specification/protocol/network/messages/version.md

# Handshake: Version (“version”)

The version message is a part of the node connection [handshake](/protocol/network/node-handshake) and indicates various connection settings, networking information, and the services provided by the sending node (see Services Bitfield [below](#services-bitfield)).

The node connection is not considered established until both nodes have sent and received both a `version` and [`verack`](/protocol/network/messages/verack) message.

## Message Format

| Field | Length | Format | Description |
|--|--|--|--|
| version number | 4 bytes | unsigned integer<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup> | The version number supported by the sending node. |
| services | 8 bytes | bitfield<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup> | An indication of the services supported by the sending node.  See Services Bitfield section below. |
| timestamp | 8 bytes | unix timestamp<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup> | The time the message was generated on the sending node. |
| remote address | 26 bytes | [network address](/protocol/formats/network-address) | The network address of the remote node.  <p>_NOTE: this does not contain the timestamp normally included with network addresses._</p> |
| local address | 26 bytes | [network address](/protocol/formats/network-address) | The network address of the sending node. <p>_NOTE: this does not contain the timestamp normally included with network addresses._</p> |
| nonce | 8 bytes | bytes<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup> | Random nonce for the connection, used to detect connections to self. |
| user agent | variable | [variable length string](/protocol/formats/variable-length-string) | A user agent string identifying the node implementation. |
| block height | 4 bytes | unsigned integer<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup> | The height of the block with the highest height known to the sending node. |
| relay flag | 1 byte | boolean | Indicates whether the sending node would like all broadcasted transactions relayed to it.  See [BIP-37](/protocol/forks/bip-0037).  This flag is sometimes referred to as "fRelay". |

Note: Protocol version `70001` introduced the optional `relay flag`.
Transmitting the `relay flag` byte to Nodes with a version less than `70001` may result in incompatibility with versions that validate the Version message for a specific byte count.

Note: Historically, transmitting extra data after the `relay flag` would result in the connection being banned by some Nodes.
Modern Nodes ignore extra data after the `relay flag`.


## Version Number

The most recent version of the network protocol is `70015`.
The `version` value often correlates to new behavior, parsing formats, and available services; for more details review the network protocol's [version history](/history/protocol-version).
Nodes should use `version` and the `services` bitfield to determine if the node should accept the incoming connection.

Related: [node connection handshake](/protocol/network/node-handshake).

## Services Bitfield

The services field is an 8 byte little-endian-serialized bitfield that described peer capabilities. The benefit of this bitfield is that during the handshake a node learns about the services his peer offers. Nodes may selectively disconnect from nodes that do not supported "desired services".

When a service is advertised, a separate handshake may follow with service-specific messages to learn details about the support a peer has for that specific service.

The following capabilities are defined, by bit position:

### Standard Services
* 0: NODE_NETWORK
	The node is capable of serving the complete block chain.
It is currently set by all full nodes, and is unset by SPV clients or other peers that just want network services but don't provide them.

* 2: NODE_BLOOM
	The node is capable and willing to handle bloom-filtered connections.

* 3: NODE_WITNESS
	Indicates that a node can be asked for blocks and transactions including witness data.
	*Bitcoin Cash nodes do not have witness data so this flag should be ignored on receipt and set to 0 when sent*

* 5: NODE_BITCOIN_CASH
	The node supports the BCH chain.
This is intended to be just a temporary service bit until the BTC/BCH fork actually happens.

* 10: NODE_NETWORK_LIMITED
	This means the same as NODE_NETWORK with the limitation of only serving a small subset of the blockchain.
See [BIP159](/protocol/forks/bip-0159) for details on how this is implemented.


* 24-31: Reserved for experimental changes
	These bits are reserved for temporary experiments.
Just pick a bit that isn't getting used, or one not being used much, and notify the community.
Remember that service bits are just unauthenticated advertisements, so implementations must be robust against collisions and other cases where nodes may be advertising a service they do not actually support.

## Example Serialized Data

Net Magic<sup>[(BE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup>
`E3E1F3E8`

Command String ("version")<sup>[(BE)](/protocol/misc/endian/big)</sup>
`76657273696F6E0000000000`

Payload Byte Count<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/misc/endian/little)</sup>
`6A000000`

Payload Checksum<sup>[(LE)](/protocol/network/messages/message-checksum)</sup>
`8FC7709F`

Version Number
`7F110100`

Node Features
`3500000000000000`

**Timestamp** *("1576101548")*
`AC66F15D00000000`

**Remote Address** *("5.6.7.8:8333")*
`240000000000000000000000000000000000FFFF0506070820`

**Local Address** *("1.2.3.4:8333")*
`8D350000000000000000000000000000000000FFFF01020304`

**Nonce**
`208D00F0E6495B9B`

**User Agent** *("/Bitcoin Node:1.2.3/")*
`4350142F426974636F696E204E6F64653A312E322E332F`

**Current Block Height** *("612918L")*
`365A0900`

**Relay Transactions Flag** *("true")*
`01`