Cisco ENCOR Practice Exam 2026 – All-in-One Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Enterprise Network Core Technologies!

The priority of a switch during the Spanning Tree election process is determined by the Bridge Identifier. This identifier is a combination of two elements: the Bridge Priority and the MAC Address of the switch. The Bridge Priority is a configurable value that can be adjusted within the range of 0 to 61440 in increments of 4096. When all switches within the same network segment participate in the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) election, the switch with the lowest Bridge Identifier gets elected as the root bridge.

If two switches have the same Bridge Priority, the tie-breaking factor becomes the MAC Address, as it serves as a unique identifier for each switch. Therefore, while the MAC Address does play a role in the election process, it is the Bridge Identifier, particularly the Bridge Priority portion of it, that directly determines the switch's priority in STP. Understanding this concept is critical for network professionals, as configuring the Bridge Priority appropriately can influence the overall topology and redundancy in a network.