



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
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   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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