavaScriptPython

curl https://triport.io/eth \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRIPORT_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "net_peerCount",
    "params": []
  }'

const res = await fetch("https://triport.io/eth", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.TRIPORT_API_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "net_peerCount",
    "params": []
  }),
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import os


import requests


resp = requests.post(
    "https://triport.io/eth",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['TRIPORT_API_KEY']}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "jsonrpc": "2.0",
        "id": 1,
        "method": "net_peerCount",
        "params": [],
    },
)
data = resp.json()
print(data)

Response

JSON

Example

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": "0x2a"
}

net_peerCount reports how many peers the node serving your request is currently connected to on the Ethereum peer-to-peer network. The count is returned as a hex-encoded integer string (e.g. "0x2a" for 42 peers).

Use it as a lightweight liveness/health signal — a healthy node maintains a stable, non-zero peer count. It pairs naturally with net_listening (is the node accepting connections) and net_version (which network the node is on).

The value reflects the state of the node that handled the request at that moment; because requests may be served by different backends, treat the number as an instantaneous reading rather than a fixed property of your endpoint.

Parameters

This method takes no parameters. Send an empty params array.

——optional

None. params must be [].

Response

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
`result`	string	Number of connected peers as a hex-encoded integer (e.g. `"0x2a"` = 42).

Errors

Code	Meaning	When it happens
`401`	`trial_expired`	The API key's trial period has ended; upgrade to a paid tier to continue.
`429`	`rate_limited`	You exceeded the requests-per-second limit for your tier (free 10 · basic 20 · pro 100 · business 250 RPS sustained · up to 500 burst). Retry after backing off.

Errors follow the standard JSON-RPC error envelope. See Errors for the full structure and shared error codes.

Examples

JavaScript (fetch)

JavaScript

const res = await fetch("https://triport.io/eth", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.TRIPORT_API_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    id: 1,
    method: "net_peerCount",
    params: [],
  }),
});


const { result } = await res.json();
const peers = parseInt(result, 16);
console.log(`Connected peers: ${peers}`);

Notes

The result is hex-encoded — convert with parseInt(value, 16) (JS/TS) or int(value, 16) (Python) before using it numerically.
A result of "0x0" means the node currently has no connected peers, which usually indicates it is still discovering peers or is unhealthy.
Available on the Free trial; no scope required.
Related: net_listening, net_version, eth_syncing.