# Falcon FAQ (/falcon/faq)

> Short answers about Falcon Solana transaction submission: tips, retries, UDP silence, size limits and keys.



Short answers, each linking to the page that goes deeper.

<Accordions>
  <Accordion title="Do I need a Solana RPC as well?">
    Yes. Falcon serves `sendTransaction` and `getVersion` and nothing else, so blockhashes, simulation, reads and confirmation all come from a normal [Solana RPC](/solana-rpc).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why didn't my tip count?">
    Falcon takes the first top-level System Program transfer to an allowed tip account that already meets the **1,000,000 lamport** minimum on its own. Split amounts never add up, lookup-table recipients don't match, and a CPI transfer doesn't count. [Tips](/falcon/tips) has every rule and the account list.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does native UDP never answer?">
    By design: nothing is returned on UDP, for any reason. When submissions vanish, replay the identical transaction over JSON-RPC and read the real rejection. [Native UDP](/falcon/udp) lists every drop reason.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is it safe to resend the same transaction?">
    Yes, and it's the right retry. We suppress a duplicate only after that signature has already been delivered, so resending the same signed bytes while the blockhash is valid is never wasted. Don't re-sign to retry: a new signature is a new transaction. See [errors & retries](/falcon/errors).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why am I getting 401 unauthorized?">
    The `api-key` query parameter is missing, isn't a valid UUID, or isn't a live key. We authenticate before reading the body, so nothing else about the request matters yet. Verify the key with `getVersion`; the [quick start](/falcon/quickstart) opens with exactly that.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's the largest transaction Falcon accepts?">
    **1,232 serialized bytes**, tip included, on every transport. Larger transactions are rejected on HTTP and dropped silently on UDP.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is Falcon traffic encrypted?">
    Only QUIC, which runs its own handshake with self-signed certificates. For HTTP and native UDP, see [transport security](/platform/access#transport-security).
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

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