<p>If you want to retain any change, yes you will need two outputs to return unspent Bitcoin to yourself. If you are spending for example a 0.0001 BTC output, 0.0001 to fees, then a single 0 BTC <code>OP_RETURN</code> output would be valid. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-08T03:22:49.437Z
This is for a standard transaction, meaning testnet doesn't have these limitations
Wizard Of Ozzie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-07T14:59:50.823Z
2015-07-07T16:29:34.490Z
2015-07-07T16:29:34.490Z
Claris
<p>I was reading this:
<a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/29554/explanation-of-what-an-op-return-transaction-looks-like">Explanation of what an OP_RETURN transaction looks like</a>
and I wondered if the second output "value" : 0.00200000, was at all necessary. Can I just have a OP_RETURN with a 0 output in the transaction?</p>

<transactions><bitcoind><protocol><script><op-return>
Does an OP_RETURN script always need another output within the transaction?
randomshinichi
# Does an OP_RETURN script always need another output within the transaction?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-07)

I was reading this:
[Explanation of what an OP\_RETURN transaction looks like](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/29554/explanation-of-what-an-op-return-transaction-looks-like)
and I wondered if the second output "value" : 0.00200000, was at all necessary. Can I just have a OP\_RETURN with a 0 output in the transaction?

**Tags:** transactions, bitcoind, protocol, script, op-return


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-07-07. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

If you want to retain any change, yes you will need two outputs to return unspent Bitcoin to yourself. If you are spending for example a 0.0001 BTC output, 0.0001 to fees, then a single 0 BTC `OP_RETURN` output would be valid.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: This is for a standard transaction, meaning testnet doesn't have these limitations  

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