## Searching for an IP address and its associated network mask
You can query an index for an IP address in [Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classless_Inter-Domain_Routing#CIDR_notation). Using CIDR notation, specify the IP address and the prefix length (0–32), separated by `/`. For example, the prefix length of 24 will match all IP addresses with the same initial 24 bits.
If you use an IP address in IPv6 format in a `query_string` query, you need to escape `:` characters because they are parsed as special characters. You can accomplish this by wrapping the IP address in quotation marks and escaping those quotation marks with `\`.
The following table lists the parameters accepted by ip field types. All parameters are optional.
Parameter | Description
:--- | :---
`boost` | A floating-point value that specifies the weight of this field toward the relevance score. Values above 1.0 increase the field's relevance. Values between 0.0 and 1.0 decrease the field's relevance. Default is 1.0.
`doc_values` | A Boolean value that specifies if the field should be stored on disk so that it can be used for aggregations, sorting, or scripting. Default is `false`.
`ignore_malformed` | A Boolean value that specifies to ignore malformed values and not to throw an exception. Default is `false`.
`index` | A Boolean value that specifies whether the field should be searchable. Default is `true`.
[`null_value`]({{site.url}}{{site.baseurl}}/opensearch/supported-field-types/index#null-value) | A value to be used in place of `null`. Must be of the same type as the field. If this parameter is not specified, the field is treated as missing when its value is `null`. Default is `null`.
`store` | A Boolean value that specifies whether the field value should be stored and can be retrieved separately from the _source field. Default is `false`.