<p>If you have the bitcoin client running in server mode, you can pass it the <code>getblockchaininfo</code> command. This is the current output:</p>
<pre class="lang-json prettyprint-override"><code>{
  &quot;chain&quot;: &quot;main&quot;,
  &quot;blocks&quot;: 525329,
  &quot;headers&quot;: 525329,
  &quot;bestblockhash&quot;: &quot;000000000000000000192cf4d557fb2265855713b0fd208a6490bca81137bce4&quot;,
  &quot;difficulty&quot;: 4306949573981.513,
  &quot;mediantime&quot;: 1527792344,
  &quot;verificationprogress&quot;: 0.9999976722383654,
  &quot;chainwork&quot;: &quot;000000000000000000000000000000000000000001e6cf0d64537cc800fc54f8&quot;,
  &quot;pruned&quot;: false,
  &quot;softforks&quot;: [
    {
      &quot;id&quot;: &quot;bip34&quot;,
      &quot;version&quot;: 2,
      &quot;reject&quot;: {
        &quot;status&quot;: true
      }
    },
    {
      &quot;id&quot;: &quot;bip66&quot;,
      &quot;version&quot;: 3,
      &quot;reject&quot;: {
        &quot;status&quot;: true
      }
    },
    {
      &quot;id&quot;: &quot;bip65&quot;,
      &quot;version&quot;: 4,
      &quot;reject&quot;: {
        &quot;status&quot;: true
      }
    }
  ],
  &quot;bip9_softforks&quot;: {
    &quot;csv&quot;: {
      &quot;status&quot;: &quot;active&quot;,
      &quot;startTime&quot;: 1462060800,
      &quot;timeout&quot;: 1493596800,
      &quot;since&quot;: 419328
    },
    &quot;segwit&quot;: {
      &quot;status&quot;: &quot;active&quot;,
      &quot;startTime&quot;: 1479168000,
      &quot;timeout&quot;: 1510704000,
      &quot;since&quot;: 481824
    }
  }
}
</code></pre>
<p>The <code>blocks</code> field is the current number of blocks in the block chain. You can also get this information from <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BlockExplorer</a> or use the <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Direct Link</a> to the block count.</p>
<p>If you want the size in bytes, look at the size of your <code>blk0001.dat</code> file, currently 528Mb.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T09:15:30.167Z
Upvoted. Interesting file size though, mine is only 550MB.
klemen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T09:37:48.697Z
Thanks for that correction. I was checking on a machine that had multiple copies of many blocks in it. (Don't ask.)
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T09:42:19.703Z
@David Schartz How did you know that there were multiple copies in the block database files?
Flow
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T09:44:36.440Z
It was due to a bug I introduced while working on the bitcoin client. I didn't realize they were still there. I figured when I fixed the bug, they'd go away. It's strange, the client still works perfectly fine with them there. (I'm cleaning them out now.)
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2011-08-31T09:07:27.730Z
2023-05-01T07:48:00.497Z
2023-05-01T07:48:00.497Z
David Schwartz
<p>Go to <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount" rel="nofollow">http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount</a>.</p>

<p>Other statistics are available at <a href="http://blockexplorer.com/q" rel="nofollow">http://blockexplorer.com/q</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-09-02T09:13:25.010Z
It depends on how many transactions are in the block. You can find out the size of a block by looking at it on http://blockexplorer.com/. The average size for the last 1000 blocks (which will be not representative of the entire chain) is roughly 22Kb (http://blockexplorer.com/q/avgblocksize).
Peter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T19:31:56.567Z
Is the block size in bytes always the same or is there something like an average block size?
Flow
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-31T14:42:42.793Z
2011-08-31T14:42:42.793Z
Peter
<p>How can I view the current size, preferably in bytes, of the blockchain? Is there a CLI command for bitcoind? Or a website that displays the size?</p>

<blockchain>
How can I view the current blockchain size?
Flow
# How can I view the current blockchain size?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-08-31)

How can I view the current size, preferably in bytes, of the blockchain? Is there a CLI command for bitcoind? Or a website that displays the size?

**Tags:** blockchain


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2011-08-31. Score: 6

If you have the bitcoin client running in server mode, you can pass it the `getblockchaininfo` command. This is the current output:

```json
{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 525329,
  "headers": 525329,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000192cf4d557fb2265855713b0fd208a6490bca81137bce4",
  "difficulty": 4306949573981.513,
  "mediantime": 1527792344,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999976722383654,
  "chainwork": "000000000000000000000000000000000000000001e6cf0d64537cc800fc54f8",
  "pruned": false,
  "softforks": [
    {
      "id": "bip34",
      "version": 2,
      "reject": {
        "status": true
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "bip66",
      "version": 3,
      "reject": {
        "status": true
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "bip65",
      "version": 4,
      "reject": {
        "status": true
      }
    }
  ],
  "bip9_softforks": {
    "csv": {
      "status": "active",
      "startTime": 1462060800,
      "timeout": 1493596800,
      "since": 419328
    },
    "segwit": {
      "status": "active",
      "startTime": 1479168000,
      "timeout": 1510704000,
      "since": 481824
    }
  }
}

```

The `blocks` field is the current number of blocks in the block chain. You can also get this information from [BlockExplorer](http://blockexplorer.com/) or use the [Direct Link](http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount) to the block count.

If you want the size in bytes, look at the size of your `blk0001.dat` file, currently 528Mb.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Upvoted. Interesting file size though, mine is only 550MB.  
> **username_1**: Thanks for that correction. I was checking on a machine that had multiple copies of many blocks in it. (Don't ask.)  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Schartz How did you know that there were multiple copies in the block database files?  
> **username_1**: It was due to a bug I introduced while working on the bitcoin client. I didn't realize they were still there. I figured when I fixed the bug, they'd go away. It's strange, the client still works perfectly fine with them there. (I'm cleaning them out now.)  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2011-08-31. Score: 4

Go to <http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount>.

Other statistics are available at <http://blockexplorer.com/q>.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Is the block size in bytes always the same or is there something like an average block size?  
> **username_3**: It depends on how many transactions are in the block. You can find out the size of a block by looking at it on http://blockexplorer.com/. The average size for the last 1000 blocks (which will be not representative of the entire chain) is roughly 22Kb (http://blockexplorer.com/q/avgblocksize).  

---

