Emoji-Based Notation for IPv6 Addresses
draft-gavcave-ipv6-emoji-notation-00
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| Document | Type | Active Internet-Draft (individual) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | GavCave | ||
| Last updated | 2026-04-27 | ||
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draft-gavcave-ipv6-emoji-notation-00
Network Working Group GavCave
Internet-Draft April 2026
Intended status: Experimental
Expires: 29 October 2026
Emoji-Based Notation for IPv6 Addresses
draft-gavcave-ipv6-emoji-notation-00
Abstract
This document defines an alternative textual representation of IPv6
addresses using Unicode Emoji characters (hereinafter "Smileys") in
place of hexadecimal digits. The proposed format, known as
EmojiNotation6 (EN6), aims to make IPv6 addresses more expressive,
more human-friendly, and significantly more fun at parties.
Additionally, this document specifies a MANDATORY content-
classification prefix using the AUBERGINE character (U+1F346) for
addresses serving adult content, hereafter referred to as the
"Eggplant Requirement".
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on 3 October 2026.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Emoji Hexadecimal Mapping Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Address Representation Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.1. Standard Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.2. Loopback Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.3. Link-Local Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. The Eggplant Requirement (MANDATORY) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.1. Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.2. Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3. Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.4. Penalties for Non-Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. Compression Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.1. Zero Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.2. Leading Zero Suppression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1. Introduction
The IPv6 addressing architecture, as defined in [RFC4291] and
[RFC8200], relies on hexadecimal notation separated by colons. The
canonical form is defined in [RFC5952]. While technically efficient,
this format has proven to be:
* Emotionally cold,
* Impossible to remember,
* Completely devoid of personality,
* A frequent cause of existential dread among junior network
engineers.
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This document proposes a mapping of the 16 hexadecimal digits (0-F)
to 16 carefully selected emoji characters, producing addresses that
are visually distinctive, emotionally engaging, and Instagram-ready.
2. Conventions and Definitions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
The author was mildly sleep-deprived during the writing of this
specification.
3. Emoji Hexadecimal Mapping Table
Each hexadecimal digit SHALL be replaced by its corresponding emoji
from the [UNICODE] standard as follows:
+=====+=========+===============+=========================+
| Hex | Unicode | Description | Rationale |
+=====+=========+===============+=========================+
| 0 | U+1F600 | Grinning Face | Because zero should at |
| | | | least be happy about it |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 1 | U+1F525 | Fire | The loneliest number, |
| | | | but lit |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 2 | U+1F30D | Earth Globe | The Internet is global |
| | | | after all |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 3 | U+1F3B5 | Musical Note | Three is the magic |
| | | | number |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 4 | U+1F431 | Cat Face | The Internet was built |
| | | | for cats |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 5 | U+2B50 | Star | Five-star rating |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 6 | U+1F3B2 | Game Die | A standard die has six |
| | | | faces |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 7 | U+1F308 | Rainbow | Seven colors in a |
| | | | rainbow |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 8 | U+1F680 | Rocket | To infinity and beyond |
| | | | octet boundaries |
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+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| 9 | U+1F355 | Pizza | Best enjoyed in slices |
| | | | of nine |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| A | U+1F48E | Gem Stone | A is for precious |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| B | U+1F984 | Unicorn | As mythical as a fully |
| | | | documented network |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| C | U+1F3B8 | Guitar | C major chord |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| D | U+1F409 | Dragon | Here be dragons |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| E | U+26A1 | High Voltage | E for Energy |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
| F | U+1F52E | Crystal Ball | The future of |
| | | | networking |
+-----+---------+---------------+-------------------------+
Table 1: Emoji Hexadecimal Mapping
The colon separator (:) SHALL be replaced by the HANDSHAKE emoji
(U+1FAF1, hereinafter referred to as the "Bro Separator").
The double-colon compression (::) SHALL be represented by the
SLEEPING FACE emoji (U+1F634), indicating "nothing interesting here".
4. Address Representation Examples
4.1. Standard Address
Traditional notation:
2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
EN6 notation (expanded, per mapping in Table 1):
Hex: 2 0 0 1 : 0 d b 8
EN6: Globe Grin Grin Fire Bro Grin Dragon Unicorn Rocket
Hex: 8 5 a 3 ::
EN6: Rocket Star Gem Note Sleep
Hex: 8 a 2 e : 0 3 7 0
EN6: Rocket Gem Globe Volt Bro Grin Note Rainbow Grin
Hex: 7 3 3 4
EN6: Rainbow Note Note Cat
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4.2. Loopback Address
Traditional notation:
::1
EN6 notation:
Sleep Fire (U+1F634 U+1F525)
4.3. Link-Local Address
Traditional notation:
fe80::1
EN6 notation:
Crystal Volt Rocket Grin Sleep Fire
(U+1F52E U+26A1 U+1F680 U+1F600 U+1F634 U+1F525)
5. The Eggplant Requirement (MANDATORY)
5.1. Rationale
Current IPv6 addressing provides no mechanism to identify the nature
of content served by a host at the network layer. This document
addresses this critical gap for one specific content category.
