getBlockNumber ​

Returns the number of the most recent block seen.

Usage ​

import { publicClient } from './client'

const block = await publicClient.getBlockNumber() 
// 69420n

import { createPublicClient, http } from 'viem'
import { mainnet } from 'viem/chains'

export const publicClient = createPublicClient({
  chain: mainnet,
  transport: http()
})

Returns ​

bigint

The number of the block.

Parameters ​

cacheTime (optional) ​

• Type: number
• Default: Client's cacheTime

Time (in ms) that cached block number will remain in memory.

const block = await publicClient.getBlockNumber({
  cacheTime: 4_000 
})

By default, block numbers are cached for the period of the Client's cacheTime.

• Setting a value of above zero will make block number remain in the cache for that period.
• Setting a value of 0 will disable the cache, and always retrieve a fresh block number.

Example ​

Check out the usage of getBlockNumber in the live Fetching Blocks Example below.

JSON-RPC Method ​

eth_blockNumber