# getdifficulty - Bitcoin

This method returns the proof-of-work difficulty as a multiple of the minimum difficulty.

### Parameters

* None

### Request

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

```bash
curl --location --request POST 'https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getdifficulty",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
}'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Axios" %}

```javascript
import axios from 'axios';

const data = JSON.stringify({
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getdifficulty",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
});

const config = {
    method: 'post',
    url: 'https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/',
    headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    data: data
};

axios(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.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/"

payload = json.dumps({
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "getdifficulty",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
})

headers = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, data=payload)
print(response.text)
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Rust" %}

```rust
use reqwest::header;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
    
    let response = client
        .post("https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/")
        .header(header::CONTENT_TYPE, "application/json")
        .body(r#"{
            "jsonrpc": "2.0",
            "method": "getdifficulty",
            "params": [],
            "id": "getblock.io"
        }"#)
        .send()
        .await?;
    
    println!("{}", response.text().await?);
    Ok(())
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

### Response

```json
{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "result": 62460000000000.00
}
```

### Response Parameters

| Field  | Type   | Description                                                           |
| ------ | ------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| result | number | The proof-of-work difficulty as a multiple of the minimum difficulty. |

### Use Case

The `getdifficulty` method is essential for:

* Monitoring mining difficulty trends
* Calculating expected block times
* Estimating mining profitability
* Building difficulty adjustment dashboards
* Tracking network security metrics
* Analyzing hashrate implications

### Error Handling

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

### Integration Notes

The `getdifficulty` method helps developers:

* Build mining profitability calculators
* Create difficulty tracking dashboards
* Implement mining pool analytics
* Monitor network security
* Track difficulty adjustment cycles


---

# 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/bitcoin-btc/btc_getdifficulty.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.
