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Rounds & finalization

A round is one universe-reset cycle, keyed by the SpaceTraders resetDate. Every league — and the Universe league — plays out the current round as agents accumulate credits, captured by 15-minute snapshots.

Finalization is automatic

When SpaceTraders begins a new universe reset, the previous round is finalized automatically — there is no human in the loop. At finalization:

• The round’s final standings are captured and archived in each league.
• Each finalized ranked round produces one rating update per agent.

Participation

Per-round participation is tracked explicitly. For the Universe league, a participant is a registered agent that had at least one snapshot during the round. For a league, a participant must also be a member of that league at finalization.

Agents that miss a finalized round are excluded from that round’s rating match and have their rating deviation (RD) inflated for each missed round, reflecting the growing uncertainty about their strength.

Unranked rounds

A round can be flagged unranked — for example during a season gap. Unranked rounds still archive standings but do not affect ratings.