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NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Pinout and Configuration

There are many models of microcontroller development boards based on Espressif ESP8266 chip. Unfortunately, different boards have different pin layouts or configurations. This NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Pinout guide is for the ESP8266-based devkit pictured below.

This particular board was purchased this January 2020 from a local supplier, makerlab-electronics.com.

image of nodemcu v3 development board showing the top view with pinout labels
NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Development Board
image of the development kit showing the underside with header pins showing
Underside of NodeMCU V3 Devkit

NodeMCU V3 Development Board Specification

Based on the supplier’s website, the board’s specification is as follows:

  • Communication interface voltage: 3.3V.
  • Antenna type: Built-in PCB antenna is available.
  • Wireless 802.11 b/g/n standard
  • WiFi at 2.4GHz, support WPA / WPA2 security mode
  • Support STA/AP/STA + AP three operating modes
  • Built-in TCP/IP protocol stack to support multiple TCP Client connections (5 MAX)
  • D0 ~ D8, SD1 ~ SD3: used as GPIO, PWM, IIC, etc., port driver capability 15mA
  • AD0: 1 channel ADC
  • Power input: 4.5V ~ 9V (10VMAX), USB-powered
  • Current: continuous transmission: ≈70mA (200mA MAX), Standby: <200uA
  • Transfer rate: 110-460800bps
  • Support UART / GPIO data communication interface
  • Remote firmware upgrade (OTA)
  • Flash size: 4MByte

As an additional information, this board uses the UART chip CH340G. Remember that other ESP8266 boards use another UART chip, namely Silicon Labs CP2102.

Note the advertised GPIO:

Some websites even advertise the whole set of ESP8266 chip GPIO:

But the fact is, some of the GPIOs are used by the development board for its proper operation. Using them would possibly crash your program. Or may give you unexpected results.

Six of the seventeen GPIOs, marked on the top of the board as S3, S2, S1, SC, S0, and SK, are all used by the board to interface with the 4MB external flash chip. This leaves us with:

Now, if your program is using the hardware serial pins, labeled TX and RX, you are left with only nine (9) usable digital IO and one (1) analog-to-digital IO.

Therefore, in reality, these are the only available GPIOs:

NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Pinout

picture of NodeMCU V3 with the board on its side and the usb connector is on its left
NodeMCU V3 Development Board Pinout (USB Connector on Left Side)
picture showing nodemcu v3 with the board on its side and the usb connector is on the right side
NodeMCU V3 Development Board Pinout (USB Connector on Right Side)
picture of development board with the complete pinout, board in upright position
NodeMCu V3 Development Board Pinout
(Board in Upright Position, USB Connector at the Bottom)

ARDUINO IDE PIN REFERENCE

When programming the NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 board with Arduino IDE, we may use the pin labels printed on the top of the board. That is, A0 for the ADC pin and D0 thru D10 for the digital pins (D9 is RX and D10 is TX).

For example, to reference GPIO D0,

Summary of Available IO Pins

Board LabelGPIONormal UseComments
A0ADC0Input onlyAnalog input
D0GPIO16Wake upPulled LOW, HIGH at boot
D1GPIO5SCLI2C
D2GPIO4SDAI2C
D3GPIO0FLASHPulled HIGH, do not pull LOW
D4GPIO2BUILT-IN LEDPulled HIGH, do not pull LOW
D5GPIO14SCLKSPI
D6GPIO12MISOSPI
D7GPIO13MOSISPI
D8GPIO15CSSPI, Pulled LOW, do not pull HIGH
RX GPIO3RXMay be used as Input, HIGH on boot
TX GPIO1TXMay be used as Output, HIGH on boot

Boot Modes

D8
GPIO15
D3
GPIO0
D4
GPIO2
BOOT MODE
LOWLOWHIGHUART Bootloader
LOWHIGHHIGHBoot program in flash
HIGHXXSDIO (not used on Arduino)

Related Articles on NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Pinout and Configuration

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Software

How to Install Arduino IDE on Windows 10
How to Set up Arduino IDE for ESP8266 Programming
How to Install Esptool on Windows 10

Hardware & Software


How to Use MCP4725 Module with Arduino
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References on NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Pinout and Configuration

NodeMCU on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NodeMCU
ESP8266 on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESP8266

1 thought on “NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 Pinout and Configuration”

  1. IN your code sample, you define Pin2 as RX / D9, then set it as an Output.

    BUT in your table you say that RX may be used as an Input, and TX should be Output.

    I know 8266 pin usage is confusing, but you seem to be adding to it

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