A protocol parameter, written f, that sets the average fraction of slots in which a stake-pool wins the leader election and is allowed to produce a block. Cardano mainnet currently runs with f = 0.05, which combined with one-second slots works out to about one block every 20 seconds on average.
Tuning f is a trade-off: a higher value gives more blocks per minute but increases the chance of short forks when two pools happen to win the same slot; a lower value reduces fork risk but slows block production.
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- SlotEach slot represents an opportunity for a block to be produced by an elected slot leader.View term
- BlockA unit of data containing a batch of transactions that is added to the blockchain.View term
- OuroborosThe family of proof-of-stake consensus protocols that power Cardano, designed with formal security proofs against the known attack catalogue against PoS chains.View term
- k parameterThe protocol parameter that sets the target number of saturated stake pools for healthy decentralization.View term