Validator scoring

Formulas used to rank validators and determine the distribution of stake for the Score-based pot

Score calculation formula

For metrics 1 through 7 (see below), the range of possible values is divided into 10 equal ranges, and the validator then receives a score corresponding to the range it falls into.

Example:

Your validator runs in a data center that hosts several nodes with a total stake of 1M SOL between them.

The best DC in the world—the one with minimum stake—has only 500K SOL. The one with most concentrated stake has 4.5M SOL.

The total spread is 500,000 to 4,500,000 SOL, divided into 10 ranges of 400,000 SOL each: 500K to 900K, 900K to 1300K ... 4100K to 4500K.

Your DC, with its 1 million SOL total stake, falls into the second range (900K..1300K), producing a score of 2 (0.5 adjusted for weight).

Metrics

In order to determine the stake distribution between the validators in the pool, these are primarily scored based on their APY and stake concentration parameters. Score provided by Validators.app is taken into account as well.

We believe that using Smart Validator Toolkit on a validator node to improve its performance through analysis, monitoring, and alerting tools is good for the blockchain, and JPool provides an incentive to do so. SVT validators are incentivised with a small score bonus.

#	Metric	Min	Max	Weight
1	ASN concentration score	1	10	0.25
2	Data center concentration score	1	10	0.25
3	Country concentration score	1	10	0.25
4	City concentration score	1	10	0.25
5	Current APY score*	1	10	0.33
6	Avg APY score for 3 epochs*	1	10	0.33
7	Avg APY score for 10 epochs*	1	10	0.33
8	Validators.app score	1	11	1
9	SVT**	0	2	4
	Total, adjusted for weight	3	39	—

* Solana's Top 300 validators are used to determine reference points: highest APY among all validators is used as a high reference point, and 300th validator's APY provides the low reference point. This is done for current APY scores, for 3-epoch, and for 10-epoch scores. ** Validators running sv-manager receive 1 point; validators running SVT receive 2 points.

If you are already running a validator or plan to bootstrap one, take a look at SVT: it is free, it can improve your node’s performance while making your life easier—and it also makes it easier to help you, should you run into any issues with your setup.