RFC 2461 · DRAFT STANDARD · 1998
SUN · 14 JUN 2026
Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6
Overview
RFC 2461, “Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6”, is a Draft Standard document published in December 1998 by T. Narten, E. Nordmark, W. Simpson. It obsoletes RFC 1970. It has since been updated by RFC 4311. It has been obsoleted by RFC 4861 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
This document specifies the Neighbor Discovery protocol for IP Version 6. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
What “Draft Standard” means
A historical maturity level (retired in 2011) that sat between Proposed Standard and Internet Standard and required multiple interoperable implementations.
Read this RFC
The canonical text of RFC 2461 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
Relationships to other RFCs
Other RFCs from 1998
- RFC 2460 Internet Protocol, Version 6 Specification
- RFC 2462 IPv6 Stateless Address Autoconfiguration
- RFC 2463 Internet Control Message Protocol for the Internet Protocol Version 6 Specification
- RFC 2458 Toward the PSTN/Internet Inter-Networking--Pre-PINT Implementations
- RFC 2464 Transmission of IPv6 Packets over Ethernet Networks
- RFC 2457 Definitions of Managed Objects for Extended Border Node
- RFC 2465 Management Information Base for IP Version 6: Textual Conventions and General Group
- RFC 2456 Definitions of Managed Objects for APPN TRAPS