5.2. Specification
Any IPv6 address assigned to a server, CDN node, reverse proxy, or
any network-facing device whose PRIMARY purpose is the distribution
of adult or sexually explicit content MUST include the AUBERGINE
prefix (U+1F346) prepended to the EN6 address.
The format SHALL be:
U+1F346 <EN6 address>
Example:
Aubergine Crystal Volt Rocket Grin Sleep Globe Gem Cat Globe
(U+1F346 U+1F52E U+26A1 U+1F680 U+1F600 U+1F634
U+1F30D U+1F48E U+1F431 U+1F30D)
5.3. Compliance
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* Registrars assigning IPv6 blocks to entities operating adult
content platforms MUST enforce the Eggplant Requirement at the
time of allocation.
* DNS resolvers SHOULD display a brief warning ("U+1F346 detected in
address -- content may not be suitable for all audiences") when
resolving an Eggplant-prefixed address.
* Parental control software MAY use the presence of U+1F346 as a
filtering signal, which, for once, would actually be trivially
easy to implement.
* Any attempt to use U+1F346 for non-adult content (e.g., an actual
eggplant recipe website) MUST be submitted for review to the newly
created IANA Eggplant Disambiguation Committee (IEDC).
5.4. Penalties for Non-Compliance
Operators serving adult content without the U+1F346 prefix SHALL be
subject to:
* Public shaming on the NANOG mailing list,
* A 30-day mandatory assignment of only IPv4 addresses in the
169.254.0.0/16 range,
* Revocation of coffee privileges at IETF meetings.
6. Compression Rules
6.1. Zero Compression
Consecutive groups of U+1F600 U+1F600 U+1F600 U+1F600 (all-zero
quartets) MAY be replaced by a single U+1F634 (SLEEPING FACE).
Only one U+1F634 is permitted per address. Use of multiple U+1F634
SHALL be interpreted as the operator being actually asleep and the
address MUST be considered invalid.
6.2. Leading Zero Suppression
Leading U+1F600 (Grinning Face) characters within a quartet MAY be
omitted.
Grin Grin Fire Globe -> Fire Globe
(U+1F600 U+1F600 U+1F525 U+1F30D -> U+1F525 U+1F30D)
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7. Security Considerations
* The Eggplant Requirement provides a new, highly visible layer of
content classification at the addressing level. However, it
relies on operator honesty, which historically has not been the
strongest attribute of the internet.
* An attacker could theoretically prepend U+1F346 to any address to
trigger parental control filters, effectively denial-of-service-
ing legitimate services. This is known as an "Eggplant Injection
Attack" (EIA).
* Emoji rendering varies across platforms. An address that appears
as a friendly U+1F431 (Cat Face) on iOS may render as a terrifying
feline on Samsung devices. This is considered a feature, not a
bug.
* Autocorrect systems on mobile devices may substitute emoji during
manual address entry, potentially routing traffic to unintended
destinations. Operators are advised not to configure BGP sessions
via iMessage.
8. IANA Considerations
This document requests the following from IANA:
* Registration of the EN6 address format in the "IPv6 Address Text
Representations" registry.
* Creation of the "Emoji-Hex Mapping Table" registry.
* Establishment of the IANA Eggplant Disambiguation Committee
(IEDC), with at least one member who can keep a straight face.
* Reservation of the U+1F346 prefix for content classification
purposes. Future prefixes under consideration include U+1F3B0
(gambling), U+1F9C0 (French government services), and U+1F480
(deprecated services).
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
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[RFC4291] Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing
Architecture", RFC 4291, DOI 10.17487/RFC4291, February
2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4291>.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
[RFC8200] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
(IPv6) Specification", STD 86, RFC 8200,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8200, July 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8200>.
9.2. Informative References
[RFC5952] Kawamura, S. and M. Kawashima, "A Recommendation for IPv6
Address Text Representation", RFC 5952,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5952, August 2010,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5952>.
[UNICODE] The Unicode Consortium, "The Unicode Standard", 2024,
<https://www.unicode.org/versions/latest/>.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the Unicode Consortium for making this
possible, the IETF for its tradition of April 1st RFCs that inspired
this work, and his cat (U+1F431, hex value 4) for walking across the
keyboard at a critical moment during drafting.
Author's Address
GavCave
Email: gavcave@example.com
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