> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rivalryze.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rivalryze.com/contests/auto-start-rules.md).

# Auto-Start Rules

When you create a Contest, the **Battle Duration** card decides when it starts and ends. There are two options:

* **Start / End Date**: the Contest runs between two dates you pick.
* **Minimum Participants**: the Contest waits in a lobby until enough players join, then runs for a set duration.

[Guild Versus Guild](/contests/guild-vs-guild.md) Contests always use **Start / End Date**.

## Start / End Date

Pick the start and end with the date picker (**Manual Start and End Date**). The form suggests a start 30 minutes from now and an end one week later. The start must be in the future.

When the start date arrives:

* If at least one player has joined, the Contest starts.
* If nobody has joined but late joining is on, the Contest still starts, and players can join while it runs.
* If nobody has joined and late joining is off, the Contest is cancelled and the host's Prize Boost is refunded.

The Contest then runs until its end date.

## Minimum Participants

Choose **Minimum Participants + Duration** ("Battle will start once a certain number of Rivalz join"). Set:

* **The minimum number of players** (1 or more).
* **The duration**: **One Day**, **One Week** or **One Month**.

The Contest starts the moment the minimum-th player joins and ends exactly one day, week or month later.

**Example:** minimum 4 players, **One Week**. Three players join on Monday. A fourth joins on Wednesday at 6pm: the Contest starts right then and ends the following Wednesday at 6pm.

{% hint style="warning" %}
A lobby has no deadline. If it never reaches its minimum, it keeps waiting until the host cancels it from the **Admin Controls** tab. Cancelling refunds every entry fee, the Prize Boost and all donations.
{% endhint %}

## Joining after the start

The **Allow Users to Join after Start Date** switch is on by default. While it's on, players can join a running Contest, but "their stats will only be counted from the time they join." Turn it off to close entries once the Contest starts.

The host can flip this setting at any time until the Contest ends.

## When the Contest ends

1. **The end date passes.** Nothing earned after the end date counts.
2. **Final review.** For a few hours, RivalRyze keeps refreshing every participant's stats, so progress made before the deadline but synced late still counts. The Contest shows as **Reviewing** (**Reviewing final stats** on Discord).
3. **Results.** The final standings lock and the prize pool is split by the host's prize distribution. Winners claim their gems on the **Rewards** page (see [Entry Fees, Prize Pools & Donations](/contests/entry-fees-and-prizes.md#getting-your-prize)).

If nobody qualifies to win (for example nobody scored a single point), the Contest ends with no winner and no prizes are paid.

Every Battle runs until its end date, including the "first to" Hunter modes: see [Objective Modes](/contests/objective-modes.md) for how each mode ranks players.

## What players see

* **Before the start**, the Contest shows as **Registration**, with a countdown to the start date. A lobby shows its progress instead (**To Start**, for example 3/4 joined).
* **While it runs**, the Contest shows as **Live**, with a countdown to the end.
* **When it starts**, the host and every participant get a notification. This is a good moment to check your gaming accounts are synced.
* **If it's cancelled**, everyone who paid in is refunded automatically. The host gets a notification, and the Contest's Discord thread says it was cancelled.

## What the host can change

From the **Admin Controls** tab on the Contest page:

| Setting                           | Before the start                           | After the start                        |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------- |
| Start date                        | Yes (not for Minimum Participants lobbies) | No                                     |
| End date                          | Yes (not for Minimum Participants lobbies) | Yes, as long as it stays in the future |
| Allow joining after the start     | Yes                                        | Yes                                    |
| Minimum participants and duration | No                                         | No                                     |
| Cancel the Contest                | Yes                                        | No                                     |

A new start or end date must be at least one minute in the future, and the end must come after the start. Moving the end date can't remove progress already counted, because the end can never move into the past.

See [Hosting Your Own Contest](/contests/hosting-a-contest.md) for everything else a host can edit.

## Related

* [Joining a Contest](/contests/joining-a-contest.md)
* [Hosting Your Own Contest](/contests/hosting-a-contest.md)
* [Entry Fees, Prize Pools & Donations](/contests/entry-fees-and-prizes.md)