Multicast address

A multicast address is a logical identifier for a group of hosts in a computer network that are available to process
datagrams or frames intended to be multicast for a designated network service. Multicast addressing can be used in
the link layer (layer 2 in the OSI model), such as Ethernet multicast, and at the internet layer (layer 3 for OSI) for
Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) or Version 6 (IPv6) multicast.

Contents
IPv4
Notable addresses
IPv6
Notable IPv6 multicast addresses
Ethernet
802.11
See also
Notes
References

IPv4
IPv4 multicast addresses are defined by the most-significant bit pattern of 1110. This originates from the classful
network design of the early Internet when this group of addresses was designated as Class D. The CIDR notation for
this group is 224.0.0.0/4. The group includes the addresses from 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. Address
assignments from within this range are specified in RFC 5771, an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Best
Current Practice document (BCP 51).

The address range is divided into blocks each assigned a specific purpose or behavior.

IP multicast address range Description Routable

224.0.0.0 to 224.0.0.255 Local subnetwork[1] No

224.0.1.0 to 224.0.1.255 Internetwork control Yes

224.0.2.0 to 224.0.255.255 AD-HOC block 1[2] Yes

224.3.0.0 to 224.4.255.255 AD-HOC block 2[3] Yes

232.0.0.0 to 232.255.255.255 Source-specific multicast[1] Yes

233.0.0.0 to 233.251.255.255 GLOP addressing[4] Yes

233.252.0.0 to 233.255.255.255 AD-HOC block 3[5] Yes

234.0.0.0 to 234.255.255.255 Unicast-prefix-based Yes

239.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 Administratively scoped[1] Yes

Local subnetwork
Addresses in the range of 224.0.0.0 to 224.0.0.255 are individually assigned by IANA and
designated for multicasting on the local subnetwork only. For example, the Routing Information
Protocol (RIPv2) uses 224.0.0.9, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) uses 224.0.0.5 and 224.0.0.6,
and Multicast DNS uses 224.0.0.251. Routers must not forward these messages outside the subnet
from which they originate.

Internetwork control block

Addresses in the range 224.0.1.0 to 224.0.1.255 are individually assigned by IANA and designated
as the internetwork control block. This block of addresses is used for traffic that must be routed
through the public Internet, such as for applications of the Network Time Protocol using 224.0.1.1.

AD-HOC block
Addresses in three separate blocks are not individually assigned by IANA. These addresses are
globally routed and are used for applications that don't fit either of the previously described
purposes.[6]

Source-specific multicast
The 232.0.0.0/8 (IPv4) and ff3x::/32 (IPv6) blocks are reserved for use by source-specific multicast.

GLOP
The 233.0.0.0/8 range was originally assigned by RFC 2770 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2770) as
an experimental, public statically-assigned multicast address space for publishers and Internet
service providers that wished to source content on the Internet. The allocation method is termed
GLOP addressing and provides implementers a block of 255 addresses that is determined by their
16-bit autonomous system number (ASN) allocation. In a nutshell, the middle two octets of this block
are formed from assigned ASNs, giving any operator assigned an ASN 256 globally unique
multicast group addresses.[7] The method is not applicable to the newer 32-bit ASNs. RFC 3180 (htt
ps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3180), superseding RFC 2770 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2770),
envisioned the use of the range for many-to-many multicast applications. Unfortunately, with only
256 multicast addresses available to each autonomous system, GLOP is not adequate for large-
scale broadcasters.

Unicast-prefix-based
The 234.0.0.0/8 range is assigned by RFC 6034 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6034) as a range of
global IPv4 multicast address space provided to each organization that has /24 or larger globally
routed unicast address space allocated; one multicast address is reserved per /24 of unicast space.
A resulting advantage over GLOP is that the unicast-prefix mechanism resembles the unicast-prefix
capabilities of IPv6 as defined in RFC 3306 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3306).

Administratively scoped
The 239.0.0.0/8 range is assigned by RFC 2365 for private use within an organization. Per the
RFC, packets destined to administratively scoped IPv4 multicast addresses do not cross
administratively defined organizational boundaries, and administratively scoped IPv4 multicast
addresses are locally assigned and do not have to be globally unique. The RFC also discusses
structuring the 239.0.0.0/8 range to be loosely similar to the scoped IPv6 multicast address range
described in RFC 1884 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1884).

