ICMP Types and Codes for IPv4 and IPv6

This tutorial lists ICMP types and codes for both IP versions IPv4 and IPv6. Learn what ICMP message types and codes are and how they are categorized.

The IP protocol has no inbuilt mechanism to notify a source device if the packet sent by the source fails to reach the destination. For error reporting and controlling, it depends on the ICMP protocol. ICMP allows IP-enabled devices to send information and error messages.

ICMP is documented in RFC 792 and updated to RFC 1122, RFC 1812, RFC 1191, RFC 1256, and RFC 1393. ICMP is used for two different types of operations: reporting errors that prevent delivery and testing or debugging the network through the use of request and reply messages.

ICMP is a collection of predefined messages that represent specific conditions that may arise when an IP packet is transferred from a source to a destination in a network. Every ICMP message is assigned a unique "ICMP message type" which is simply a numeric value. Each ICMP message type represents a single predefined message or multiple messages. If multiple messages are associated with a single ICMP message type, they are defined by using another numeric value known as codes.

This tutorial is the second part of the article "ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Explained through examples". Other parts of this article are the following.

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)

ICMP Error messages and format explained

A variety of predefined messages are available to choose from. A device can choose a message that describes the condition the device wants to inform or report to another device. ICMP provides separate sets of messages for IPv4 and IPv6.

ICMP message types and codes for IPv4

ICMP defines about 43 message types for IPv4 and reserves 44 -255 for future use. Only a couple of message types have sub-types. Sub-types are defined by using code values. We can categorize ICMP message types into the following three categories.

Error messages
These messages report an error and do not expect a response. These messages are used to inform the sender about a non-transient delivery problem.

Queries messages
These messages are sent with the expectation of a matching response. These are used to question conditions on the network. These messages are used in pairs, and each request anticipates a response.

Other messages
These messages are the messages they don't fall neatly into either category. These messages are typically used in specialized circumstances. These messages also include messages that have become obsolete and are no longer considered part of the standard dictionary of message types.

The following table lists all ICMP messages used with IPv4.

ICMP type Description Code Category Defined In
0 Echo Reply 0 Query [RFC792]
1 Unassigned NA Other NA
2 Unassigned NA Other NA
3 Destination Unreachable 0 - 15 Error [RFC792]
4 Source Quench (Deprecated) NA Error [RFC792][RFC6633]
5 Redirect 0 - 3 Error [RFC792]
6 Alternate Host Address (Deprecated) NA Other [RFC6918]
7 Unassigned NA Other NA
8 Echo 0 Query [RFC792]
9 Router Advertisement 0 Other [RFC1256]
10 Router Solicitation 0 Other [RFC1256]
11 Time Exceeded 0 - 1 Error [RFC792]
12 Parameter Problem 0 -2 Error [RFC792]
13 Timestamp 0 Query [RFC792]
14 Timestamp Reply 0 Query [RFC792]
15 Information Request (Deprecated) 0 Query [RFC792][RFC6918]
16 Information Reply (Deprecated) 0 Query [RFC792][RFC6918]
17 Address Mask Request (Deprecated) 0 Query [RFC950][RFC6918]
18 Address Mask Reply (Deprecated) 0 Query [RFC950][RFC6918]
19 Reserved (for Security) 0 Other [Solo]
20-29 Reserved (for Robustness Experiment) NA Other [ZSu]
30 Traceroute (Deprecated) NA Other [RFC1393][RFC6918]
31 Datagram Conversion Error (Deprecated) NA Other [RFC1475][RFC6918]
32 Mobile Host Redirect (Deprecated) NA Other [David_Johnson][RFC6918]
33 IPv6 Where-Are-You (Deprecated) NA Other [Simpson][RFC6918]
34 IPv6 I-Am-Here (Deprecated) NA Other [Simpson][RFC6918]
35 Mobile Registration Request (Deprecated) NA Other [Simpson][RFC6918]
36 Mobile Registration Reply (Deprecated) NA Other [Simpson][RFC6918]
37 Domain Name Request (Deprecated) NA Query [RFC1788][RFC6918]
38 Domain Name Reply (Deprecated) NA Query [RFC1788][RFC6918]
39 SKIP (Deprecated) NA Other [Markson][RFC6918]
40 Photuris 0 - 5 Other [RFC2521]
41 ICMP messages utilized by experimental mobility protocols such as Seamoby NA Other [RFC4065]
42 Extended Echo Request 0 - 255 Query [RFC8335]
43 Extended Echo Reply 0 - 255 Query [RFC8335]
44-252 Unassigned NA Other
253 RFC3692-style Experiment 1 NA Other [RFC4727]
254 RFC3692-style Experiment 2 NA Other [RFC4727]
255 Reserved NA Other

Some messages type have sub-types. Sub-types are defined as codes. The following table lists all codes along with their types.

