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net_listening

The net_listening method is a fundamental network diagnostics tool that returns whether the XDC node is actively listening for incoming peer connections on the network. This method provides critical information about the node's network readiness and its ability to participate in peer-to-peer communication within the XDC Network ecosystem.

When a node returns true, it indicates that the network interface is properly configured, ports are open, and the node is ready to accept connections from other peers. This is essential for maintaining network health and ensuring proper block propagation and transaction broadcasting across the XDC Network's XDPoS consensus mechanism.

Parameters#

No parameters required. This is a simple status check method.

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

Returns#

Boolean - true if the client is actively listening for network connections, false otherwise.

Use Cases#

  1. Network Health Monitoring: Implement automated health checks to ensure nodes remain operational and accessible
  2. Deployment Validation: Verify that newly deployed nodes are properly configured and accepting connections
  3. Infrastructure Alerting: Trigger alerts when nodes stop listening, indicating potential network issues
  4. Load Balancer Integration: Use as a health check endpoint for load balancers managing multiple RPC nodes
  5. Debugging Connection Issues: Diagnose why nodes cannot communicate with peers in the network
  6. Service Orchestration: Coordinate node startup sequences in containerized environments

Best Practices for Production#

  • Implement periodic polling (every 30-60 seconds) to monitor node availability
  • Combine with net_peerCount for comprehensive network health assessments
  • Set up automated alerts when false is returned to enable rapid incident response
  • Use as a readiness probe in Kubernetes deployments
  • Log listening status changes to track node uptime and network stability
  • Consider firewall and NAT configurations if consistently returning false

Integration with Web3 Libraries#

Using ethers.js#

import { JsonRpcProvider } from 'ethers';

const provider = new JsonRpcProvider('https://xdc-rpc.dwellir.com');

async function checkNetworkStatus() {
  try {
    const isListening = await provider.send('net_listening', []);

    if (isListening) {
      console.log('Node is healthy and accepting connections');
    } else {
      console.warn('Node is not listening for connections');
    }

    return isListening;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Failed to check listening status:', error);
    return false;
  }
}

// Use in health monitoring
setInterval(checkNetworkStatus, 60000); // Check every minute

Using web3.js#

import Web3 from 'web3';

const web3 = new Web3('https://xdc-rpc.dwellir.com');

async function monitorNodeHealth() {
  const listening = await web3.eth.net.isListening();
  console.log('Network listening status:', listening);
  return listening;
}

Example Response#

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": true
}