Notable addresses

The following table is a list of notable well-known IPv4 addresses that are reserved for IP multicasting and that are
registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).[8]
IP multicast
Description Routable
address
224.0.0.0 Base address (reserved) No
224.0.0.1 The All Hosts multicast group addresses all hosts on the same network segment. No
224.0.0.2 The All Routers multicast group addresses all routers on the same network segment. No
This address is used in the Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) to address
224.0.0.4 No
multicast routers.
The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) All OSPF Routers address is used to send Hello
224.0.0.5 No
packets to all OSPF routers on a network segment.
The OSPF All Designated Routers ""(DR)"" address is used to send OSPF routing information
224.0.0.6 No
to designated routers on a network segment.
The Routing Information Protocol (RIP) version 2 group address is used to send routing
224.0.0.9 No
information to all RIP2-aware routers on a network segment.
The Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) group address is used to send
224.0.0.10 No
routing information to all EIGRP routers on a network segment.
224.0.0.13 Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) Version 2 No
224.0.0.18 Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) No
224.0.0.19–21 IS-IS over IP No

224.0.0.22 Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) version 3[9] No

224.0.0.102 Hot Standby Router Protocol version 2 (HSRPv2) / Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP) No
224.0.0.107 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 2 peer delay measurement messaging No
224.0.0.251 Multicast DNS (mDNS) address No
224.0.0.252 Link-local Multicast Name Resolution (LLMNR) address No

224.0.0.253 Teredo tunneling client discovery address[10] No

Network Time Protocol clients listen on this address for protocol messages when operating in
224.0.1.1 Yes
multicast mode.
224.0.1.22 Service Location Protocol version 1 general Yes
224.0.1.35 Service Location Protocol version 1 directory agent Yes
The Cisco multicast router AUTO-RP-ANNOUNCE address is used by RP mapping agents to
224.0.1.39 Yes
listen for candidate announcements.
The Cisco multicast router AUTO-RP-DISCOVERY address is the destination address for
224.0.1.40 Yes
messages from the RP mapping agent to discover candidates.
224.0.1.41 H.323 Gatekeeper discovery address Yes
Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 1 messages (Sync, Announce, etc.) except peer delay
224.0.1.129–132 Yes
measurement
Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 2 messages (Sync, Announce, etc.) except peer delay
224.0.1.129 Yes
measurement
239.255.255.250 Simple Service Discovery Protocol address Yes
239.255.255.253 Service Location Protocol version 2 address Yes

IPv6
Multicast addresses in IPv6 use the prefix ff00::/8. IPv6 multicast addresses can be structured using the old format
(RFC 2373) or the new format (RFC 3306, updated by RFC 7371).
General multicast address format (old)
Bits 8 4 4 112
Field prefix flags scope group ID

General multicast address format (new)

Bits 8 4 4 4 4 8 64 32
Field prefix ff1 scope ff2 reserved plen network prefix group ID

The prefix holds the value ff for all multicast addresses.

Currently, 3 of the 4 flag bits in the flags field (ff1) are defined;[11] the most-significant flag bit is reserved for future
use. The other three flags are known as R, P and T.

Multicast address flags[12]

Bit[note 1] Flag 0 1

0 (MSB) Reserved (Reserved) (Reserved)

1 R (Rendezvous)[13] Rendezvous point not embedded Rendezvous point embedded

2 P (Prefix)[14] Without prefix information Address based on network prefix

3 (LSB) T (Transient)[15] Well-known multicast address Dynamically assigned multicast address

Similar to a unicast address, the prefix of an IPv6 multicast address specifies its scope, however, the set of possible
scopes for a multicast address is different. The 4-bit sc (or scope) field (bits 12 to 15) is used to indicate where the
address is valid and unique.

Multicast address scope

IPv6
IPv4 equivalent[16] Scope Purpose
address[note 2]
ff00::/16,
Reserved
ff0f::/16

Packets with this destination address may not be sent over any
Interface-
ffx1::/16 127.0.0.0/8 network link, but must remain within the current node; this is the
local
multicast equivalent of the unicast loopback address.
ffx2::/16 224.0.0.0/24 Link-local Packets with this destination address may not be routed anywhere.

