# IPv6 Reference

[IP addresses](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/understanding-ip-addresses-subnets-and-cidr-notation-for-networking) let machines communicate across a network. DigitalOcean Droplets are assigned IPv4 addresses by default. Enabling IPv6 on a Droplet gives you access to its 16 additional IPv6 addresses.

The [DigitalOcean API](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/index.html.md) lets you manage resources programmatically with standard HTTP requests. All actions available in the control panel are also available through the API.

[`doctl`](https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl) is the command-line interface for the DigitalOcean API. It supports most of the same actions available in the API and DigitalOcean Control Panel.

[`doctl`](https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl) supports enabling IPv6 addresses from the command line. See the [`doctl` documentation](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/compute/droplet-action/enable-ipv6/index.html.md) or use `doctl compute droplet-action enable-ipv6 --help` for more information.

The [DigitalOcean Model Context Protocol (MCP) server](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/mcp/index.html.md) lets you use natural language prompts to interact with DigitalOcean Networking services to manage resources. All operations use argument-based input, and no resource URIs are used. These tools enable full automation and management of networking resources and configurations.

[DigitalOcean API Endpoint for IPv6](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/digitalocean/index.html.md#operation/dropletActions_post): Use the DigitalOcean API to enable IPv6 addresses for Droplets.

[doctl compute droplet-action enable-ipv6](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/compute/droplet-action/enable-ipv6/index.html.md): Use doctl to enable IPv6 for Droplets from the command line.

[DigitalOcean MCP Servers](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/mcp/index.html.md): MCP tools for managing DigitalOcean networking features.