Solo vs shared (PPLNS) mining
MergedHash has two kinds of ports for each chain. Both pay straight from the block to your address, with the same 1% fee. They differ in who gets each block.
Solo: the finder gets the block
On a solo port (eCash 3335, Bitcoin 3345), each connection works on its own block template that pays its own address. If your share meets the network target, the block is yours: the block reward, transaction fees and (on eCash) sidechain fees, minus 1%. If someone else finds the block, you get nothing for that block, and the pool does not keep a balance for you.
The chance of finding the next block equals your share of the network hashrate. With 1% of the network you would expect, on average, one block in every hundred, but the real gaps are random: you might find two in a week or none for months. Solo is luck, and small miners should expect very long waits.
Shared: PPLNS
On a shared port (eCash 3338, Bitcoin 3348), everyone mines the same template, and every block found by anyone on that port pays everyone in the recent-shares window, by their share of the work in that window. This is PPLNS: pay per last N shares. On MergedHash the window is the last shares worth twice the network difficulty.
You receive smaller amounts, more often, in proportion to your work. Your total still depends on how many blocks the shared port finds, which is also luck, but it varies less than solo for small miners.
Paid in the coinbase, not from a wallet
Both modes write payouts directly into the block's coinbase transaction. There is no pool wallet, no balance, no withdrawal and no payout fee. That has a few consequences:
- Spendable after 100 confirmations, like any coinbase output.
- Limited outputs per block. A coinbase can hold a limited number of payout outputs, currently 19 miners plus the fee. The largest contributors in the window are paid in that block.
- The dust rule. A share of a block too small to be worth its own output (it would cost more than about 1% of its value to spend) is not written in that block. Those shares keep counting in the window and are paid by a later block. Their part of the current block goes to the other paid miners, never to the pool.
- No PPS or FPPS. Pay-per-share means the pool pays miners from its own funds before blocks are found, which requires holding money. MergedHash holds nobody's coins, so it can't offer per-share payments.
Side by side
| Solo | Shared (PPLNS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets a block | The finder | Everyone in the recent-shares window |
| Payment size | The whole block, minus 1% | Your share of the work in the window |
| How often | Rare and random | Whenever the shared port finds a block |
| Ports | ECX 3335 · BTC 3345 (high diff 3337 · 3346) | ECX 3338 · BTC 3348 (high diff 3339 · 3349) |
| Merged coins | Merged blocks your shares find | Split like parent blocks |
Which should I choose?
If you want the chance of a full block and accept that it may never come, use solo. If you prefer smaller, more regular payments and accept that they depend on the shared port's total hashrate, use shared. Many miners split: NerdOS miners can send, for example, 90% of their hashrate to one port and 10% to the other, and farms can run machines on both. You can switch at any time by changing the port; on shared, shares already in the window keep counting.
Whatever you choose, your address must be one whose key you hold. Live numbers for both modes, including round effort, are on the status page, and every block the pool has found is on the blocks page.
Payout questions
Does the shared port pay me if I stop mining?
Your shares stay in the recent-shares window until newer shares push them out. Blocks found while they are still in the window pay you.
Is the fee different between solo and shared?
No. Both pay 1% of each block to the pool's address inside the coinbase, and 99% to miners.
Why did my shared payout skip a block?
Your part of that block was too small for its own output, or the block had no room for more outputs. The shares keep counting and a later block pays you.
More guides: Bitaxe, NerdQAxe and NerdOctaxe · Antminer, Whatsminer and Avalon · Rented hashrate · Merged mining · Solo vs PPLNS · FAQ