IPv4 local
ffx3::/16 239.255.0.0/16
scope
ffx4::/16 Admin-local The smallest scope that must be administratively configured.

ffx5::/16 Site-local Restricted to the local physical network.

Restricted to networks used by the organization administering the

local network. (For example, these addresses might be used over
Organization-
ffx8::/16 239.192.0.0/14 VPNs; when packets for this group are routed over the public
local
internet (where these addresses are not valid), they would have to
be encapsulated in some other protocol.)
224.0.1.0-
ffxe::/16 Global scope Eligible to be routed over the public internet.
238.255.255.255

The service is identified in the group ID field. For example, if ff02::101 refers to all Network Time Protocol (NTP)
servers on the local network segment, then ff08::101 refers to all NTP servers in an organization's networks. The
group ID field may be further divided for special multicast address types.
Notable IPv6 multicast addresses

The following table is a list notable IPv6 multicast addresses that are registered with IANA.[17]

Address Description
ff02::1 All nodes on the local network segment

ff02::2 All routers on the local network segment

ff02::5 OSPFv3 All SPF routers

ff02::6 OSPFv3 All DR routers

ff02::8 IS-IS for IPv6 routers

ff02::9 RIP routers

ff02::a EIGRP routers

ff02::d PIM routers

ff02::16 MLDv2 reports (defined in RFC 3810)

ff02::1:2 All DHCP servers and relay agents on the local network segment (defined in RFC 3315)

ff02::1:3 All LLMNR hosts on the local network segment (defined in RFC 4795)

ff05::1:3 All DHCP servers on the local network site (defined in RFC 3315)

ff0x::c Simple Service Discovery Protocol

ff0x::fb Multicast DNS

ff0x::101 Network Time Protocol

ff0x::108 Network Information Service

Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 2 messages (Sync, Announce, etc.) except peer delay
ff0x::181
measurement
ff02::6b Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 2 peer delay measurement messages

ff0x::114 Used for experiments

Ethernet
Ethernet frames with a value of 1 in the least-significant bit of the first octet[note 3] of the destination MAC address
are treated as multicast frames and are flooded to all points on the network. While frames with ones in all bits of the
destination address (FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF) are sometimes referred to as broadcasts, Ethernet generally does not
distinguish between multicast and broadcast frames. Modern Ethernet controllers filter received packets to reduce
CPU load, by looking up the hash of a multicast destination address in a table, initialized by software, which
controls whether a multicast packet is dropped or fully received.

The IEEE has allocated the address block 01-80-C2-00-00-00 to 01-80-C2-FF-FF-FF for group addresses for use
by standard protocols. Of these, the MAC group addresses in the range of 01-80-C2-00-00-00 to 01-80-C2-00-00-0F
are not forwarded by 802.1D-conformant MAC bridges.[18]
Some well known Ethernet multicast addresses[19]
Ethernet multicast address Ethertype Usage
Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
01-00-0C-CC-CC-CC
Unidirectional_Link_Detection (UDLD)
01-00-0C-CC-CC-CD Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol Address
01-80-C2-00-00-00 Spanning Tree Protocol (for bridges) IEEE 802.1D
01-80-C2-00-00-00, 01-80-C2-00-00-03
0x88CC Link Layer Discovery Protocol
or 01-80-C2-00-00-0E
01-80-C2-00-00-08 0x0802 Spanning Tree Protocol (for provider bridges) IEEE 802.1ad
01-80-C2-00-00-01 0x8808 Ethernet flow control (pause frame) IEEE 802.3x
"Slow protocols" including Ethernet OAM Protocol (IEEE 802.3ah)
01-80-C2-00-00-02 0x8809
and Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (also known as IEEE 802.1q
01-80-C2-00-00-21 0x88f5
GVRP)
01-80-C2-00-00-30 through 01-80-C2-
0x8902 Ethernet CFM Protocol IEEE 802.1ag
00-00-3F

