What is a nonce in Ethereum transactions?

A nonce is the numeric field that sets the order of standard transactions from an Ethereum account. The Ethereum transaction documentation describes it as an incrementing account counter. Different accounts can use the same number, so it is not a unique identifier across the whole network.

A transaction hash identifies a particular transaction, whereas its nonce identifies the sender’s sequence position. Different candidate transactions can use the same account and nonce while having different hashes. The same sequence position cannot be consumed by two separate standard transactions in the valid chain history.

Example: nonce 5 is still pending

Assume an account’s next usable nonce is 5. Its owner submits a transaction with nonce 5, followed by another with nonce 6. While the earlier transaction remains outside the chain, the later one cannot skip that account’s sequence: position 5 must be consumed first. Setting a high fee on the later transaction alone does not remove the earlier blockage.

The nonce is neither the payment amount nor the recipient address. Bitcoin mining also uses a field called nonce in block headers, but that is a different use of the term. Wallets normally handle the account sequence during ordinary sending.

Check the network and sending account when investigating a pending transaction. Our transaction-tracking guide explains how to find the correct record and distinguish pending status from failure.