Port 2968: Unassigned — Epson's quiet scanning port

What Range This Port Belongs To

Port 2968 falls in the registered port range (1024–49151), the middle tier of the port numbering system. Ports in this range are managed by IANA and can be officially assigned to specific services and protocols. Port 2968 has no such assignment — IANA's registry lists it as unassigned. ¹

That doesn't mean nothing uses it.

What Actually Runs Here

Epson EventManager listens on port 2968. This software ships with Epson all-in-one printers and enables the "Scan to Computer" feature — where you walk up to the printer, tap a button on the touchpad, and the scan lands on your computer across the wireless network.

The printer uses port 2968 (both TCP and UDP) to discover which computers on the local network are running EventManager and ready to receive a scan. This is sometimes called the PushScan protocol. ²

Epson documents this port requirement in their network guides and firewall configuration instructions. ³ It's a widespread, stable unofficial use — just without the IANA paperwork.

Why Unassigned Ports Matter

The port numbering system depends on coordination. When a service claims a registered port officially, other software knows to stay away. When a service uses a port without registering it, a quiet conflict is always possible — another application might independently choose the same number.

Port 2968 has been stable in practice (no notable conflicts have emerged), but it illustrates the gap between the port system as designed and the port system as deployed. Millions of Epson printers rely on this port working, IANA paperwork or not.

How to Check What's Listening

macOS/Linux:

# Show what's listening on port 2968
sudo lsof -i :2968

# Or with netstat
netstat -an | grep 2968

Windows:

netstat -ano | findstr :2968

If you have an Epson printer set up for network scanning, you'll likely see EEventManager or a related process holding this port.