> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nodemaven.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understanding your proxy string

> What each part of your proxy string means, every parameter the dashboard can add, and worked examples.

Your proxy string is the single line the dashboard gives you, containing everything needed to connect. This article explains what each part means, so you can read a string you already have or adapt one for a different location or session.

**The dashboard builds this string for you.** Every choice you make in the Configuration row and Advanced settings is written into it automatically.

Understanding the parts is useful when you want to check what an existing proxy is set to, or when you are generating strings programmatically.

<Warning>
  **This applies to Residential and Mobile proxies.** [ISP proxies use a different, much simpler format with no parameters at all - see the ISP section at the end.](/quickstart/isp-proxies)
</Warning>

## Two formats, same four values

The **Proxy format** dropdown in the Proxy generator gives you the same proxy written two ways. Pick whichever your tool expects.

### Host:Port

`{host}:{port}:{username}:{password}`

```text wrap theme={null}
gate.nodemaven.com:8080:USERNAME-country-us-region-california-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium:PASSWORD
```

Most anti-detect browsers and proxy managers expect this one.

### Protocol

```text theme={null}
{protocol}://{username}:{password}@{host}:{port}
```

```text wrap theme={null}
http://USERNAME-country-us-region-california-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium:PASSWORD@gate.nodemaven.com:8080
```

Use this for code, command-line tools, and anything that takes a proxy URL. Note the order flips: credentials come first, then the host.

**Both formats contain exactly the same four values.** Switching between them changes nothing about how the proxy behaves.

## The four parts

Whichever format you use, these are the four values:

| **Part** | **Example** | **What it is** |
| - | - | - |
| Host | `gate.nodemaven.com` | The gateway you connect through |
| Port | `8080` | Determines the protocol |
| Username | `USERNAME-country-us-region-california-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium` | Your account username plus every setting you chose |
| Password | `PASSWORD` | Your proxy password |

All the interesting behaviour lives in the username. The other three fields are fixed values you copy as they appear.

## Host

The host is `gate.nodemaven.com` for every Residential and Mobile proxy. It does not change with your location settings.

## Port

The port you use determines the protocol:

| **Protocol** | **Ports** |
| - | - |
| HTTP | 8080-9080 and 32000-33000 |
| SOCKS5 | 1080-2080 and 42000-43000 |

<Note>
  Any port inside those ranges works. The dashboard gives you 8080 for HTTP and 1080 for SOCKS5 by default.
</Note>

<Tip>
  If a port is blocked on your network, pick a different one from the same range. That is a common fix for connections that time out.
</Tip>

<Warning>
  **Match the port to the protocol you selected.** A SOCKS5 client pointed at port 8080 will not connect, and neither will an HTTP client pointed at 1080. This is the single most common cause of "SOCKS5 doesn't work for me".
</Warning>

## Username: the parameters

Parameters are linked to your username as `-key-value` pairs, in a fixed order. Here is every parameter the dashboard can add.

### Location

| **Parameter** | **Example** | **What it does** |
| - | - | - |
| `-country-` | `-country-us` | Country, as a two-letter code |
| `-region-` | `-region-california` | State, province or region |
| `-city-` | `-city-los_angeles` | City |
| `-zip-` | `-zip-90039` | ZIP or postal code. Used instead of region and city, not alongside them. |
| `-isp-` | `-isp-verizon` | Targets IPs belonging to a specific carrier |

<Warning>
  `-isp-` here means the carrier that owns the IP address. It is not related to our ISP proxy product, which is a separate offering.
</Warning>

### Connection type

`-type-mobile` routes through mobile carrier IPs. The dashboard adds it when Connection type is set to Mobile.

Residential usernames have no connection-type parameter at all. The absence of `-type-mobile` is what makes a string Residential.

### IP version

`-ipv4-true` restricts you to IPv4 addresses only.

The IP version dropdown has two settings. **Mixed IPV4 & IPV6** is the default and adds no parameter. **IPV4 only** adds `-ipv4-true`.

### Session

| **Parameter** | **Example** | **What it does** |
| - | - | - |
| `-sid-` | `-sid-abc123def4567` | Your session ID. This is what keeps you on the same IP. |
| `-ttl-` | `-ttl-8m20s` | How long a Sticky session lasts, when you set a custom duration |
| `-norotate-true` | `-norotate-true` | Never rotates to a different IP, even if yours goes offline |

Session IDs are generated for you as a 13-character string. **Changing the session ID is the fastest way to get a different IP** - a new SID starts a new session.

Custom durations are entered in seconds, from 60 up to 86,400, and converted automatically. Entering 500 seconds produces `-ttl-8m20s`.

### IP filter

| **Filter mode** | **Parameter** |
| - | - |
| Quality (default) | `-filter-medium` |
| Quality + Speed | `-filter-medium-speed-fast` |
| Speed | `-speed-fast` |
| Max pool size | nothing added |

## The order parameters appear in

The dashboard always writes parameters in the same sequence:

```text theme={null}
USERNAME -country- -region- -city- or -zip- -isp- -type-mobile -ipv4-true -sid- -ttl- -filter- or -speed- -norotate-true
```

If you are building strings programmatically, follow this order.

## Multi-word values use an underscore

**Any location value containing a space uses an underscore in its place.** This catches people out more than anything else on this page.

| **Location** | **Written as** |
| - | - |
| Los Angeles | `-city-los_angeles` |
| New York | `-city-new_york` |
| North Carolina | `-region-north_carolina` |
| United Kingdom | `-country-gb` (countries use two-letter codes, never names) |

A space, a hyphen, or removing the gap entirely will all fail to match. `-city-losangeles` and `-city-los-angeles` are both wrong.

## Worked examples

All shown in Host:Port format except the last.

**Rotating, United States, default filter.** No session ID, so every request gets a new IP:

```text theme={null}
gate.nodemaven.com:8080:USERNAME-country-us-filter-medium:PASSWORD
```

**Sticky, Los Angeles.** The session ID holds one IP:

```text theme={null}
gate.nodemaven.com:8080:USERNAME-country-us-region-california-city-los_angeles-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium:PASSWORD
```

**Mobile, United Kingdom, sticky:**

```text theme={null}
gate.nodemaven.com:8080:USERNAME-country-gb-region-england-type-mobile-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium:PASSWORD
```

**No rotating, IPv4 only, over SOCKS5.** Note the port change for the protocol:

```text theme={null}
gate.nodemaven.com:1080:USERNAME-country-us-region-california-ipv4-true-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium-norotate-true:PASSWORD
```

**The same sticky California proxy in Protocol format,** ready to paste into code:

```text theme={null}
http://USERNAME-country-us-region-california-sid-abc123def4567-filter-medium:PASSWORD@gate.nodemaven.com:8080
```

## Changing a string by hand

You can edit a string directly rather than returning to the dashboard. Two edits are safe and useful:

* **Change the session ID** to move to a different IP while keeping every other setting
* **Change the country or region** to retarget a string you already have working

Everything else is easier to get right by changing the setting in the dashboard and copying the new string, because the generator handles ordering and formatting for you.

## ISP proxies use a different format

ISP proxies (Static Residential) do not use any of the above. There are no parameters, no session IDs, and no gateway hostname. Your string is simply `IP:Port:Username:Password`, for example `178.83.35.19:11000:USERNAME:PASSWORD`.

The host is the IP address itself, and the port is the one assigned to your order. Every IP in an order shares the same username, password and port.

See [Getting started with ISP proxies](/quickstart/isp-proxies) for the full picture.


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