ABSTRACT The core of IPv6 active address discovery lies in identifying operational network devices, which serve as the foundation for various network applications. However, the vast address space of IPv6 presents significant challenges to network discovery, including inefficiencies of traditional scanning tools (such as ZMap and Masscan), uncertainties arising from dynamic address allocation, sparsity in address distribution, and limitations of current discovery techniques in regions lacking seed addresses. To address these challenges, researchers have developed various address discovery methods aimed at maximizing the identification of active IPv6 addresses within constrained resource budgets. This paper summarizes and analyzes existing active address discovery methods and evaluates their performance in real‐world environments. Our work includes classifying detection techniques and outlining the current research landscape for address discovery in regions without seed addresses. Through experiments conducted in real network environments, we evaluate and contrast different probing algorithms using four performance metrics: hit rate, hierarchical prefix coverage, aliased addresses, and address discovery rate. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges faced by current IPv6 active address discovery methods in practical applications. Despite numerous advancements, the field of IPv6 active address discovery still requires further research and exploration.