Resource Model
The three system resources — Bandwidth, Energy, and TRON Power — that govern every operation on TRON.
Bandwidth, Energy, and TRON Power (TP, also called Voting Right) are TRON's three system resources, together forming the metering system that governs every interaction with the network:
- Bandwidth — covers the byte size of transactions stored on-chain; larger transactions consume more.
- Energy — covers the computation the TVM performs when executing a smart contract; every contract call consumes some.
- TRON Power — determines an account's influence in Super Representative elections.
Prerequisites
The three resources
| Resource | Purpose | Current network-wide limit | How to obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRON Power (TP) | Vote for Super Representatives | n/a (1 TRX → 1 TP under the current Mainnet resource model) | Stake TRX |
| Bandwidth | Pay for transaction size (byte cost) | 43,200,000,000 Bandwidth | Free quota (getFreeNetLimit; currently 600), or stake TRX |
| Energy | Pay for smart contract execution | 180,000,000,000 Energy | Stake TRX (no free quota) |
The Bandwidth and Energy limits and the free Bandwidth quota are set by chain parameters. Query wallet/getchainparameters for their current values.
Bandwidth and Energy use different settlement rules. For an ordinary transaction, the network tries staked or delegated Bandwidth and then free Bandwidth; each source must cover the transaction's full byte cost. If neither can, TRX is burned for the entire Bandwidth cost. For smart-contract execution, available Energy can cover part of the cost and TRX is burned for the caller-side remainder. The caller's fee_limit caps the caller-side Energy budget, including both available Energy and the portion paid by burning TRX. See Paying for resources & Energy sharing for the detailed charging order.
TRON Power (Voting Right)
Before any account can vote for Super Representatives, it needs to obtain voting rights — that is, TRON Power. Mainnet currently has getAllowNewResourceModel=0, so staking 1 TRX for Bandwidth or Energy grants 1 TP. If the new resource model is enabled, new TP must instead be staked separately with the TRON_POWER resource type. For details on staking lifecycle, see Staking on the TRON network.
An account can stake multiple times, and TP from each operation accumulates. Query an account's total and used TP through wallet/getaccountresource.
Bandwidth and Energy
Every transaction except queries consumes Bandwidth: its cost equals the transaction's byte count on-chain. Under the current getFreeNetLimit value, each account can use up to 600 free Bandwidth over a rolling 24-hour window; staking TRX provides additional Bandwidth from the current network-wide limit.
Smart contract calls additionally consume Energy. Each TVM instruction has a fixed Energy cost, and a call's total Energy is the sum of those costs. Energy has no free quota — accounts must either stake (or receive delegated) TRX to obtain it, or rely on the TRX-burn fallback.
For the current network-wide limits, allocation formulas, staking workflow, delegation, and recovery cycle, see Bandwidth and Energy.
APIs
| API | Description |
|---|---|
wallet/getaccountresource | Query Bandwidth, Energy, and TRON Power for an account |
wallet/freezebalancev2 | Stake TRX for Bandwidth or Energy |
wallet/unfreezebalancev2 | Begin unstaking |
wallet/withdrawexpireunfreeze | Withdraw TRX after the network-defined waiting period |
Related resources
- Bandwidth and Energy — Resource basics, staking, delegation, and recovery
- Paying for resources & Energy sharing — TRX burn rates, deployer Energy sharing,
fee_limit, dynamic Energy - Staking on the TRON network — Stake, unstake, and withdraw mechanics
- Tokenomics — How resources tie into TRX supply dynamics
Updated 3 days ago