diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6281c5236..bd95f777a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -42,11 +42,13 @@ at anytime.
   * if the `use_authentication` setting is configured, use authentication for all api methods instead of only those with the `auth_required` decorator
   * regenerate api keys on startup if the using authentication
   * support both positional and keyword args for api calls
+  * `peer_list` to return a list of dictionaries instead of a list of lists, added peer node ids to the results
 
 ### Added
   * virtual kademlia network and mock udp transport for dht integration tests
   * integration tests for bootstrapping the dht
   * configurable `concurrent_announcers` setting
+  * `peer_ping` command
 
 ### Removed
   * `announce_all` argument from `blob_announce`
diff --git a/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py b/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py
index 44a87200c..4b9b8643a 100644
--- a/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py
+++ b/lbrynet/daemon/Daemon.py
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ from lbrynet.core.server.ServerProtocol import ServerProtocolFactory
 from lbrynet.core.Error import InsufficientFundsError, UnknownNameError
 from lbrynet.core.Error import DownloadDataTimeout, DownloadSDTimeout
 from lbrynet.core.Error import NullFundsError, NegativeFundsError
+from lbrynet.dht.error import TimeoutError
 from lbrynet.core.Peer import Peer
 from lbrynet.core.SinglePeerDownloader import SinglePeerDownloader
 from lbrynet.core.client.StandaloneBlobDownloader import StandaloneBlobDownloader
@@ -2849,6 +2850,7 @@ class Daemon(AuthJSONRPCServer):
         response = yield self._render_response("Deleted %s" % blob_hash)
         defer.returnValue(response)
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def jsonrpc_peer_list(self, blob_hash, timeout=None):
         """
         Get peers for blob hash
@@ -2861,15 +2863,32 @@ class Daemon(AuthJSONRPCServer):
             --timeout=<timeout>      : (int) peer search timeout in seconds
 
         Returns:
-            (list) List of contacts
+            (list) List of contact dictionaries {'host': <peer ip>, 'port': <peer port>, 'node_id': <peer node id>}
         """
 
-        timeout = timeout or conf.settings['peer_search_timeout']
+        if not utils.is_valid_blobhash(blob_hash):
+            raise Exception("invalid blob hash")
 
-        d = self.session.peer_finder.find_peers_for_blob(blob_hash, timeout=timeout)
-        d.addCallback(lambda r: [[c.host, c.port, c.is_available()] for c in r])
-        d.addCallback(lambda r: self._render_response(r))
-        return d
+        finished_deferred = self.session.dht_node.getPeersForBlob(binascii.unhexlify(blob_hash), True)
+
+        def _trigger_timeout():
+            if not finished_deferred.called:
+                log.debug("Peer search for %s timed out", blob_hash)
+                finished_deferred.cancel()
+
+        timeout = timeout or conf.settings['peer_search_timeout']
+        self.session.dht_node.reactor_callLater(timeout, _trigger_timeout)
+
+        peers = yield finished_deferred
+        results = [
+            {
+                "host": host,
+                "port": port,
+                "node_id": node_id
+            }
+            for host, port, node_id in peers
+        ]
+        defer.returnValue(results)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def jsonrpc_blob_announce(self, blob_hash=None, stream_hash=None, sd_hash=None):
@@ -3040,6 +3059,32 @@ class Daemon(AuthJSONRPCServer):
         d.addCallback(lambda r: self._render_response(r))
         return d
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def jsonrpc_peer_ping(self, node_id):
+        """
+        Find and ping a peer by node id
+
+        Usage:
+            peer_ping (<node_id> | --node_id=<node_id>)
+
+        Returns:
+            (str) pong, or {'error': <error message>} if an error is encountered
+        """
+
+        contact = None
+        try:
+            contact = yield self.session.dht_node.findContact(node_id.decode('hex'))
+        except TimeoutError:
+            result = {'error': 'timeout finding peer'}
+            defer.returnValue(result)
+        if not contact:
+            defer.returnValue({'error': 'peer not found'})
+        try:
+            result = yield contact.ping()
+        except TimeoutError:
+            result = {'error': 'ping timeout'}
+        defer.returnValue(result)
+
     def jsonrpc_routing_table_get(self):
         """
         Get DHT routing information
diff --git a/lbrynet/dht/node.py b/lbrynet/dht/node.py
index 0e5c980ab..9ad105c1e 100644
--- a/lbrynet/dht/node.py
+++ b/lbrynet/dht/node.py
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ class Node(object):
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def getPeersForBlob(self, blob_hash):
+    def getPeersForBlob(self, blob_hash, include_node_ids=False):
         result = yield self.iterativeFindValue(blob_hash)
         expanded_peers = []
         if result:
@@ -257,8 +257,13 @@ class Node(object):
                 for peer in result[blob_hash]:
                     host = ".".join([str(ord(d)) for d in peer[:4]])
                     port, = struct.unpack('>H', peer[4:6])
-                    if (host, port) not in expanded_peers:
-                        expanded_peers.append((host, port))
+                    if not include_node_ids:
+                        if (host, port) not in expanded_peers:
+                            expanded_peers.append((host, port))
+                    else:
+                        peer_node_id = peer[6:].encode('hex')
+                        if (host, port, peer_node_id) not in expanded_peers:
+                            expanded_peers.append((host, port, peer_node_id))
         defer.returnValue(expanded_peers)
 
     def get_most_popular_hashes(self, num_to_return):