<p>A path can have, at most, 256 elements, including the master. This limitation comes from the <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawiki#serialization-format" rel="noreferrer">extended public key serialization</a> format's depth field. This field is a single  byte which means it only has 256 possible values.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-18T23:03:21.500Z
I dont get it. What happens if I try to get 'm/44/0/0/666' address?
Igor Korsakov
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-19T03:47:57.490Z
Nothing happens, that's a valid path. Depth is the number of elements; basically the number of `/`'s. The actual value of each element can be a at most `2^31 - 1`.
Ava Chow
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-01T22:58:34.823Z
2019-12-01T22:58:34.823Z
Ava Chow
<p>Generally I see that bip32 derivation paths are something like m/1/2/3/4, etc</p>

<p>How deep is allowed? Is there a limit on how deep the tree can go?</p>

<wallet>
What is the max allowed depth for bip32 derivation paths?
Deezy
# What is the max allowed depth for bip32 derivation paths?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-01)

Generally I see that bip32 derivation paths are something like m/1/2/3/4, etc

How deep is allowed? Is there a limit on how deep the tree can go?

**Tags:** wallet


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-01. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

A path can have, at most, 256 elements, including the master. This limitation comes from the [extended public key serialization](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawiki#serialization-format) format's depth field. This field is a single byte which means it only has 256 possible values.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I dont get it. What happens if I try to get 'm/44/0/0/666' address?  
> **username_1**: Nothing happens, that's a valid path. Depth is the number of elements; basically the number of `/`'s. The actual value of each element can be a at most `2^31 - 1`.  

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