MIFARE Classic 13.56 MHz card: specs
Passive 13.56 MHz contactless cards sold as MIFARE Classic. They have no battery; the reader powers them over the air. Values on this page are for the NXP MF1S50 EV1 1K chip; the chip on the supplied cards is not confirmed.
Specs
| Spec | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Operating frequency | 13.56 MHz | source Section 2 Features and benefits (p.2); Table 31 |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 14443 Type A | source Section 1 General description (p.1) |
| Memory | 1 kB EEPROM, 16 sectors of 4 blocks, 16 bytes per block | source Section 2.1 EEPROM (p.2) |
| Data transfer rate | 106 kbit/s | source Section 2 Features and benefits (p.2) |
| Operating distance | Up to 100 mm, depending on antenna geometry and reader | source Section 2 Features and benefits (p.2) |
| Identifier | 7-byte UID, or 4-byte non-unique ID (NUID) on the NUID versions | source Section 1.3 Security and privacy (p.1); ordering information and the remark on non-unique ID versions |
| Data retention | 10 years (minimum) | source Section 14 Characteristics, Table 31 (p.26) |
| Write endurance | 100000 cycles minimum, 200000 typical | source Section 14 Characteristics, Table 31 (p.26) |
| Ambient temperature | -25 C to 70 C (limiting values) | source Section 13 Limiting values, Table 30 (p.25-26) |
| Supply | None (powered from the reader) | source Section 2 Features: contactless transmission of data and energy supply (p.2) |
Power
| Value | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Supply | Passive card, powered by the reader's RF signal | source Section 2 Features and benefits (p.2) |
Pinout
We don't publish a pin table for this part: no official source we could verify gives one. Check the labels printed on your module, and see the notes below.
A card has no header or pins. The data sheet is for the MIFARE Classic EV1 1K chip; the exact chip variant on the supplied cards is not documented by a maker source.
Build with it
Project ideas for the MIFARE Classic 13.56 MHz card. Each link opens Soldr with the prompt filled in; Soldr assigns the pins, checks power and shows how to wire every part.
- Card-tap counter with display: The reader works at 13.56 MHz and the card is ISO/IEC 14443 Type A. Read only the card UID; check the reader module's own page for its supply voltage before wiring it to the ESP32.
- Cards as a Pico game-token reader: Check that the five card IDs differ before using them as tokens: a 4-byte non-unique ID is not guaranteed to be unique. Use only your own cards.
- A workshop sign-in demo with an Arduino Uno, an MFRC522 reader, MIFARE Classic cards and an LCD that shows the card UID: Learning project, not an access-control product: the card has no security beyond sector keys and these cards ship with the default key. If it records who signs in, people must be told and agree.
Common mistakes
- Editing a sector trailer carelessly: if the access bits have a format violation the whole sector is irreversibly blocked. Keys are delivered as FFFF FFFF FFFFh (source)
- Expecting very long range: operating distance is up to 100 mm and depends on the reader's antenna, so small module antennas read at a much shorter distance (source)
- Using a 125 kHz reader: this card works at 13.56 MHz only (source)
Not covered by the official source
- Chip variant on the supplied cards (1K or 4K, EV1 or earlier) is not stated by a maker source; the EV1 1K sheet is used.
- Card antenna size and card thickness are not covered by the chip data sheet.
- Section numbers are from the NXP document; page numbers are PDF page positions.
Sources
- link (NXP MF1S50YYX_V1, MIFARE Classic EV1 1K, Rev. 3.2, 23 May 2018; NXP's own document host)