# How does reticulum deal with packet loss?

_General · started by welo on Sat, May 30, 2026 6:13 PM_

Tags: Question

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## Original post

**welo** · Sat, May 30, 2026 6:13 PM

I was expecting there to be some footnote about this in https://reticulum.network/manual/understanding.html but there isn't any information on this specifically

I figure that for single, group or plain destinations that if the packet doesn't make it, it just doesn't make it. But what about for link destinations, if some data in a link doesn't get to the destination is there any mechanism to re-transmit this data or is just lost? Do applications just have to built around this or is there any higher level tcp-like abstraction that can be used?

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## Reply 1

**waxpraxis** · Sat, May 30, 2026 11:29 PM

As I read the spec, it seems to me that RNS packets are akin to UDP datagrams, fire-and-forget. I think we're early enough that there's no TCP equivalent - yet.

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## Reply 2

**Anonymous** · Sat, May 30, 2026 11:43 PM

Fire and forget is for opportunistic, if it's above MDU over direct Link it goes into resource which has handling for packet tracking/loss.

I am sure Mark or someone more technical can reference the code directly.

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## Reply 3

**welo** · Mon, Jun 1, 2026 5:09 PM

there is this https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/reference.html#RNS.Channel.Channel and arguably https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/reference.html#RNS.Resource but they are only mentioned in the api so I didn't see them previously

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## Reply 4

**diatom** · Mon, Jun 1, 2026 5:13 PM

I was just about to post this but it seems you figured it out!

Using the abstractions defined in the Reticulum API Reference you can:

- get delivery confirmation on a single Packet to a Destination only if the recipient decides to send you back proof of receipt.

- reliably send data larger than a single Packet to a Destination by transferring a Resource over a Link.

- reliably send ordered packets back and forth with a Destination via a Channel over a Link (I don't see the ordering guarantee in the docs but appears implemented in the code)
  
a8d24177d946de4f1f0a0fe1af9a1338:/page/blob.mu`g=reticulum|r=reticulum|ref=HEAD|path=docs/markdown/reference.md  

https://reticulum.network/manual/reference.html

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