Mining Academy
PPS vs FPPS vs PPLNS: Mining Pool Payout Schemes Explained
PPS, FPPS and PPLNS are three ways a mining pool splits block rewards among its miners. With PPS and FPPS the pool pays a fixed amount for every accepted share, whether or not a block is found; with PPLNS the payout depends on the blocks the pool actually finds. The difference comes down to who carries the luck risk and how transaction fees in a block are treated.
Why a pool needs a payout scheme
Someone with a handful of ASICs has almost no chance of finding a Bitcoin block alone, and an all-or-nothing outcome is hard to plan around. Miners therefore join pools. Their devices submit shares: solutions that fall short of the network difficulty but prove that real work was done. The pool uses the number and difficulty of shares to measure each participant's contribution.
The payout scheme answers two questions. First, how much is paid for one share. Second, who absorbs the fact that blocks arrive faster or slower than average. The answers determine how stable your earnings are, what you effectively pay in fees and how transparent the calculation is. For a broader checklist see how to choose a mining pool.
PPS: a fixed payment per share
Pay Per Share is the simplest scheme for the miner. The pool calculates the expected value of one share in advance: the block reward multiplied by the ratio of the share difficulty to the network difficulty. Each accepted share earns that amount regardless of whether the pool found a block that hour.
The more hashrate you contribute, and the longer it runs, the more shares you submit and the more you earn. The pool takes on the variance: when it finds fewer blocks than expected it pays from reserves, and when it finds more it keeps the surplus. Operators usually price that insurance into a higher fee.
Classic PPS has one quirk: it accounts only for the base block subsidy. Transaction fees included in the block are not part of the share value and stay with the pool. When fees were low this was hardly noticeable; when the network is congested, the fee portion of a block becomes significant and PPS underpays the miner relative to what the block actually contained.
FPPS: PPS plus transaction fees
Full Pay Per Share extends PPS. A share is valued the same way, but the expected portion of transaction fees, averaged over a period, is added to the subsidy. The miner receives a share of both the subsidy and the fees, again without depending on the luck of individual blocks.
In practice, the payout per unit of hashrate is predictable and close to the theoretical fair value: you pay the pool a fee, and the pool does not keep the fee portion of the reward. Your income still fluctuates, but for honest reasons — the coin price, network difficulty and average fee levels change, not the pool's luck.
For Bitcoin it also matters that on-chain withdrawal fees are a separate cost. At RuPool the pool covers network fees for payouts, so they are not deducted from your balance.
PPLNS: only found blocks are shared
Pay Per Last N Shares works differently. The pool pays nothing immediately for a share. When a block is found, the reward is distributed among those who submitted shares in the last window of N shares, in proportion to their count. The window slides: old shares drop out and no longer count towards the current block.
Here the pool does not insure the miners. If blocks come slower than average, payouts fall; if faster, you earn more than expected. Over a long period the average tends toward the same theoretical value, but over short periods the spread is noticeable. Typical advantages of PPLNS are a lower pool fee and no risk for the operator. The downside for the miner is exposure to luck, and a slight tilt towards those who stay on the pool constantly, since hopping between pools leaves too few shares in the window.
Many PPLNS pools also credit rewards with a delay, because a block has to gain confirmations before it can be distributed.
Comparison
| Parameter | PPS | FPPS | PPLNS |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is paid for | Each accepted share | Each accepted share | Shares in the window when a block is found |
| Transaction fees in the block | Kept by the pool | Shared with miners | Shared with miners |
| Who carries luck risk | Pool | Pool | Miner |
| Predictability of earnings | High | High | Lower, depends on blocks found |
| Typical pool fee | Higher | Higher than PPLNS | Lower |
This table shows the general logic of each scheme. Actual fees and terms differ from pool to pool, so compare the net payout per unit of hashrate, not just the percentage in the headline.
Luck risk in plain terms
Finding a block is a probabilistic event. Think of waiting for a six on a die: on average it appears once in six throws, but sometimes you wait twenty throws and sometimes you get three sixes in a row. Blocks behave the same way: a pool with constant hashrate finds more blocks than average one day and fewer the next.
Under PPLNS that uncertainty passes straight into your balance: an unlucky day means lower earnings for the same electricity bill. Under PPS and FPPS the pool absorbs it, and you see steady accrual that depends on hashrate, price and difficulty. That is convenient when you need to budget for power, hosting and taxes. To see how those costs combine, read how to calculate ASIC payback.
Remember that predictability is not a guaranteed income. The payout scheme does not control the coin price, rising network difficulty or your electricity tariff, and those are what decide the result.
Why RuPool uses FPPS
RuPool uses FPPS for every coin it mines: Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin. The pool fee is 1%, and network fees for payouts are covered by the pool. For a miner this means three practical things.
- Earnings accrue for accepted shares, not for whether the pool got lucky. On the pool side, what you control is your hashrate and the stability of your connection.
- The transaction-fee part of the reward is included in the calculation rather than kept entirely by the pool.
- Payouts are automatic and daily: balances accumulated up to 03:00 Moscow time are sent between 05:00 and 12:00 Moscow time if your payout threshold is reached. You set the threshold yourself in your settings.
The Bitcoin page, BTC mining pool, lists stratum addresses and ports. To estimate what your hardware may earn with your own parameters, use the profit calculator; the result is an estimate, not a promise.
Choosing a scheme for your situation
- You need steady accrual and predictable budgeting. FPPS (or PPS, if transaction fees do not matter to you) fits best.
- You accept variance in exchange for a lower fee and stay on one pool permanently. PPLNS may be worth considering.
- You have a small hashrate. Variance can make PPLNS results look especially jagged over short intervals, so FPPS is usually more comfortable.
Whichever scheme you choose, compare the actual payout for your hashrate over a long enough period, and look at how transparently the pool shows its calculations. Practical factors such as the nearest stratum, latency, backup ports and support quality matter too: rejected shares and downtime reduce income under any scheme.
FAQ
How is FPPS better than PPS?
FPPS counts not only the base block subsidy but also averaged transaction fees. In PPS that portion stays with the pool, so when fees are high a miner on FPPS receives more for the same hashrate.
Is PPLNS always the most profitable?
Not necessarily. PPLNS fees are usually lower, but you take on the luck risk. Over a long period results are close to other schemes, while over short intervals they can be noticeably better or worse. Distribution delays should be considered as well.
Why does income under FPPS still change from day to day?
Because external factors change: coin price, network difficulty, average fees in blocks and your real hashrate. The payout scheme only removes the variance caused by the pool's luck.
Who pays network fees on withdrawal?
At RuPool the pool covers network fees for payouts and they are not deducted from your amount. For other pools, check their documentation.