01-00-5E-00-00-00 through 01-00-5E- IPv4 Multicast (RFC 1112), insert the low 23 bits of the multicast IPv4
0x0800
7F-FF-FF address into the Ethernet address[20]

33-33-00-00-00-00 through 33-33-FF- IPv6 Multicast (RFC 2464), insert the low 32 Bits of the multicast IPv6
0x86DD
FF-FF-FF Address into the Ethernet Address [21]
01-0C-CD-01-00-00 through 01-0C-CD-
0x88B8 IEC 61850-8-1 GOOSE Type 1/1A
01-01-FF
01-0C-CD-02-00-00 through 01-0C-CD-
0x88B9 GSSE (IEC 61850 8-1)
02-01-FF
01-0C-CD-04-00-00 through 01-0C-CD-
0x88BA Multicast sampled values (IEC 61850 8-1)
04-01-FF
01-1B-19-00-00-00 or 01-80-C2-00-00- Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 2 over Ethernet (native layer-
0x88F7
0E 2)

802.11
802.11 wireless networks use the same 01-00-5E-XX-XX-XX and 33-33-XX-XX-XX-XX MAC addresses for multicast
as Ethernet.

See also
Broadcast address
Reserved IP addresses

Notes
1. The recommended style for Request for Comments (RFC) documents is "MSB 0" bit numbering.
2. x is a place holder indicating that the value of the flags field is unimportant in the current discussion.
3. On Ethernet, the least-significant bit of an octet is the first to be transmitted. A multicast is indicated by
the first transmitted bit of the destination address being 1.

References
1. IP Multicast Routing Configuration Guide (https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst
3750x_3560x/software/release/15-2_2_e/multicast/configuration_guide/b_mc_1522e_3750x_3560x_c
g/b_mc_3750x_3560x_chapter_011.html), Cisco, p. 17-19, retrieved 2017-05-27
2. AD-HOC Block 1 (https://www.iana.org/assignments/multicast-addresses/multicast-addresses.xhtml#
multicast-addresses-3)
3. AD-HOC Block 2 (https://www.iana.org/assignments/multicast-addresses/multicast-addresses.xhtml#
multicast-addresses-6)
4. Fall, K.R. and Stevens, W.R. (2011). TCP/IP Illustrated (https://books.google.com/books?id=X-l9NX3i
emAC). 1. Addison-Wesley. p. 55. ISBN 9780321336316.
5. AD-HOC Block 3 (https://www.iana.org/assignments/multicast-addresses/multicast-addresses.xhtml#
multicast-addresses-11)
6. RFC 5771 Section 6.
7. "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) File for Multicasting" (https://web.archive.org/web/201105162042
30/http://www.multicasttech.com/faq/). Multicast Tech. Archived from the original (http://www.multicastt
ech.com/faq/) on 2011-05-16.
8. "IANA IP multicast addresses assignments" (https://www.iana.org/assignments/multicast-addresses/m
ulticast-addresses.xhtml). Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
9. RFC 3376 Section 4.2.14
10. RFC 4380 item 2.17
11. Hinden, R.; Deering, S. (February 2006) IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture (http://tools.ietf.org/htm
l/rfc4291), IETF, RFC 4291.
12. Silvia Hagen (May 2006). IPv6 Essentials (https://archive.org/details/ipv6essentials00hage) (Second
ed.). O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0-596-10058-2.
13. RFC 3956
14. RFC 3306
15. RFC 4291
16. RFC 2365 section 8.
17. "IPv6 Multicast Address Space Registry" (https://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-multicast-addresses/
ipv6-multicast-addresses.xhtml). Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
18. IEEE. "Standard Group MAC Address: A Tutorial Guide" (http://standards.ieee.org/develop/regauth/tu
t/macgrp.pdf) (PDF). IEEE Standards Association. pp. 2–3.
19. Patton, Michael A. et. al. (http://www.cavebear.com/archive/cavebear/Ethernet/acks.html). "Multicast
(including Broadcast) Addresses"
(http://www.cavebear.com/archive/cavebear/Ethernet/multicast.html). cavebear.com. Karl Auerbach.
20. RFC 7042 2.1.1.
21. RFC 7042 2.3.1.

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