01Three programs, one machine
Mining Zecnero takes three programs running side by side on your computer, and they only talk to each other over loopback:
- zecnerod, the node, follows the chain and builds a block template: the transactions to include, the coinbase that pays you, and the target to beat.
- zecnero-bridge translates. The node speaks a Bitcoin-style template protocol; the miner expects Monero-style jobs. The bridge hands out jobs and passes solved blocks back to the node.
- xmrig-zecnero does the hashing, algorithm
rx/zecnero, on every CPU thread you give it.
This is solo mining: when your machine finds a block, the whole reward is yours. There is no pool yet, so solo against your own node is the only way to mine today. The bridge trusts the miner’s shares without recomputing them, so it must stay on loopback; never expose it to a network.
This page explains how it works. The copy-paste commands, the downloads and the checksums are in the step-by-step mining guide.
02What RandomX asks of your CPU
RandomX runs randomly generated programs whose instruction mix and memory use are modelled on ordinary processors, so the hardware that runs it best looks like the desktop you already own. A GPU adds little. Zecnero uses RandomX’s audited version 1 settings with its own salt, which gives it a hash function of its own: Monero hardware and hashrate cannot be pointed at it unchanged.
| What | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| About 2,080 MiB of RAM to mine | The miner builds a dataset of that size in fast mode. The mining guide asks for 2.5 GB free, plus the node. |
| A new key every 2,048 blocks | About every 42.7 hours the RandomX key changes and the miner rebuilds its dataset. Expect a short pause. |
| 256 MiB to verify | The node checks blocks in light mode, a few milliseconds per hash. |
| x86-64, Linux or WSL2 | The released binaries are Linux x86-64. On Windows they run inside WSL2. |
03How often you find a block
A block is due every 75 seconds on average. Difficulty starts at a level where one block takes about 220 hashes, which the specification sizes to a desktop processor at around 14,000 hashes a second. From there the aserti3-2d algorithm moves it: every two hours the chain falls behind schedule the target doubles, every two hours ahead it halves.
Which miner finds each block is chance. Over time your share of blocks tends to your share of the network’s total hashrate, and nothing more; nothing about the design makes mining profitable. On testnet that is beside the point: the coins have no value, and every block you mine helps prove the rules hold.
04Getting more hashes
- Huge pages and the MSR tweak. RandomX runs noticeably faster with both, and XMRig applies them on native Linux when it can. WSL2 cannot, so it hashes slower than native Windows would; fine for the testnet, but not a reference number.
- Threads. By default the miner uses all your cores.
--threads=<n>leaves some free for the node and for you. - Laptops work, but heat up and throttle. Fewer threads and mains power help.
- Antivirus. Windows Defender flags every XMRig build, ours included, as a potentially unwanted application. Verify the signed checksums first, then allow the one file or folder; never turn the scanner off.
05Where the reward goes
| Per block, first halving | ZMR |
|---|---|
| Block subsidy | 6.25 |
| Founder stream, 3% | 0.1875 |
| Your share of the subsidy | 6.0625, plus every fee in the block |
The payout goes to the miner_address in the node’s configuration. The -u you pass the miner is ignored. The founder stream is enforced by every node: a block without it is rejected, yours included.
Mined coins can be spent 100 blocks later. On Mainnet they must also be shielded first, moved into a Sapling address, before they can go anywhere else. The wallet applies that rule on testnet too, so import the key your coins were mined to, shield, then send.
06Start mining
The mining guide walks through it in nine steps: WSL2 on Windows, the downloads, checking the signature and the checksums, making an address, the node configuration with the testnet seeds, the bridge and the miner, and the Defender warning.
Open the mining guide →Stuck? Open an issue on GitLab with your log output and whether you run WSL2 or native Linux.