<p>As you correctly identified, there are two types of seed nodes, i.e. DNS seeds and seed nodes. DNS seeds are stored in <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/chainparams.cpp#L121" rel="noreferrer">chainparams.cpp</a>. As of today (September 2021) the following nodes are listed in this file.</p>
<ul>
<li>seed.bitcoin.sipa.be</li>
<li>dnsseed.bluematt.me</li>
<li>dnsseed.bitcoin.dashjr.org</li>
<li>seed.bitcoinstats.com</li>
<li>seed.bitcoin.jonasschnelli.ch</li>
<li>seed.btc.petertodd.org</li>
<li>seed.bitcoin.sprovoost.nl</li>
<li>dnsseed.emzy.de</li>
<li>seed.bitcoin.wiz.biz</li>
</ul>
<p>I performed nslookups on these DNS names and they return a list of IP addresses that all seemed to be running bitcoin nodes.</p>
<p>There is also the concept of seed nodes which are hardcoded IP addresses in the event that someone is experiencing a DNS failure or other issue.  These nodes are only contacted if no other discovery mechanism works.</p>
<p>You can also use <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/a8fdfea77b0cdfcbc406558435968c1b801a5fdd/src/init.cpp#L447" rel="noreferrer"><code>-seednode</code></a> option to connect to a node (IP address) to retrieve peer addresses, then disconnect.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-11-28T00:01:59.920Z
2021-09-06T19:53:35.047Z
2021-09-06T19:53:35.047Z
Mark S.
<p>No, the DNS seeds are not running a Bitcoin client. The DNS seed nodes only give you a list of IP addresses that are running (or were recently running) a Bitcoin client. In the source code you can see that the DNS seed nodes are contacted <em>only</em> to get a list of addresses.</p>

<p>Source: <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/net.cpp#L1210" rel="noreferrer">https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/net.cpp#L1210</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-23T13:41:14.367Z
DNS records are what the DNS returns, that is a list of addresses corresponding to nodes running the Bitcoin client. The DNS itself is not required to run Bitcoin.

However, the current standard for Bitcoin DNS (https://github.com/sipa/bitcoin-seeder) also implement a 'crawler' function, which search the web for running nodes to add to the list.

To that purpose, DNS seeders implement some small Bitcoin functions to communicate with active nodes. Still they are not considered as active nodes unless they also run a Bitcoin client on the same server.
FedFranz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-28T15:06:17.177Z
2013-11-28T15:06:17.177Z
Bitlab.co
<p>2017 values are:</p>

<ul>
<li>seed.bitcoin.sipa.be</li>
<li>dnsseed.bluematt.me</li>
<li>dnsseed.bitcoin.dashjr.org</li>
<li>seed.bitcoinstats.com</li>
<li>seed.bitcoin.jonasschnelli.ch</li>
<li>seed.btc.petertodd.org</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-10T11:58:35.993Z
Thanks for the update, although I'd say it would have been a great suggested edit for the accepted answer on this question.
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-10T20:47:00.740Z
For sure, will do that next time.
Tearo Dactyl
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-05T03:10:44.527Z
2017-04-05T03:10:44.527Z
Tearo Dactyl
<p>I've seen references to both strewn around. Specifically, is there a bitcoin client running at the DNS seeds or seed nodes?</p>

<p2p><peer-discovery><dns>
What is a DNS seed node vs a Seed Node?
Shamoon
# What is a DNS seed node vs a Seed Node?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-05)

I've seen references to both strewn around. Specifically, is there a bitcoin client running at the DNS seeds or seed nodes?

**Tags:** p2p, peer-discovery, dns


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-11-28. Score: 26

As you correctly identified, there are two types of seed nodes, i.e. DNS seeds and seed nodes. DNS seeds are stored in [chainparams.cpp](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/chainparams.cpp#L121). As of today (September 2021) the following nodes are listed in this file.

* seed.bitcoin.sipa.be
* dnsseed.bluematt.me
* dnsseed.bitcoin.dashjr.org
* seed.bitcoinstats.com
* seed.bitcoin.jonasschnelli.ch
* seed.btc.petertodd.org
* seed.bitcoin.sprovoost.nl
* dnsseed.emzy.de
* seed.bitcoin.wiz.biz

I performed nslookups on these DNS names and they return a list of IP addresses that all seemed to be running bitcoin nodes.

There is also the concept of seed nodes which are hardcoded IP addresses in the event that someone is experiencing a DNS failure or other issue. These nodes are only contacted if no other discovery mechanism works.

You can also use [`-seednode`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/a8fdfea77b0cdfcbc406558435968c1b801a5fdd/src/init.cpp#L447) option to connect to a node (IP address) to retrieve peer addresses, then disconnect.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-11-28. Score: 7

No, the DNS seeds are not running a Bitcoin client. The DNS seed nodes only give you a list of IP addresses that are running (or were recently running) a Bitcoin client. In the source code you can see that the DNS seed nodes are contacted *only* to get a list of addresses.

Source: <https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/net.cpp#L1210>

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: DNS records are what the DNS returns, that is a list of addresses corresponding to nodes running the Bitcoin client. The DNS itself is not required to run Bitcoin.  However, the current standard for Bitcoin DNS (https://github.com/sipa/bitcoin-seeder) also implement a 'crawler' function, which search the web for running nodes to add to the list.  To that purpose, DNS seeders implement some small Bitcoin functions to communicate with active nodes. Still they are not considered as active nodes unless they also run a Bitcoin client on the same server.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-04-05. Score: 4

2017 values are:

* seed.bitcoin.sipa.be
* dnsseed.bluematt.me
* dnsseed.bitcoin.dashjr.org
* seed.bitcoinstats.com
* seed.bitcoin.jonasschnelli.ch
* seed.btc.petertodd.org

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Thanks for the update, although I'd say it would have been a great suggested edit for the accepted answer on this question.  
> **username_4**: For sure, will do that next time.  

---

