<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:
{
  "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 or use the Direct Link 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**: @David 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).  

---

