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eth_gasPrice

Returns the current gas price in wei. This represents the median gas price from recent blocks on Ethereum Mainnet.

When to Use This Method​

eth_gasPrice is essential for:

  • Transaction Pricing - Set appropriate gas prices for transactions
  • Fee Estimation - Calculate transaction costs for users
  • Gas Strategy - Optimize transaction speed vs cost
  • Market Monitoring - Track network congestion levels

Parameters​

None - This method takes no parameters.

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_gasPrice",
  "params": [],
  "id": 1
}

Returns​

QUANTITY - Current gas price in wei (hexadecimal).

Implementation Examples​

# Get current gas price
curl -X POST https://api-ethereum-mainnet.n.dwellir.com/YOUR_API_KEY \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_gasPrice",
  "params": [],
  "id": 1
}'

Common Use Cases​

1. Dynamic Fee Adjustment​

// Dynamically adjust fees based on network conditions
async function getOptimalGasPrice(urgency = 'standard') {
  const gasPrice = await provider.getGasPrice();
  const block = await provider.getBlock('latest');
  const baseFee = block.baseFeePerGas;
  
  const multipliers = {
    low: 0.9,
    standard: 1.0,
    high: 1.2,
    urgent: 1.5
  };
  
  const multiplier = multipliers[urgency] || 1.0;
  const adjustedPrice = gasPrice * BigInt(Math.floor(multiplier * 100)) / 100n;
  
  // For EIP-1559 transactions
  const maxPriorityFee = adjustedPrice - baseFee;
  const maxFeePerGas = baseFee * 2n + maxPriorityFee;
  
  return {
    legacy: {
      gasPrice: adjustedPrice,
      formatted: formatGwei(adjustedPrice) + ' gwei'
    },
    eip1559: {
      maxFeePerGas: maxFeePerGas,
      maxPriorityFeePerGas: maxPriorityFee,
      formatted: {
        maxFee: formatGwei(maxFeePerGas) + ' gwei',
        priorityFee: formatGwei(maxPriorityFee) + ' gwei'
      }
    },
    estimatedConfirmationBlocks: urgency === 'urgent' ? 1 : urgency === 'high' ? 2 : 3
  };
}

2. Gas Price Oracle​

// Create a gas price oracle with caching
class GasPriceOracle {
  constructor(provider, cacheTime = 5000) {
    this.provider = provider;
    this.cacheTime = cacheTime;
    this.cache = null;
    this.lastFetch = 0;
  }
  
  async getPrice() {
    const now = Date.now();
    
    if (this.cache && (now - this.lastFetch) < this.cacheTime) {
      return this.cache;
    }
    
    const gasPrice = await this.provider.getGasPrice();
    
    this.cache = {
      wei: gasPrice,
      gwei: formatGwei(gasPrice),
      timestamp: now
    };
    this.lastFetch = now;
    
    return this.cache;
  }
  
  async getPriceWithRecommendations() {
    const price = await this.getPrice();
    const gweiPrice = parseFloat(price.gwei);
    
    return {
      ...price,
      recommendations: {
        sendNow: gweiPrice < 1,
        waitSuggested: gweiPrice > 5,
        congestionLevel: gweiPrice < 0.5 ? 'low' : gweiPrice < 2 ? 'normal' : 'high'
      }
    };
  }
}

3. Transaction Cost Calculator​

// Calculate and display transaction costs
async function calculateDetailedCosts(gasLimit) {
  const gasPrice = await provider.getGasPrice();
  const ethPrice = 3000; // Would fetch from price feed
  
  const costs = {
    slow: gasPrice * 90n / 100n,
    standard: gasPrice,
    fast: gasPrice * 120n / 100n
  };
  
  const results = {};
  
  for (const [speed, price] of Object.entries(costs)) {
    const totalWei = price * BigInt(gasLimit);
    const totalETH = Number(formatEther(totalWei));
    
    results[speed] = {
      gasPrice: formatGwei(price) + ' gwei',
      totalETH: totalETH.toFixed(6) + ' ETH',
      totalUSD: '$' + (totalETH * ethPrice).toFixed(2),
      percentOfTransfer: gasLimit === 21000 ? 'N/A' : 
        ((Number(totalWei) / Number(parseEther('1'))) * 100).toFixed(3) + '%'
    };
  }
  
  return results;
}

Error Handling​

Error ScenarioDescriptionSolution
Network timeoutRPC connection issuesRetry with exponential backoff
Invalid responseMalformed data from nodeValidate response format
Stale dataCached price too oldForce refresh
async function getRobustGasPrice(maxRetries = 3) {
  let lastError;
  
  for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
    try {
      const gasPrice = await provider.getGasPrice();
      
      // Validate response
      if (!gasPrice || gasPrice === 0n) {
        throw new Error('Invalid gas price returned');
      }
      
      // Sanity check - Ethereum Mainnet shouldn't have extremely high gas
      const gweiPrice = Number(formatGwei(gasPrice));
      if (gweiPrice > 1000) {
        console.warn('Unusually high gas price detected:', gweiPrice);
      }
      
      return gasPrice;
      
    } catch (error) {
      lastError = error;
      
      // Exponential backoff
      if (i < maxRetries - 1) {
        await new Promise(resolve => 
          setTimeout(resolve, Math.pow(2, i) * 1000)
        );
      }
    }
  }
  
  throw new Error(`Failed to get gas price after ${maxRetries} attempts: ${lastError.message}`);
}

Need help? Contact our support team or check the Ethereum documentation.