COMPETITION RULES
To avoid camping, there is a penalty system (decay system) for the top 15 players on the leaderboard who have played at least 5 sets this season.
Every 3 days without a set costs Elo, starting at −10 and doubling each time you miss another three: −10, −20, −40, −80, and so on, up to −320 for a single hit. Playing a set resets the ramp to −10. Falling out of the top 15 pauses the hits; the intervals you missed still land as catch-up if you come back.
Days are counted as whole UTC dates and the day you played never counts: a decay step lands only after 3 full days without a set. Playing at any time on the 3rd day resets the clock — you are never decayed for a stretch a set interrupted. Hits are applied by an automated daily pass shortly after 10:00 UTC.
These numbers can change. What is on this page is what is running.
- The Elo penalty magnitude is capped at -320 total, no matter how many intervals stack.
- Catch-up decay is capped at 30 missed intervals, so a returning player can never be hit for more than 30 intervals at once.
- Decay only applies within the current season; penalties do not carry across season boundaries.
- Only players with at least 5 sets logged this season are eligible for decay. A high-Elo drop-in with fewer sets is never on the hook.
Show Directors are not permitted to tamper with the games of the players (e.g. continuing to close zones on a specific player).
- Manhunt
- Lava Floor
- Gravity Storm
- Expose
- Nuke
- Heal (both 150 and 300 variants)
- Warm Up
- Speed Up
- Electromania (Darwinium-Mania)
- Electronics (Darwinium Shipment)
- Beach Party!
- Blood Moon (must not be activated in sudden death)
- Close Zones
- Give Wood (must be given only as a first blood reward)
- Give Darwinium
- Crowd Favorite
- Telepathy
- Open Zone
Show Directors are responsible for capturing screenshots of each game played. Failure to follow these rules will result in a loss of Elo or revoked privileges to direct in scrims/tournaments.
You are required to play sets to completion; failure to do so will result in penalties.
Any evidence of teaming or bug abusing will be penalized by a loss of Elo and a scrim ban, if deemed guilty by admins. Admins require evidence such as screenshots or video recordings. Word of mouth is not evidence.
All forms of smurfing are bannable.
Any use of scripts or additional inputs that allow players to have an undue advantage that is not in the base game of Darwin Project is banned. The PC BIND of jump to scroll wheel is banned.
Players are required to equip both armors and cloaks, to allow for further information when in fights.
- Banned items (until further notice): Hooks (Reasoning: Bugged)
- Banned items (until further notice): Shrink (Reasoning: Maintaining competitive balance)
The DPL is rated with Glicko-1. The full explainer is on the DPL page. What you see on the ladder is the conservative displayed rating (rating minus 1.5 × uncertainty).
Every player starts each season at a displayed 775 Elo; ratings do not carry across seasons.
You will gain/lose Elo based on your positioning in total score, taking into consideration the Elo of the lobby.
This is not a top 5 gain/bottom 5 lose system. Players that have significantly higher Elo are expected to play better; it also allows for worse players to gain marginal points for slowly improving.
Your first 5 sets are considered placement sets: your rating is marked provisional and will swing heavily until more sets are played.
| 1st | 100 | 6th | 25 |
| 2nd | 80 | 7th | 20 |
| 3rd | 60 | 8th | 15 |
| 4th | 40 | 9th | 10 |
| 5th | 30 | 10th | 5 |
Each kill is worth 15 points.
Damage Overflow: Every 600 damage without a kill gives 10 points (per game basis, not set). Examples: 600 damage + 0 kills = 10 points; 600 damage + 1 kill = 15 points.
Tiebreaker order: Total Damage > Avg. Placement > Total Kills > Coin Flip
A minimum of 8 players are needed to start a set. Maximum 10 unique players per set.
Someone can join late if fewer than 10 players have played; joining late counts unplayed games as 10th place.
Sets may continue if you lose members down to a minimum of 7 players; further reduction scraps the set (remaining players lose no Elo). If a set is scrapped, all players who left incur penalties including significant Elo deduction and temporary/permanent scrim bans.
Games without a Show Director use the A.I. director.
Server Region Distribution: Most series are played in 3-game increments; 4 games allowed for an even region split. A minority region needs at least 3 players to receive a game. Continual leaving due to unfavorable server regions will result in penalties. If a set has the required number of players during match 1, the 3rd game will be played on the minority server even if a player leaves.
Disconnects result in the game restarting only if first blood has not occurred or less than 5 minutes have passed in game.
Seasons run about four weeks; the exact close is announced on Discord.
All decisions not covered by this ruleset are at the sole discretion of admins, which will then result in rule changes going forward.