eth_getCode

eth_getCode returns the deployed EVM bytecode stored at an address on the Avalanche C-Chain at a chosen block. The C-Chain is the contract-running chain of the Avalanche primary network, so this is how you read the on-chain code behind protocols like Aave, Trader Joe, or GMX, all of which pay gas in AVAX. An externally owned account (EOA) has no code and returns "0x". Point the request at https://avalanche.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY (chain ID 43114, 0xa86a) and the node replies with the hex-encoded bytecode at the given address and block.

Use cases

• Tell a contract account from an EOA before sending AVAX or calling a method: a "0x" result means no code lives at that C-Chain address.
• Confirm a freshly deployed contract matches its expected bytecode after a Snowtrace-verified deployment.
• Detect proxy patterns (EIP-1167 minimal proxies, EIP-1967 transparent proxies) by inspecting the returned bytecode shape.
• Audit whether a contract had been self-destructed at a historical block by reading its code at that height.

Parameters

Response

Example request

1curl https://avalanche.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  -X POST \
3  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
4  -d '{
5    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
6    "method": "eth_getCode",
7    "params": [
8        "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
9        "latest"
10      ],
11    "id": 1
12  }'

Try it live in the Avalanche playground.

Errors & troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• A "0x" result is returned for both EOAs and self-destructed contracts; the absence of code alone does not tell you which case you are looking at.
• For proxy contracts you get the proxy's own bytecode, not the implementation's — resolve the implementation slot (e.g. EIP-1967) with eth_getStorageAt to read the logic contract.
• Querying code at an old C-Chain block requires an archive node; against a pruned node a historical height returns a missing-trie-node error.

Supported networks

• Mainnet — Chain ID: 43114
• Fuji

See also

• eth_getStorageAt
• eth_getProof
• eth_call
• eth_getBalance

1curl https://avalanche.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  -X POST \
3  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
4  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_getCode","params":["0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",""]}'