💰 eth_maxPriorityFeePerGas - Base Chain

Overview

The eth_maxPriorityFeePerGas method returns an estimation of the priority fee (tip) needed for a transaction to be included in the next block on Base chain. This is a key component for EIP-1559 type transactions, which are the standard on Base.

💡 Priority Fee: This is the "tip" paid directly to validators/sequencers to incentivize them to include your transaction. It's a crucial part of Base's gas fee structure.

Parameters

This method takes no parameters.

Returns

Estimated priority fee per gas - A hex string representing the suggested priority fee in wei

Request

POST https://base-mainnet.chainnodes.org/YOUR-API-KEY

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Example

HTTPS POST Request with a JSON RPC call in the body
Replace YOUR-API-KEY with the API key from your Chainnodes.org Dashboard
You can use a different supported network by replacing base-mainnet

curl https://base-mainnet.chainnodes.org/YOUR-API-KEY \
    -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_maxPriorityFeePerGas","params":[],"id":1}'

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": "0x5f5e100"  // 100000000 wei or 0.1 Gwei
}

Using Priority Fees on Base

Base chain uses the EIP-1559 fee structure similar to Ethereum, but typically with lower fee values:

Base Fee: Algorithmically determined fee that gets burned
Priority Fee (Tip): Optional fee to incentivize inclusion (what this method estimates)
Max Fee Per Gas: The absolute maximum you're willing to pay per unit of gas

The total gas cost formula is:

Total Gas Cost = (Base Fee + Priority Fee) × Gas Used

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Common Use Cases

Creating an EIP-1559 Transaction

Use this method to set appropriate gas values when sending transactions on Base:

// Get current recommended priority fee
const priorityFee = await eth.maxPriorityFeePerGas();
 
// Get current base fee
const block = await eth.getBlockByNumber('latest', false);
const baseFee = block.baseFeePerGas;
 
// Set max fee per gas (base fee + priority fee + some buffer)
const maxFeePerGas = parseInt(baseFee, 16) * 1.5 + parseInt(priorityFee, 16);
 
// Create transaction
const tx = {
  from: '0xYourAddress',
  to: '0xRecipientAddress',
  value: '0x38D7EA4C68000', // 0.001 ETH in wei (hex)
  maxPriorityFeePerGas: priorityFee,
  maxFeePerGas: '0x' + maxFeePerGas.toString(16),
  gas: '0x5208',      // 21000 gas for a standard transfer
  chainId: '0x2105'   // Base mainnet chain ID (8453 in decimal)
};

Adjusting for Transaction Priority

You can modify the priority fee based on how quickly you need your transaction included:

// Get recommended priority fee
const suggestedPriorityFee = await eth.maxPriorityFeePerGas();
const priorityFeeValue = parseInt(suggestedPriorityFee, 16);
 
// Faster transaction (2x the suggested priority fee)
const fasterPriorityFee = '0x' + (priorityFeeValue * 2).toString(16);
 
// Slower but cheaper transaction (0.5x the suggested priority fee)
const cheaperPriorityFee = '0x' + Math.floor(priorityFeeValue * 0.5).toString(16);

eth_sendRawTransaction eth_subscribe