# phpman > man > ntptrace

[NTPTRACE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/NTPTRACE/1/markdown)               BSD General Commands Manual              [NTPTRACE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/NTPTRACE/1/markdown)

## NAME
     **ntptrace** — Trace peers of an NTP server

## SYNOPSIS
     **ntptrace** [**-flags**] [**-flag** [_value_]] [**--option-name**[[=| ]_value_]] [host]

## DESCRIPTION
     **ntptrace** is a perl script that uses the ntpq utility program to follow the chain of NTP servers
     from a given host back to the primary time source. For ntptrace to work properly, each of these
     servers must implement the NTP Control and Monitoring Protocol specified in RFC 1305 and enable
     NTP Mode 6 packets.

     If given no arguments, ntptrace starts with localhost. Here is an example of the output from
     ntptrace:


           % ntptrace localhost: stratum 4, offset 0.0019529, synch distance 0.144135
           server2ozo.com: stratum 2, offset 0.0124263, synch distance 0.115784 usndh.edu:
           stratum 1, offset 0.0019298, synch distance 0.011993, refid 'WWVB'

     On each line, the fields are (left to right): the host name, the host stratum, the time offset
     between that host and the local host (as measured by **ntptrace**; this is why it is not always
     zero for "localhost"), the host synchronization distance, and (only for stratum-1 servers) the
     reference clock ID. All times are given in seconds. Note that the stratum is the server hop
     count to the primary source, while the synchronization distance is the estimated error relative
     to the primary source. These terms are precisely defined in RFC-1305.

## OPTIONS
### -n --numeric
             Print IP addresses instead of hostnames.

             Output hosts as dotted-quad numeric format rather than converting to the canonical host
             names.

### -m --max-hosts
             Maximum number of peers to trace.  This option takes an integer number as its argument.
             The default _number_ for this option is:
                  99

             This option has not been fully documented.

### -r --host
             Single remote host.  The default _string_ for this option is:
                  127.0.0.1

             This option has not been fully documented.

     **-?**, **--help**
             Display usage information and exit.

     **-!**, **--more-help**
             Pass the extended usage information through a pager.

### -v --version
             Output version of program and exit.  The default mode is `v', a simple version.  The
             `c' mode will print copyright information and `n' will print the full copyright notice.

## EXIT STATUS
     One of the following exit values will be returned:

     0  (EXIT_SUCCESS)
             Successful program execution.

     1  (EXIT_FAILURE)
             The operation failed or the command syntax was not valid.

     70  (EX_SOFTWARE)
             libopts had an internal operational error.  Please report it to auto‐
             <gen-users@lists.sourceforge.net>.  Thank you.

## NOTES
     This manual page was _AutoGen_-erated from the **ntptrace** option definitions.

BSD                              June 23 2020                              BSD