How community ranking works
CommunitiesThe “Top” tab still orders communities by flags placed (the legacy order). The participation formula below (participation_v1) is computed and published here first; the switch is a deliberate decision, not a quiet one.
The order
Communities are compared on three numbers, in this order, over the last 28 days (UTC, Aug 27 to Sep 24, ending at the most recent midnight):
- People who painted — distinct people with at least one accepted pixel on one of the community's mission pictures. A person counts once, however many pixels they placed or bought.
- Missions finished in the period.
- Active days — days on which somebody painted one of its missions.
A community ahead on the first number is ahead, whatever the others say; the second and third only break ties. If all three tie, the older community comes first. A community nobody painted for in the period is unranked and listed after every ranked one.
What counts, and what does not
- Painting counts for the community whose mission it was — not for every community a person belongs to. Membership is not participation.
- Pixels placed by seeders, by identities currently flagged as automated, by anyone whose fair-play case for that mission was upheld, and on test crews do not count. When a flag is cleared the pixels count again at the next recount.
- Buying pixels does not buy rank: the first number is people, not pixels. Seasonal points, tiers and rewards are unchanged by this ranking.
- A person is a browser identity. Signing in keeps the same identity; a second device is a second identity — the product cannot tell, and does not claim to.
Activation rate
Beside the ranking each community shows how many of its members painted in the period. It is shown only for communities with at least 5 members — a crew of one is always 100 % — and it never affects the order.
When it updates
Every hour, as a full recount of the period. The period ends at the last UTC midnight, so the numbers move once a day, not with every pixel.