IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS(2const)

💅 IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS(2const) — bestie, it's the unicast hop limit 💅

okay so you found the IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS(2const) page in section 2, the constants girlies section ✨. Let's get into it, this one is short and sweet but it's so important.

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS — literally just the unicast hop limit. that's the whole name, no cap 🎀

---

🧚 LIBRARY 🧚

Standard C library — that's <italic>libc</italic>, link it with -lc and you're golden 💖

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <netinet/in.h>  /* Definition of IP* constants */
#include <sys/socket.h>

int setsockopt(int sockfd, IPPROTO_IPV6, IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS,
               const int *hops, sizeof(int));

look at that. #include <netinet/in.h> is where all your IP* constants live bestie, and #include <sys/socket.h> is the socket vibe. then you hit setsockopt() with IPPROTO_IPV6 and IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS and hand it a pointer to your int called hops plus sizeof(int). slay 🫶

---

💫 DESCRIPTION 💫

So what does it do? It sets the unicast hop limit for the socket. That's it. That's the whole main character job 💅

A value of -1 means "just use the route default, I don't wanna pick" — iconic, hands off, let the kernel decide 🌈

Otherwise it should be in the range [0, 255]. Keep it in there, okay? That's the rules 💀

---

😭 ERRORS 😭

ngl it doesn't relitigate anything here, it just points you at the girlies who actually spill the details:

• See IPPROTO_IPV6(2const).
• See setsockopt(2).
• See ipv6(7).

---

👑 HISTORY 👑

• IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS — POSIX.1-2001. yes she's been around, a true elder icon ⭐

---

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• IPPROTO_IPV6(2const)
• setsockopt(2)
• ipv6(7)

---

fr fr bestie, if you're gonna fiddle with hop limits, make sure you actually understand routes first — hop limits are the kind of thing that quietly changes where your packets do or don't go 🙈

and that's the page!! go set some hop limits responsibly, mwah 💖

also this was brought to you by Linux man-pages 6.20, dated 2026-01-05 — that's the version and the date, periodt 🎀✨