What does PPLNS mean?
PPLNS stands for "pay per last N shares". When the pool finds a block, it looks back over a fixed window of recent shares and splits the reward in proportion to each miner's part of that window. On DirectPool the window is the last 7 days of shares.
A share is a piece of proof that your miner did work. The pool sets a share difficulty far below the network's block difficulty, so even small miners send shares often. Each share is weighted by its difficulty, so a miner sending fewer, harder shares is credited the same as one sending many easy ones for the same work.
How is a PPLNS payout calculated?
Your payout is your share of the window times the block reward after the pool fee. Suppose a block pays 3.144 BTC (the 3.125 BTC subsidy plus fees, typical for early October 2026) and the fee is 1%. If the pool's hashrate and yours stayed constant over the 7 days:
| Your hashrate | Pool hashrate | Your part of the window | Your payout | Result on DirectPool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2 TH/s | 1 PH/s | 0.1200% | 373,507 sats | paid in this block |
| 1.2 TH/s | 100 PH/s | 0.0012% | 3,735 sats | recorded, paid by a later block |
| 4.8 TH/s | 100 PH/s | 0.0048% | 14,940 sats | paid in this block |
| 200 TH/s | 100 PH/s | 0.2000% | 622,512 sats | paid in this block |
These pool sizes are examples, not DirectPool's size. DirectPool's live hashrate is on the home page, and the verify page shows the exact payout list for the next block template, including your address if you mine there.
Why does the 7-day window matter?
- Shares count for a week. Every share you submit stays in the window for 7 days. If the pool finds a block during that time, the share earns its slice.
- New miners ramp up. When you join, you have only a few hours of shares in a 7-day window, so your part grows over the first week.
- Leaving is not a loss. If you switch off or move pools, your shares still count until they age out of the window.
- No pool hopping gain. Because only recent shares count, jumping in and out at clever moments does not earn more than steady mining. That is the main reason pools use PPLNS.
How does PPLNS compare with PPS, FPPS and solo?
| Method | When you are paid | Who carries the luck | Typical fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPLNS | when the pool finds a block | miners share it | low |
| PPS (pay per share) | for every share, block or not | the pool operator | higher, to cover the risk |
| FPPS (full pay per share) | like PPS, plus an estimate of transaction fees | the pool operator | higher |
| Solo | only if your miner finds a block | you alone | low |
PPS and FPPS feel smooth, but the pool must hold enough bitcoin to pay you during unlucky stretches, so it keeps your balance and pays out later. PPLNS lets the pool pay straight out of each block, with no balance to hold. Over the long run, all methods pay about the same average minus fees. See solo vs pool mining for the solo side.
How does DirectPool pay PPLNS rewards?
DirectPool runs on a patched build of p2poolv2, which writes each miner's PPLNS payout as an output of the block's coinbase transaction, the first transaction in every block. When the pool finds a block, you are paid in that block. There is no account, no withdrawal button and no balance held by the operator.
- Fee: 1% of each block found, paid to a published fee address.
- Window: the last 7 days of shares.
- Minimum payout: 10,000 sats. If your part of a block is smaller, it is recorded and paid by a later block once it adds up.
- Outputs per block: up to 250 payout addresses.
- Tag: every DirectPool block carries
directpool.ioin its coinbase, so you can find it on any block explorer.
DirectPool is a small pool. It finds blocks less often than large pools, so payouts are irregular: you might wait a long time and then receive a larger amount at once.
Why does DirectPool use PPLNS instead of FPPS?
FPPS pays you for every share whether or not the pool finds a block. To do that, the operator must keep a large reserve of bitcoin and hold miners' balances, which means you trust the operator with your money. A small pool cannot safely promise fixed payments through long unlucky stretches.
PPLNS with coinbase payouts removes that trust. The reward goes from the block straight to miners' addresses, and anyone can check the outputs on a block explorer. The trade-off is lumpier payouts, especially on a small pool.
Does share difficulty change your PPLNS payout?
No. Shares are weighted by their difficulty, so a miner set to difficulty 1,000 and the same miner set to difficulty 10,000 are credited the same amount of work over time. The higher setting just sends fewer messages. DirectPool's lowest share difficulty is 1, which lets even very small devices show shares. Large ASICs can set a higher starting difficulty with d= in the password field, explained in Stratum URL, worker and password.
What are the downsides of PPLNS?
- Luck matters. If the pool has an unlucky month, nobody is paid that month. Over many blocks it evens out.
- Small pools are lumpier. Fewer blocks means longer gaps.
- Ramp-up time. A new miner reaches its full part of the window only after 7 days of steady mining.
- Transaction fees vary. Your payout depends on the fees in the block that was found, not an average.
How can you check your PPLNS share?
Paste your address on the DirectPool verify page. It shows the payout list for the next block template, with each address, its sats and its percentage, so you can see your current slice before a block is found. After a block, the outputs are on mempool.space in the block's coinbase transaction.