How do I view my node's peers in monerod?

To see the peers your Monero node is connected to right now, type print_cn in the monerod console and press Enter. To see the larger list of peers your node knows about, use print_pl instead—those are not all active connections.

Show your active connections

monerod is the program that runs your Monero node. If you started it in a terminal and it is still accepting commands, enter:

print_cn

Type this directly into the running node’s console, not into a separate operating-system command prompt.

A peer is another Monero node that exchanges blocks and transactions with yours. print_cn shows your current connections to those nodes. It is the most useful command when you want to check whether your node actually has contact with the network.

You can also enter:

status

This gives you a brief overview of your node, including its synchronization progress and connection counts. It does not replace the detailed peer view.

Understand what the connection list shows

The exact layout can vary with your monerod version. Look for information such as:

• Address: The remote node’s network address and port.
• Incoming or outgoing: Whether the other node contacted yours, or yours contacted it.
• Peer ID: An identifier used for that peer. It is not a wallet address or proof of someone’s identity.
• Traffic figures: How much data the connection has sent or received.
• Connection age and activity: How long the connection has existed and how recently it exchanged data.

Having no incoming connections does not automatically mean something is wrong. Your node can synchronize using outgoing connections. Incoming connections usually require your node to be reachable through your firewall and router.

Also, a connected peer does not necessarily transfer data constantly. Quiet connections can be normal once your node is caught up.

Check known peers separately

To inspect your node’s stored peer list, enter:

print_pl

You may see entries described as white and gray peers:

• White peers have previously been reachable or successfully connected.
• Gray peers are known addresses that have not yet been successfully verified through a connection.

These labels describe connection history, not whether a peer is trustworthy.

An address appearing in print_pl does not mean your node is currently connected to it. Use print_cn when you need that answer.

If your node runs in the background

If monerod runs as a background service, you may not have an interactive console. From a separate terminal, you can usually query a local running node with:

monerod print_cn

This uses the node’s RPC interface, its command-and-response interface for other programs. If you configured a different RPC port, specify it, for example:

monerod --rpc-bind-port 18081 print_cn

Authentication or restricted RPC settings can prevent the query. Do not expose unrestricted RPC publicly just to view peers.

The bottom line

Use print_cn for connected peers and print_pl for known peer addresses. These commands show your Monero node’s peers—not P2Pool’s separate peer connections or a list of miners.