What is Ethereum's Gas Limit?

Ethereum's gas limit, set by users at transaction creation, ensures network stability by limiting malicious actors' ability to execute spam-causing smart contract actions.

Feb 18, 2025 at 07:12 am

Key Points:

• Ethereum's gas limit is a mechanism to prevent malicious actors from using smart contracts to spam the network.
• A gas limit is the maximum amount of gas that a user is willing to spend on a transaction.
• The gas limit is set by the user at the time of transaction creation.
• Miners will typically only execute transactions that have a gas limit that is sufficient to cover the execution cost of the contract.
• The gas limit can be used to prevent smart contract loops and other malicious activity.

What is Ethereum's Gas Limit?

Ethereum's gas limit is a mechanism to prevent malicious actors from using smart contracts to spam the network. A gas limit is the maximum amount of gas that a user is willing to spend on a transaction. The gas limit is set by the user at the time of transaction creation.

Miners will typically only execute transactions that have a gas limit that is sufficient to cover the execution cost of the contract. If a transaction's gas limit is not sufficient, it will be rejected by the network.

The gas limit can be used to prevent smart contract loops and other malicious activity. A smart contract loop is a situation in which a smart contract calls itself repeatedly, resulting in an infinite loop that can clog up the network. By setting a gas limit, users can prevent their smart contracts from falling into loops.

How to Set the Gas Limit

When creating a transaction, the user must specify the gas limit. The gas limit can be set manually or automatically.

• To set the gas limit manually, the user must estimate the amount of gas that will be required to execute the contract. This estimate can be difficult to make, as it depends on the complexity of the contract and the number of other transactions that are being processed on the network.
• To set the gas limit automatically, the user can use a gas limit calculator. A gas limit calculator will estimate the gas limit that is required for a given contract.

What Happens if the Gas Limit is Set Too High?

If the gas limit is set too high, the user will pay more than they need to for the transaction. The excess gas will be refunded to the user.

What Happens if the Gas Limit is Set Too Low?

If the gas limit is set too low, the transaction will not be executed. The user will lose the gas that was spent on the transaction.