eth_estimateGas on Arbitrum One
Simulates a transaction and returns the gas it would consume, without broadcasting it. Wallets call this before signing to set a sensible gas limit.
It simulates once at current state, so a tx whose cost depends on other pending txs can be under-estimated — pad the result (e.g. +20%). On L2s the figure covers L2 execution only; the L1 data fee is added at inclusion.
Arbitrum One endpoint (public — no key)
https://rpc.nodeflare.app/arb/publicMethod
eth_estimateGas
Cost
5 CU
Chain ID
42161
Block time
~250 ms
Finality
<1 s sequencer · L1-final ~13 min
Contract calls on Arbitrum One
eth_estimateGas on Arbitrum returns a total that includes the L1 data component, so estimates look inflated compared to pure execution gas. That's expected — don't 'fix' it by lowering the limit.
Parameters
[callObject]cURL
curl https://rpc.nodeflare.app/arb/public \
-X POST \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_estimateGas","params":[{"to": "0xaf88d065e77c8cc2239327c5edb3a432268e5831", "data": "0x18160ddd"}],"id":1}'The example targets the USDC contract on Arbitrum One — you can run it as-is.
ethers.js
import { ethers } from 'ethers';
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider(
'https://rpc.nodeflare.app/arb/public'
);
const result = await provider.send('eth_estimateGas', [{"to": "0xaf88d065e77c8cc2239327c5edb3a432268e5831", "data": "0x18160ddd"}]);Try it live
Runs the example above against the public Arbitrum One endpoint — straight from your browser.
eth_estimateGas on Arbitrum One — FAQ
How do I call eth_estimateGas on Arbitrum One?
POST a JSON-RPC 2.0 request with "method": "eth_estimateGas" to NodeFlare's Arbitrum One endpoint at https://rpc.nodeflare.app/arb/public. No API key is required for the public endpoint.
What does eth_estimateGas cost on the free tier?
eth_estimateGas is weighted at 5 compute units per call. The free tier includes 2,000,000 CU/month, so that is roughly 400,000 eth_estimateGas calls per month — no credit card.
Is eth_estimateGas available on the public Arbitrum One endpoint?
Yes. eth_estimateGas works on the public Arbitrum One endpoint (https://rpc.nodeflare.app/arb/public) with no API key, rate-limited per IP. A free key adds higher limits and a dedicated path.
Anything Arbitrum One-specific to know when using eth_estimateGas?
eth_estimateGas on Arbitrum returns a total that includes the L1 data component, so estimates look inflated compared to pure execution gas. That's expected — don't 'fix' it by lowering the limit.
Call eth_estimateGas on Arbitrum One with a free key
2,000,000 compute units/month, heavy methods unlocked, every chain included. No credit card.
Get your free API key →