Lightning Network Map Screensaver
The Lightning Network Map screensaver dashboards the Bitcoin Lightning Network's real node count, channel count and total capacity, drawn key-less and live from mempool.space. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
Live preview
Press ESC to leave fullscreen. Settings are saved in your browser only.
How the Lightning Network Map screensaver works
The saver fetches real current Lightning Network statistics from mempool.space, with no key required.
Node count, channel count and total network capacity are shown as large live readouts.
A field of glowing points suggests the real, growing mesh of Lightning nodes.
Readings refresh on a schedule to track real network growth.
Layer two for Bitcoin payments
The Lightning Network is a payment layer built on top of Bitcoin. Instead of putting every payment on the blockchain, two parties open a channel by locking funds in an on-chain transaction, then exchange signed balance updates off-chain as often as they like. Only opening and closing the channel need to be recorded on the main chain, which makes small payments fast and cheap.
Payments can also travel through intermediaries. If you have a channel with someone who has a channel with the recipient, the payment can be routed across both using hash time-locked contracts, so no intermediary can steal funds in transit. Nodes may charge small routing fees for this service. The statistics on screen, which come from mempool.space’s view of the network, summarise how many nodes and channels exist and how much bitcoin is committed.
The figures only cover what is publicly announced. Private channels are not in the public gossip graph, so the true size is larger. Capacity means funds locked in channels, not the amount you can send in one payment, since liquidity must be available in the right direction along a route.
A worked example
You'll see capacity measured in real bitcoin locked into payment channels — a genuine, if partial, measure of the public Lightning Network's size (some capacity is private and unlisted).
Settings & tips
- Accent recolours the glowing node field.
- Public statistics undercount private channels — the real network is somewhat larger.
- Capacity can be shown in BTC or sats depending on your preference.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Lightning Network?
- A real second-layer payment network built on top of Bitcoin for fast, cheap transactions using payment channels.
- Is a key needed?
- No. mempool.space's public API is free and key-less.
- Does this include private channels?
- No — only publicly announced channels are countable; the real total network is larger.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
- What does network capacity actually measure?
- The total bitcoin locked in publicly known channels. It is an upper bound on routing liquidity, not an amount any single payment can use.
- Why can a payment fail even when the network is large?
- A route needs enough balance in the correct direction on each hop. A channel with funds on the wrong side cannot forward the payment.