Chainlink VRF (Verifiable Random Function) is a provably fair and verifiable random number generator (RNG) that enables smart contracts to access random values without compromising security or usability.
Chainlink VRF (Verifiable Random Function) is a provably fair and verifiable random number generator (RNG) that enables smart contracts to access random values without compromising security or usability. For each request, Chainlink VRF generates one or more random values and cryptographic proof of how those values were determined. The proof is published and verified onchain before any consuming applications can use it. This process ensures that results cannot be tampered with or manipulated by any single entity including oracle operators, miners, users, or smart contract developers.
Use Chainlink VRF to build reliable smart contracts for any applications that rely on unpredictable outcomes:
Building blockchain games and NFTs.
Random assignment of duties and resources. For example, randomly assigning judges to cases.
Choosing a representative sample for consensus mechanisms.
Subscription: Create a subscription account and fund its balance with either native tokens or LINK. You can then connect multiple consuming contracts to the subscription account. When the consuming contracts request randomness, the transaction costs are calculated after the randomness requests are fulfilled and the subscription balance is deducted accordingly. This method allows you to fund requests for multiple consumer contracts from a single subscription.
Direct funding: Consuming contracts directly pay with either native tokens or LINK when they request random values. You must directly fund your consumer contracts and ensure that there are enough funds to pay for randomness requests.
This repository provides example contracts for how an Avalanche L1 could leverage Chainlink VRF functionality (available on the C-Chain) using Teleporter. This allows newly launched L1s to immediately utilize VRF without any trusted intermediaries or third-party integration requirements.
These are example best practices for using Chainlink VRF. To explore more applications of VRF, refer to Chainlink's blog.
Getting a random number within a range
If you need to generate a random number within a given range, use modulo to define the limits of your range. Below you can see how to get a random number in a range from 1 to 50.
function fulfillRandomWords( uint256, /* requestId */ uint256[] memory randomWords) internal override { // Assuming only one random word was requested. s_randomRange = (randomWords[0] % 50) + 1;}
Getting multiple random values
If you want to get multiple random values from a single VRF request, you can request this directly with the numWords argument:
If you are using the VRF v2.5 subscription method, see the full example code for an example where one request returns multiple random values.
Processing simultaneous VRF requests
If you want to have multiple VRF requests processing simultaneously, create a mapping between requestId and the response. You might also create a mapping between the requestId and the address of the requester to track which address made each request.
mapping(uint256 => uint256[]) public s_requestIdToRandomWords;mapping(uint256 => address) public s_requestIdToAddress;uint256 public s_requestId;function requestRandomWords() external onlyOwner returns (uint256) { uint256 requestId = s_vrfCoordinator.requestRandomWords( VRFV2PlusClient.RandomWordsRequest({ keyHash: keyHash, subId: s_vrfSubscriptionId, requestConfirmations: requestConfirmations, callbackGasLimit: callbackGasLimit, numWords: numWords, extraArgs: VRFV2PlusClient._argsToBytes(VRFV2PlusClient.ExtraArgsV1({nativePayment: true})) // new parameter }) ); s_requestIdToAddress[requestId] = msg.sender; // Store the latest requestId for this example. s_requestId = requestId; // Return the requestId to the requester. return requestId;}function fulfillRandomWords( uint256 requestId, uint256[] memory randomWords ) internal override { // You can return the value to the requester, // but this example simply stores it. s_requestIdToRandomWords[requestId] = randomWords;}
You could also map the requestId to an index to keep track of the order in which a request was made.
Processing VRF responses through different execution paths
If you want to process VRF responses depending on predetermined conditions, you can create an enum. When requesting for randomness, map each requestId to an enum. This way, you can handle different execution paths in fulfillRandomWords. See the following example:
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT// An example of a consumer contract that relies on a subscription for funding.// It shows how to setup multiple execution paths for handling a response.pragma solidity 0.8.19;import {LinkTokenInterface} from "@chainlink/contracts/src/v0.8/shared/interfaces/LinkTokenInterface.sol";import {IVRFCoordinatorV2Plus} from "@chainlink/contracts/src/v0.8/vrf/dev/interfaces/IVRFCoordinatorV2Plus.sol";import {VRFConsumerBaseV2Plus} from "@chainlink/contracts/src/v0.8/vrf/dev/VRFConsumerBaseV2Plus.sol";import {VRFV2PlusClient} from "@chainlink/contracts/src/v0.8/vrf/dev/libraries/VRFV2PlusClient.sol";/** * THIS IS AN EXAMPLE CONTRACT THAT USES HARDCODED VALUES FOR CLARITY. * THIS IS AN EXAMPLE CONTRACT THAT USES UN-AUDITED CODE. * DO NOT USE THIS CODE IN PRODUCTION. */contract VRFv2MultiplePaths is VRFConsumerBaseV2Plus { // Your subscription ID. uint256 s_subscriptionId; // Avalanche Primary Network coordinator. address vrfCoordinatorV2Plus = 0xE40895D055bccd2053dD0638C9695E326152b1A4; // The gas lane to use, which specifies the maximum gas price to bump to. // For a list of available gas lanes on each network, // see https://docs.chain.link/docs/vrf/v2-5/supported-networks bytes32 keyHash = 0x787d74caea10b2b357790d5b5247c2f63d1d91572a9846f780606e4d953677ae; uint32 callbackGasLimit = 100000; // The default is 3, but you can set this higher. uint16 requestConfirmations = 3; // For this example, retrieve 1 random value in one request. // Cannot exceed VRFCoordinatorV2_5.MAX_NUM_WORDS. uint32 numWords = 1; enum Variable { A, B, C } uint256 public variableA; uint256 public variableB; uint256 public variableC; mapping(uint256 => Variable) public requests; // events event FulfilledA(uint256 requestId, uint256 value); event FulfilledB(uint256 requestId, uint256 value); event FulfilledC(uint256 requestId, uint256 value); constructor(uint256 subscriptionId) VRFConsumerBaseV2Plus(vrfCoordinatorV2Plus) { s_vrfCoordinator = IVRFCoordinatorV2Plus(vrfCoordinatorV2Plus); s_subscriptionId = subscriptionId; } function updateVariable(uint256 input) public { uint256 requestId = s_vrfCoordinator.requestRandomWords(VRFV2PlusClient.RandomWordsRequest({ keyHash: keyHash, subId: s_subscriptionId, requestConfirmations: requestConfirmations, callbackGasLimit: callbackGasLimit, numWords: numWords, extraArgs: VRFV2PlusClient._argsToBytes(VRFV2PlusClient.ExtraArgsV1({nativePayment: true})) }) ); if (input % 2 == 0) { requests[requestId] = Variable.A; } else if (input % 3 == 0) { requests[requestId] = Variable.B; } else { requests[requestId] = Variable.C; } } function fulfillRandomWords( uint256 requestId, uint256[] memory randomWords ) internal override { Variable variable = requests[requestId]; if (variable == Variable.A) { fulfillA(requestId, randomWords[0]); } else if (variable == Variable.B) { fulfillB(requestId, randomWords[0]); } else if (variable == Variable.C) { fulfillC(requestId, randomWords[0]); } } function fulfillA(uint256 requestId, uint256 randomWord) private { // execution path A variableA = randomWord; emit FulfilledA(requestId, randomWord); } function fulfillB(uint256 requestId, uint256 randomWord) private { // execution path B variableB = randomWord; emit FulfilledB(requestId, randomWord); } function fulfillC(uint256 requestId, uint256 randomWord) private { // execution path C variableC = randomWord; emit FulfilledC(requestId, randomWord); }}