eth_call

eth_call runs a contract function as a pure simulation against a chosen block's state. BNB Smart Chain, the BNB-native geth-equivalent EVM that hosts PancakeSwap and Venus, executes the bytecode locally and hands back the ABI-encoded output. Nothing is broadcast. No validator includes the call, and not a single wei of BNB leaves the caller's account. Send the request to https://bsc.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY at chain ID 56, and the result matches exactly what the contract would have produced on-chain.

Use cases

Read BEP-20 token views such as balanceOf, decimals, symbol, or totalSupply for any token contract.
Query PancakeSwap pair getReserves or quote a spot price directly from a Venus market.
Simulate a pending swap or transfer first, catching a revert before you sign and pay BNB gas.
Apply state overrides to model what-if scenarios (a richer balance, swapped-in bytecode) without touching live chain state.

Parameters

#	Name	Type	Required	Description
1	`transaction`	object	Yes	Transaction object. Required fields: `to` (target contract). Optional: `from` (msg.sender), `gas` (hex), `gasPrice` (hex), `value` (hex wei), `data` (ABI-encoded calldata).
2	`blockTag`	string \| object	Yes	Block at which to execute the call. Use hex block number or a named tag.Default: `latest`
3	`stateOverrides`	object	No	Optional map of address → { balance, nonce, code, state, stateDiff } overrides applied only for this call. Not supported by all providers.

Response

Type	Description
string	Hex-encoded return data from the executed function. Decode with the contract ABI. If the call reverts, an error with code -32000 or 3 is returned instead.

Example request

1curl https://bsc.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  -X POST \
3  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
4  -d '{
5    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
6    "method": "eth_call",
7    "params": [
8        {
9          "to": "0x8894E0a0c962CB723c1976a4421c95949bE2D4E3",
10          "data": "0x"
11        },
12        "latest",
13        {}
14      ],
15    "id": 1
16  }'

Try it live in the BNB Smart Chain playground.

Errors & troubleshooting

Code	Message	Cause
`3`	`execution reverted`	The EVM reverted the call. Error data contains the revert reason.
`-32602`	`invalid argument`	Malformed transaction object or missing required `to` field.
`-32000`	`execution reverted`	Node-level revert without revert data (e.g. out-of-gas within the call, or require with no message).

Common pitfalls

A result read at latest reflects that instant only. With ~3s BSC blocks, state can shift before your transaction is mined, so treat the value as advisory rather than a promise.
The third state-overrides argument is not honored by every BSC node. Code defensively and fall back to a plain call when overrides get rejected.
A reverting contract surfaces as a JSON-RPC error (code 3 or -32000), never as a normal return value. Always handle the error branch explicitly.

Supported networks

Mainnet — Chain ID: 56
Testnet — Chain ID: 97