<p>Difficulty is simply the ratio between the max target and the current target. It's easier to speak in terms of difficulty than in terms of the target.</p>

<p>The max target is defined as (2^16 - 1) * 2^208 or approximately 2^224. Since there are 2^256 different values a hash can take, a random hash has a chance of about 2^(-32) to be lower than the max target.</p>

<p>It follows that if the difficulty is D, the target is (2^224 / D) and it takes on average 2^32 * D hashes to find a block.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-06T16:30:31.580Z
Can you relate it to the number of zero's, please?
user153465
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-06T23:46:26.327Z
The number of zeroes required is 8 + log(D)/log(16). But that is only an approximation.
Meni Rosenfeld
CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-03-28T16:15:30.273Z
2018-07-24T11:41:50.530Z
2018-07-24T11:41:50.530Z
Meni Rosenfeld
<p>I've created this chart some time ago to help me visualize the shear magnitude of these numbers. This really helped me grasp the idea of highest target = lowest difficulty. It also provides a brief overview of how it works.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/IZOLX.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/IZOLX.jpg" alt="chart" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-17T19:40:13.757Z
2023-02-17T19:46:18.877Z
2023-02-17T19:46:18.877Z
suchislife
<p>Difficulty is basically a different representation of the target to make it easier for normal humans to understand it.</p>

<p>Difficulty represents how difficult the current target makes it to find a block, relative to how difficult it would be at the highest possible target (highest target=lowest difficulty).  The current difficulty of 6,695,826 means that at a given hash rate, it will, on average, take ~6.6 million times as long to find a valid block as it would at a difficulty of 1, or alternatively, it will take, again on average, ~6.6 million times as many hashes to find a valid block.</p>

<p>Difficulty is the largest possible target (0x00000000FFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000) divided by the current target (as of right now, 0x00000000000002816E0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-17T02:21:06.160Z
So the largest possible target is a lifetime constant of the blockchain, but the current target is variable and increases/decreases respectively to maintain a 10-minute block generation?
Olshansky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-04T09:22:33.673Z
@Olshansk Indeed.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-03-28T14:38:48.090Z
2013-03-28T14:44:40.570Z
2013-03-28T14:44:40.570Z
Compro01
<p>I don't understand what "difficulty" means and how it really relates to "target".</p>

<p>I understand what "target" is - it tells the miners, how small the resulting hash should be. (Basically, how many zeroes are there at the beginning, altough not exactly.)</p>

<p>But I don't understand what "difficulty" is, how it relates to the target and why it's important. I tried to read the article on wiki - <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Difficulty">https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Difficulty</a> - but I don't have a clue what is it trying to say either.</p>

<difficulty>
What is "difficulty" and how it relates to "target"?
Karel Bílek
# What is "difficulty" and how it relates to "target"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-03-28)

I don't understand what "difficulty" means and how it really relates to "target".

I understand what "target" is - it tells the miners, how small the resulting hash should be. (Basically, how many zeroes are there at the beginning, altough not exactly.)

But I don't understand what "difficulty" is, how it relates to the target and why it's important. I tried to read the article on wiki - <https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Difficulty> - but I don't have a clue what is it trying to say either.

**Tags:** difficulty


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-03-28. Score: 24 | Accepted answer

Difficulty is basically a different representation of the target to make it easier for normal humans to understand it.

Difficulty represents how difficult the current target makes it to find a block, relative to how difficult it would be at the highest possible target (highest target=lowest difficulty). The current difficulty of 6,695,826 means that at a given hash rate, it will, on average, take ~6.6 million times as long to find a valid block as it would at a difficulty of 1, or alternatively, it will take, again on average, ~6.6 million times as many hashes to find a valid block.

Difficulty is the largest possible target (0x00000000FFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000) divided by the current target (as of right now, 0x00000000000002816E0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: So the largest possible target is a lifetime constant of the blockchain, but the current target is variable and increases/decreases respectively to maintain a 10-minute block generation?  
> **username_6**: @Olshansk Indeed.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2013-03-28. Score: 16

Difficulty is simply the ratio between the max target and the current target. It's easier to speak in terms of difficulty than in terms of the target.

The max target is defined as (2^16 - 1) \* 2^208 or approximately 2^224. Since there are 2^256 different values a hash can take, a random hash has a chance of about 2^(-32) to be lower than the max target.

It follows that if the difficulty is D, the target is (2^224 / D) and it takes on average 2^32 \* D hashes to find a block.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Can you relate it to the number of zero's, please?  
> **username_1**: The number of zeroes required is 8 + log(D)/log(16). But that is only an approximation.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2023-02-17. Score: 1

I've created this chart some time ago to help me visualize the shear magnitude of these numbers. This really helped me grasp the idea of highest target = lowest difficulty. It also provides a brief overview of how it works.

[![chart](https://i.sstatic.net/IZOLX.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/IZOLX.jpg)


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