# eth\_call

The `eth_call` command is used to execute a new message call. It does not introduce a blockchain transaction.

Use cases of `eth_call`: 

* Querying the internal contract state
* Executing validations coded into a smart contract
* Testing transactions without going live  

### Parameters

* `Object` - The transaction call object
  * `from`: `DATA`, 20 Bytes - (optional) The address the transaction is sent from.
  * `to`: `DATA`, 20 Bytes - The address the transaction is directed to.
  * `gas`: `QUANTITY` - (optional) Integer of the gas provided for the transaction execution. `eth_call` consumes zero gas, but this parameter may be needed by some executions. 
  * `gasPrice`: `QUANTITY` - (optional) Integer of the gasPrice used for each paid gas.
  * `value`: `QUANTITY` - (optional) Integer of the value sent with this transaction
  * `data`: `DATA` - (optional) Hash of the method signature and encoded parameters. For details see [Ethereum Contract ABI](https://docs.soliditylang.org/en/v0.7.0/abi-spec.html)
* `QUANTITY|TAG` - integer block number, or the string "latest", "earliest" or "pending" (see the [default block parameter](https://eth.wiki/json-rpc/API#the-default-block-parameter)), OR the `blockHash` (in accordance with [EIP-1898](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-1898)) **NOTE: the parameter is an object instead of a string and should be specified as: `{"blockHash": "0x<some-hash>"}.`** Learn more [here](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-1898).

### Returns

`DATA` - the return value of the executed contract.

### **Example Request and Result for `eth_call`**

Request

```
curl https://rpc-mainnet.u2u.xyz \
-X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_call","params":[{see above}],"id":1}'
```

Result

```javascript
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": "0x"
}
```