Description of the Modbus RTU status words

Layout, status flags and update timing of the Modbus RTU status words

Layout

The Modbus RTU status words consist of 2 bytes.

Status word

High byte

Low byte

Client status word

Empty

Status flags (aggregated)

Server status word

Exception code

Status flags (individual)

Status flags

In a client status word, a status flag is set if the corresponding error occurred for at least one of the servers connected to that client. A raised status flag does not indicate that the client itself is not working properly. In a server status word, a status flag is set if the corresponding error occurred for that server.

0x01 (SERIAL_COM_ERROR)

A serial communication error occurred.

0x02 (RESPONSE_TIMEOUT)

A server did not respond in time.

0x04 (SHORT_FRAME)

The data frame sent by a server is too short.

0x08 (CRC_ERROR)

The CRC value appended to a message by the sender does not match the CRC value calculated by the receiver.

0x10 (ILLEGAL RESPONSE)

The response of the server is incompatible with the corresponding request of the client.

0x80 (SERVER_EXCEPTION)

A server exception occurred. The exception code can be found in the high byte of the status word of the corresponding server.

Update timing

The client status word is updated after each complete Modbus RTU cycle.

The server status word is updated as soon as the corresponding server has been processed.