From Inside AppleTalk:
Node ID $FF indicates a broadcast to all nodes with a network number equal to that indicated by the specified network number. As long as this network number is nonzero, the packet is refered to as a network-specific broadcast. Although it will be received by all AppleTalk nodes on the data link, it should only be accepted by those with the indicated network number.
If the network number is zero, node ID $FF indicates either a network-wide or zone-specific broadcast. A network-wide broadcast is sent to all AppleTalk nodes on the data link and should be accepted by all those nodes. A zone-specific broadcast is sent to a particular zone multicast address. DDP should always accept such a packet, however higher level protocols like NBP and ZIP will discard the packet if it is not intended for the node’s zone (see Chapter 8, “Zone Information Protocol,” for details of zone multicast addressing).