# eth\_call - Arbitrum

This method executes a read-only smart contract call on the Arbitrum blockchain without creating a transaction.

{% hint style="warning" %}
This method does **not** modify the blockchain state. It only *simulates* the call and returns the output.
{% endhint %}

#### Parameters

| Field       | Type          | Required | Description                                                                    |
| ----------- | ------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| transaction | object        | yes      | Main transaction object containing the call data                               |
| from        | string        | optional | Caller address used for the simulation. Included inside the transaction object |
| to          | string        | yes      | Smart contract address to call                                                 |
| gas         | string (hex)  | optional | Gas limit for the simulated call                                               |
| gasPrice    | string (hex)  | optional | Ignored for simulations but allowed for compatibility                          |
| value       | string (hex)  | optional | Amount of ETH to send with the call (usually zero)                             |
| data        | string        | yes      | Encoded function selector plus parameters                                      |
| block tag   | string or hex | optional | Block context for the simulation. Default is latest                            |

#### Request

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="cURL" %}

```bash
curl --location 'https://go.getblock.us/<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_call",
  "id": "getblock.io",
  "params": [
    {
      "to": "0x1F98431c8aD98523631AE4a59f267346ea31F984",
      "data": "0x8da5cb5b"
    },
    "latest"
  ]
}'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Axios" %}

```javascript
import axios from 'axios'
let data = JSON.stringify({
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_call",
  "id": "getblock.io",
  "params": [
    {
      "to": "0x1F98431c8aD98523631AE4a59f267346ea31F984",
      "data": "0x8da5cb5b"
    },
    "latest"
  ]
};

let config = {
  method: "post",
  maxBodyLength: Infinity,
  url: "https://go.getblock.us/<ACCESS_TOKEN>",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  data: data,
};

axios
  .request(config)
  .then((response) => {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.log(error);
  });

```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Request" %}

```python
import requests
import json

url = "https://go.getblock.us/<ACESS_TOKEN>"

payload = json.dumps({
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_call",
  "id": "getblock.io",
  "params": [
    {
      "to": "0x1F98431c8aD98523631AE4a59f267346ea31F984",
      "data": "0x8da5cb5b"
    },
    "latest"
  ]
})
headers = {
  'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.request("POST", url, headers=headers, data=payload)

print(response.text)

```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Rust" %}

```rs
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = reqwest::Client::builder()
        .build()?;

    let mut headers = reqwest::header::HeaderMap::new();
    headers.insert("Content-Type", "application/json".parse()?);

    let data = r#"{{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_call",
  "id": "getblock.io",
  "params": [
    {
      "to": "0x1F98431c8aD98523631AE4a59f267346ea31F984",
      "data": "0x8da5cb5b"
    },
    "latest"
  ]
}"#;

    let json: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(&data)?;

    let request = client.request(reqwest::Method::POST, "https://go.getblock.us/<ACCESS_TOKEN>")
        .headers(headers)
        .json(&json);

    let response = request.send().await?;
    let body = response.text().await?;

    println!("{}", body);

    Ok(())
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

#### Response

```java
{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "result": "0x0000000000000000000000002bad8182c09f50c8318d769245bea52c32be46cd"
}
```

#### Reponse Parameter Definition

| Field    | Data Type | Definition                                                                           |
| -------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `result` | string    | The return value of the executed contract function, encoded as a hexadecimal string. |

#### Use case

`eth_call` is used to:

* Track the latest block height
* Monitor chain progress or finality
* Trigger event-based updates when the block number increases

#### Error handling

| Status Code | Error Message | Cause                             |
| ----------- | ------------- | --------------------------------- |
| 403         | Forbidden     | Missing or invalid ACCESS\_TOKEN. |

#### Integration with Web3

The `eth_call` can help developers to:

* Enables trustless frontends
* Reads live contract state without gas
* Supports dashboards, DeFi analytics, wallets, NFT explorers
* Let's developers simulate transactions before execution

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Ethers.js" %}

```javascript
import { ethers } from "ethers";
const RPC_URL = "https://go.getblock.us/24915a36b17143a891d3b10447615258";
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider(RPC_URL);
async function Call() {
  try {
    // Call the method — this will resolve to a number (promise resolves to number)
     const result = await provider.send("eth_call", [
       {
         to: "0x1F98431c8aD98523631AE4a59f267346ea31F984",
         data: "0x8da5cb5b",
       },
       "latest",
     ]);
    console.log("The result:", result);
    return result;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Ethers Error fetching block number:", error);
    throw error;
  }
}


```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.getblock.io/api-reference/arbitrum-arb/arbitrum_eth_call.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.