> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parallaxprotocol.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Network Addresses

Parallax nodes have to identify themselves with some basic information to connect to peers. To ensure any potential peer can interpret this information, it is relayed in one of three standardized formats that any Parallax node can understand: enode, or Parallax Node Records (PNRs). PNRs are the current standard for Parallax network addresses.

## Prerequisites

Some understanding of the Parallax's [networking layer](./) is required to understand this page.

## Enode

An enode is a way to identify a Parallax node using a URL address format. The hexadecimal node-ID is encoded in the username portion of the URL separated from the host using an @ sign. The hostname can only be given as an IP address; DNS names are not allowed. The port in the hostname section is the TCP listening port. If the TCP and UDP (discovery) ports differ, the UDP port is specified as a query parameter "discport"

In the following example, the node URL describes a node with IP address `10.3.58.6`, TCP port `32110` and UDP discovery port `32120`.

`enode://6f8a80d14311c39f35f516fa664deaaaa13e85b2f7493f37f6144d86991ec012937307647bd3b9a82abe2974e1407241d54947bbb39763a4cac9f77166ad92a0@10.3.58.6:32110?discport=32120`

## Parallax Node Records (PNRs)

Parallax Node Records (PNRs) are a standardized format for network addresses on Parallax. They supersede enodes. These are especially useful because they allow greater informational exchange between nodes. The PNR contains a signature, sequence number and fields detailing the identity scheme used to generate and validate signatures. The PNR can also be populated with arbitrary data organized as key-value pairs. These key-value pairs contain the node's IP address and information about the sub-protocols the node is able to use.