The mining pool

The pool is part of the Requant node itself: any requantd becomes a pool with --pool ADDR --pool-key FILE. The public test-network pool runs at 193.187.93.29:19340; its statistics are on the pool page.

Connecting

cppminer --algo tnet --rpc 193.187.93.29:19340 --payee YOUR_KEY_HASH --worker rig1

The pool speaks the node's own getwork / submitwork JSON-RPC, with the payee and worker added to each submission (mining protocol). It is not Stratum.

Shares

• Each job carries a share target easier than the network target: max(2^(256 − share_bits) − 1, network target). With the default of 24 share bits, a share takes about 2^24 tickets.
• A share that also meets the network target is a block, and the pool submits it at once.
• Every share is verified. The pool checks the cheap things first (job, piece length, the ticket hash against the share target, duplicates) and then recomputes the row through all eight layers.
• Shares for the previous tip are accepted for 10 seconds after a new block; they are credited but cannot become blocks.
• A client address that sends 20 invalid shares within 10 minutes is refused for an hour.

Rewards: PPLNS

• Each found block's payout to the pool (the reward minus the development-fund share, plus fees) is shared over the last N shares, where N is twice the expected number of shares per block, kept between 16 and 20,000.
• The pool fee (1% on the public pool) is taken first; each miner receives the rest in proportion to their shares in the window, rounded down to the atom.
• Credits turn into balances only when the block is 100 blocks deep and still on the best chain. A block that leaves the best chain is marked orphaned and pays nothing.
• PPLNS rewards miners who stay; hopping in and out earns less than steady mining.

Payouts

• Every 10 minutes, every balance of at least 1 RQT is paid, up to 200 recipients in one transaction; the pool pays the transaction fee.
• Each payout is followed until it confirms and resent if it is lost. If a payout's input was spent elsewhere, the payout is marked returned and the balances are restored.
• Pool state, including balances and history, survives restarts.

Statistics

The pool page shows the pool and network rate over recent hours, blocks found with their effort, payouts and every miner with its devices. Each address has its own page with rate, balance, maturing rewards, devices and payouts. Rates are estimates from shares and block targets.

Effort is the number of shares spent on a block divided by the expected number. Over many blocks it averages about 100%; single blocks vary widely.

Running a pool

requantd --network test --pool 0.0.0.0:19340 --pool-key pool.key \
  --pool-fee 1 --pool-share-bits 24 --pool-min-payout 1 --pool-payout-every 600

The pool key is an unencrypted 64-hex secret key that receives block rewards and pays miners; keep the machine and the key protected and its balance small. Long polls are limited to 192 at once.