Network difficulty vs share difficulty

Network difficulty comes from consensus rules: the target a block hash must beat for the block to be valid. Nobody at a pool can change it — it adjusts with the retarget algorithm (every 2,016 blocks on Bitcoin; continuously on many small chains).

Share difficulty is set by your pool: a much easier target so your miner finds qualifying solutions every few seconds instead of once per decade. The pool counts accepted shares to measure your contribution. A worker with more hashrate gets a higher share difficulty — fewer, heavier proofs — via variable difficulty (vardiff).

Say vardiff raises your share difficulty from 1,000 to 2,000. For the same physical hashing, your dashboard shows roughly half as many shares — each now worth double. Nothing was lost; the accounting unit changed. Conversely, a 'share rate up!' after a difficulty drop is not free money either.

Because at network difficulty a small miner would submit a valid proof once every few years — useless for accounting or payout schedules. Share difficulty is the sampling rate: high enough to keep the log quiet, low enough that measurement is smooth. Expect your pool to tune it automatically; manual overrides are for diagnostics only.

Project pages show each network's live difficulty context next to hashrate — and the pool cards show real endpoints where you can watch vardiff at work in your own miner log.