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 | Daily network supply | 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 600/day + stake TRX |
| Energy | Pay for smart contract execution | 180,000,000,000 Energy | Stake TRX (no free quota) |
When stake and the free quota cannot cover an operation's Bandwidth or Energy cost, the network can burn TRX from the sender's balance at the current chain-parameter rates. For contract transactions, the caller's fee_limit also caps how much TRX can be burned for Energy, so a sufficient account balance alone does not guarantee execution. See Paying for resources & Energy sharing for the charging order, current-rate lookup, and deployer Energy sharing mechanism.
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. Each external account receives a free 600 Bandwidth daily quota; staking TRX earns more from the fixed daily network supply.
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 full mechanics — daily supply 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 14-day 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 4 days ago