Ping message

Ping messages do not have any payload. The message header contains a payload type of 0x00 and a payload length of 0x00000000. Gnutella version 0.6 allows Ping messages to have an extension block defined using GGEP (Gnutella Generic Extension Protocol). Servents are recommended to implement GGEP.

Ping messages are broadcasted to all reachable hosts. The TTL field limits the horizon of the broadcast. The horizon is the edge where messages are discarded due to expiration of the TTL. No TTL should exceed 7 in order to limit network overhead.