net_listening - Ethereum

Example code for the net_listening JSON RPC method. Сomplete guide on how to use net_listening JSON RPC in GetBlock Web3 documentation.

This method returns whether the node is actively listening for network connections from peers. On managed RPC endpoints the response is virtually always true — the field's diagnostic value is highest on self-hosted nodes where isolation from the P2P network indicates a configuration or connectivity issue.

Parameters

This method takes no parameters.

Request

cURL

curl --location --request POST 'https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "net_listening",
    "params": [],
    "id": "getblock.io"
}'

Axios

example.js

const axios = require('axios');

const response = await axios.post('https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/', {
    jsonrpc: '2.0',
    method: 'net_listening',
    params: [],
    id: 'getblock.io'
}, {
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
});

console.log(response.data.result);

Request

example.py

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/',
    headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
    json={
        'jsonrpc': '2.0',
        'method': 'net_listening',
        'params': [],
        'id': 'getblock.io'
    }
)

print(response.json())

Rust

example.rs

use reqwest::Client;
use serde_json::{json, Value};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = Client::new();
    
    let response = client
        .post("https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/")
        .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
        .json(&json!({
            "jsonrpc": "2.0",
            "method": "net_listening",
            "params": [],
            "id": "getblock.io"
        }))
        .send()
        .await?
        .json::<Value>()
        .await?;
    
    println!("Result: {}", response["result"]);
    Ok(())
}

Response

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "getblock.io",
    "result": true
}

Response Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
jsonrpc	string	JSON-RPC protocol version ("2.0")
id	string	Request identifier matching the request
result	boolean	true if the node is listening for peers, false if the P2P listener is disabled or unreachable

Use Cases

• Node Health Probes: Basic reachability check as part of an endpoint availability monitor

• Self-Hosted Node Diagnostics: Detect P2P isolation on a self-run node (managed endpoints won't return false in normal operation)

• Load Balancer Health Checks: Simple boolean liveness probe for infrastructure-level health checks

Error Handling

Error Code	Message	Description
-32603	Internal error	Node's P2P listener status could not be determined

Web3 Integration

Ethers.js

ethers-example.js

import { ethers } from 'ethers';

const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/');

const isListening = await provider.send('net_listening', []);
console.log('Listening for peers:', isListening);

Viem

viem-example.js

import { createPublicClient, http } from 'viem';
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains';

const client = createPublicClient({
    chain: mainnet,
    transport: http('https://shared.eu-central-1.getblock.io/<ACCESS-TOKEN>/'),
});

const isListening = await client.request({ method: 'net_listening' });
console.log('Listening for peers:', isListening);