ICMP message Type Code (ICMP message sub-type) Description
3 0 Net Unreachable
3 1 Host Unreachable
3 2 Protocol Unreachable
3 3 Port Unreachable
3 4 Fragmentation Needed and Don't Fragment was Set
3 5 Source Route Failed
3 6 Destination Network Unknown
3 7 Destination Host Unknown
3 8 Source Host Isolated
3 9 Communication with Destination Network is Administratively Prohibited
3 10 Communication with Destination Host is Administratively Prohibited
3 11 Destination Network Unreachable for Type of Service
3 12 Destination Host Unreachable for Type of Service
3 13 Communication Administratively Prohibited
3 14 Host Precedence Violation
3 15 Precedence cutoff in effect
5 0 Redirect Datagram for the Network (or subnet)
5 1 Redirect Datagram for the Host
5 2 Redirect Datagram for the Type of Service and Network
5 3 Redirect Datagram for the Type of Service and Host
9 0 Normal router advertisement
11 0 Time to Live exceeded in Transit
11 1 Fragment Reassembly Time Exceeded
12 0 The Pointer indicates the error
12 1 Missing a Required Option
12 2 Bad Length
40 0 Bad SPI
40 1 Authentication Failed
40 2 Decompression Failed
40 3 Decryption Failed
40 4 Need Authentication
40 5 Need Authorization
42 0 No Error
42 1-255 Unassigned
43 0 No Error
43 1 Malformed Query
43 2 No Such Interface
43 3 No Such Table Entry
43 4 Multiple Interfaces Satisfy Query
43 5-255 Unassigned

ICMP message types and codes for IPv6

IPv6 uses 256 ICMP messages. It divides them into two separate sets: error messages and information messages. For error messages, it uses a type value less than 128, and for information messages, it uses a type value greater than 128. In other words, type values 0 -127 are used for error messages, and type values 128 - 255 are used for information messages.

The following table lists all ICMP message types used with IPv6.

Type description RFC code Category
0 Reserved NA NA Error
1 Destination Unreachable [RFC4443] 0 - 8 Error
2 Packet Too Big [RFC4443] 0 Error
3 Time Exceeded [RFC4443] 0 - 1 Error
4 Parameter Problem [RFC4443] 0 - 10 Error
5 - 99 Unassigned NA NAError
100 Private experimentation [RFC4443] NA Error
101 Private experimentation [RFC4443] NA Error
102-126 Unassigned NA NA Error
127 Reserved for expansion of ICMPv6 error messages [RFC4443] NA Error
128 Echo Request [RFC4443] 0 Informational
129 Echo Reply [RFC4443] 0 Informational
130 Multicast Listener Query [RFC2710] 0 Informational
131 Multicast Listener Report [RFC2710] 0 Informational
132 Multicast Listener Done [RFC2710] 0 Informational
133 Router Solicitation [RFC4861] 0 Informational
134 Router Advertisement [RFC4861] 0 Informational
135 Neighbor Solicitation [RFC4861] 0 Informational
136 Neighbor Advertisement [RFC4861] 0 Informational
137 Redirect Message [RFC4861] 0 Informational
138 Router Renumbering [RFC2894] 0-1 Informational
139 ICMP Node Information Query [RFC4620] 0-2 Informational
140 ICMP Node Information Response [RFC4620] 0-2 Informational
141 Inverse Neighbor Discovery Solicitation Message [RFC3122] 0 Informational
142 Inverse Neighbor Discovery Advertisement Message [RFC3122] 0 Informational
143 Version 2 Multicast Listener Report [RFC3810] 0 Informational
144 Home Agent Address Discovery Request Message [RFC6275] 0 Informational
145 Home Agent Address Discovery Reply Message [RFC6275] 0 Informational
146 Mobile Prefix Solicitation [RFC6275] 0 Informational
147 Mobile Prefix Advertisement [RFC6275] 0 Informational
148 Certification Path Solicitation Message [RFC3971] 0 Informational
149 Certification Path Advertisement Message [RFC3971] 0 Informational
150 ICMP messages utilized by experimental mobility protocols such as Seamoby [RFC4065] 0 Informational
151 Multicast Router Advertisement [RFC4286] 0 Informational
152 Multicast Router Solicitation [RFC4286] 0 Informational
153 Multicast Router Termination [RFC4286] 0 Informational
154 FMIPv6 Messages [RFC5568] 0 - 255 Informational
155 RPL Control Message [RFC6550] 0 Informational
156 ILNPv6 Locator Update Message [RFC6743] 0 Informational
157 Duplicate Address Request [RFC6775] 0 - 15 Informational
158 Duplicate Address Confirmation [RFC6775] 0 - 15 Informational
159 MPL Control Message [RFC7731] NA Informational
160 Extended Echo Request [RFC8335] 0 - 255 Informational
161 Extended Echo Reply [RFC8335] 0-255 Informational
162-199 Unassigned NA NA Informational
200 Private experimentation [RFC4443] NA Informational
201 Private experimentation [RFC4443] NA Informational
255 Reserved for expansion of ICMPv6 informational messages [RFC4443] NA Informational

