Gas limit

How it is used

Wallets usually estimate the gas limit for you; a plain ETH transfer needs 21,000 gas, while contract calls need more. If the transaction succeeds, you pay only for the gas actually used. An 'out of gas' error means the limit was too low. Blocks also have a block gas limit that caps the total work they can hold.

Example sentences

1. The transaction failed with an out-of-gas error, so try again with a higher gas limit.

2. Our contract's mint function needs a gas limit of about 150,000.

Common collocations

• set the gas limit
• raise the gas limit
• block gas limit
• run out of gas

Related terms

• gas feeThe fee paid to the network to process a transaction or run a smart contract, especially on Ethereum and similar chains. It goes up when the network is busy.
• transactionAny action recorded on a blockchain, such as sending coins from one address to another or calling a smart contract. It must be signed with the sender's private key.
• EthereumA blockchain launched in 2015 that can run smart contracts and applications, not just payments. Its own currency is called ether (ETH), and it has used proof of stake since 2022.
• EVMShort for Ethereum Virtual Machine: the software environment that runs smart contracts on Ethereum. Every node runs it, so all nodes get the same result from the same code.
• smart contractA program stored on a blockchain that runs automatically when certain conditions are met. Once deployed it usually cannot be changed, and it can hold and move funds without a middleman.

More terms: Transactions & Fees

• confirmation
• transaction hash
• block explorer
• mempool