Error Handling and Status Codes
Error handling in SMPP follows a status code mechanism. Each SMPP response PDU includes a command_status field, which indicates whether the request was successful or failed due to an error.
SMPP follows a request-response model, where each request PDU sent by the client (ESME) receives a corresponding response PDU from the server (SMSC).
In SMPP, sending a submit_sm PDU results in a submit_sm_resp PDU containing a success or failure status.
This mechanism ensures that every request has a matching response, allowing the client to track message delivery status, errors, and session events.
SMPP Success Response → command_status = 0x00000000 (OK)
SMPP Error Response → command_status = Non-zero value (Indicates failure, similar to HTTP 4xx/5xx errors)
Here is the complete set of SMPP Error Codes and their associated values:
| Error ID | Error Code | Description |
| 0x00000000 | ESME_ROK | No Error |
| 0x00000001 | ESME_RINVMSGLEN | Message Length is invalid |
| 0x00000002 | ESME_RINVCMDLEN | Command Length is invalid |
| 0x00000003 | ESME_RINVCMDID | Invalid Command ID |
| 0x00000004 | ESME_RINVBNDSTS | Incorrect BIND Status for given command |
| 0x00000005 | ESME_RALYBND | ESME Already in Bound State |
| 0x00000006 | ESME_RINVPRTFLG | Invalid Priority Flag |
| 0x00000007 | ESME_RINVREGDLVFLG | Invalid Registered Delivery Flag |
| 0x00000008 | ESME_RSYSERR | System Error |
| 0x0000000A | ESME_RINVSRCADR | Invalid Source Address |
| 0x0000000B | ESME_RINVDSTADR | Invalid Dest Addr |
| 0x0000000C | ESME_RINVMSGID | Message ID is invalid |
| 0x0000000D | ESME_RBINDFAIL | Bind Failed |
| 0x0000000E | ESME_RINVPASWD | Invalid Password |
| 0x0000000F | ESME_RINVSYSID | Invalid System ID |
| 0x00000011 | ESME_RCANCELFAIL | Cancel SM Failed |
| 0x00000013 | ESME_RREPLACEFAIL | Replace SM Failed |
| 0x00000014 | ESME_RMSGQFUL | Message Queue Full |
| 0x00000015 | ESME_RINVSERTYP | Invalid Service Type |
| 0x00000033 | ESME_RINVNUMDESTS | Invalid number of destinations |
| 0x00000034 | ESME_RINVDLNAME | Invalid Distribution List name |
| 0x00000040 | ESME_RINVDESTFLAG | Destination flag is invalid (submit_multi) |
| 0x00000042 | ESME_RINVSUBREP | Invalid ‘submit with replace’ request (i.e. submit_sm with replace_if_present_flag set) |
| 0x00000043 | ESME_RINVESMCLASS | Invalid esm_class field data |
| 0x00000044 | ESME_RCNTSUBDL | Cannot Submit to Distribution List |
| 0x00000045 | ESME_RSUBMITFAIL | submit_sm or submit_multi failed |
| 0x00000048 | ESME_RINVSRCTON | Invalid Source address TON |
| 0x00000049 | ESME_RINVSRCNPI | Invalid Source address NPI |
| 0x00000050 | ESME_RINVDSTTON | Invalid Destination address TON |
| 0x00000051 | ESME_RINVDSTNPI | Invalid Destination address NPI |
| 0x00000053 | ESME_RINVSYSTYP | Invalid system_type field |
| 0x00000054 | ESME_RINVREPFLAG | Invalid replace_if_present flag |
| 0x00000055 | ESME_RINVNUMMSGS | Invalid number of messages |
| 0x00000058 | ESME_RTHROTTLED | Throttling error (ESME has exceeded allowed message limits) |
| 0x00000061 | ESME_RINVSCHED | Invalid Scheduled Delivery Time |
| 0x00000062 | ESME_RINVEXPIRY | Invalid message validity period(Expiry time) |
| 0x00000063 | ESME_RINVDFTMSGID | Predefined Message Invalid or Not Found |
| 0x00000064 | ESME_RX_T_APPN | ESME Receiver Temporary App Error Code |
| 0x00000065 | ESME_RX_P_APPN | ESME Receiver Permanent App Error Code |
| 0x00000066 | ESME_RX_R_APPN | ESME Receiver Reject Message Error Code |
| 0x00000067 | ESME_RQUERYFAIL | query_sm request failed |
| 0x000000C0 | ESME_RINVOPTPARSTREAM | Error in the optional part of the PDU Body. |
| 0x000000C1 | ESME_ROPTPARNOTALLWD | Optional Parameter not allowed |
| 0x000000C2 | ESME_RINVPARLEN | Invalid Parameter Length. |
| 0x000000C3 | ESME_RMISSINGOPTPARAM | Expected Optional Parameter missing |
| 0x000000C4 | ESME_RINVOPTPARAMVAL | Invalid Optional Parameter Value |
| 0x000000FE | ESME_RDELIVERYFAILURE | Delivery Failure (used for data_sm_resp) |
| 0x000000FF | ESME_RUNKNOWNERR | Unknown Error |
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