The following table lists ICMP message sub-types or codes.

ICMP Type Code Description
1 0 no route to the destination
1 1 communication with destination administratively prohibited
1 2 beyond scope of source address
1 3 address unreachable
1 4 port unreachable
1 5 source address failed ingress/egress policy
1 6 reject route to the destination
1 7 Error in Source Routing Header
1 8 Headers too long
3 0 hop limit exceeded in transit
3 1 fragment reassembly time exceeded
4 0 erroneous header field encountered
4 1 unrecognized Next Header type encountered
4 2 unrecognized IPv6 option encountered
4 3 IPv6 First Fragment has incomplete IPv6 Header Chain
4 4 SR Upper-layer Header Error
4 5 Unrecognized Next Header type encountered by the intermediate node
4 6 Extension header too big
4 7 Extension header chain too long
4 8 Too many extension headers
4 9 Too many options in the extension header
4 10 Option too big
138 0 Router Renumbering Command
138 1 Router Renumbering Result
139 0 The Data field contains an IPv6 address that is the subject of this query.
139 1 The Data field contains a name that is the subject of this query or is empty, as in the case of a NOOP.
139 2 The Data field contains an IPv4 address that is the subject of this query.
140 0 A successful reply. The Reply Data field may or may not be empty.
140 1 The Responder refuses to supply the answer. The Reply Data field will be empty.
140 2 The Qtype of the Query is unknown to the Responder. The Reply Data field will be empty
154 0 Reserved
154 1 Reserved
154 2 RtSolPr
154 3 PrRtAdv
154 4 HI - Deprecated (Unavailable for Assignment)
154 5 HAck - Deprecated (Unavailable for Assignment)
154 6-255 Unassigned
157 0 DAR message
157 1 EDAR message with 64-bit ROVR field
157 2 EDAR message with 128-bit ROVR field
157 3 EDAR message with 192-bit ROVR field
157 4 EDAR message with 256-bit ROVR field
157 5-15 Unassigned
158 0 DAC message
158 1 EDAC message with 64-bit ROVR field
158 2 EDAC message with 128-bit ROVR field
158 3 EDAC message with 192-bit ROVR field
158 4 EDAC message with 256-bit ROVR field
158 5-15 Unassigned
160 0 No Error
160 1-255 Unassigned
161 0 No Error
161 1 Malformed Query
161 2 No Such Interface
161 3 No Such Table Entry
161 4 Multiple Interfaces Satisfy Query
161 5-255 Unassigned

That's all for this tutorial. In this tutorial, we discussed the ICMP message types and learned the meaning of ICMP message codes.

ComputerNetworkingNotes Networking Tutorials ICMP Types and Codes for IPv4 and IPv6