<p>Difficulty progresses in epochs of 2016 blocks. The difficulty for a given epoch is <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/5840/5406">calculated</a> from the difficulty of the preceding epoch and the difference of the timestamps between the first and the last block of the preceding epoch. The rules governing difficulty are part of the consensus rules.</p>
<p>Following the consensus rules is <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/61759/how-exactly-bitcoin-consensus-rules-are-forced">sort of voluntary</a> but it's pointless not to. The network can only converge on a shared ground-truth by adhering to a set of shared rules. Generally, all nodes enforce those consensus rules. While you'd be free to create a block that doesn't adhere to the consensus rules, the block will be considered invalid by all other nodes.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-27T16:59:47.540Z
2020-12-27T18:01:15.690Z
2020-12-27T18:01:15.690Z
Murch
<p>Bitcoin has consensus rules, not consensus voluntary agreements.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-27T16:24:43.990Z
2020-12-27T16:24:43.990Z
Claris
<p>Is it through some sort of voluntary acceptance by miners or is it hardcoded into the bitcoin blockchain to not accept a block which doesn't achieve a given difficulty level?</p>

<difficulty><consensus>
How is difficulty enforced in the bitcoin blockchain?
Syed Fahad
# How is difficulty enforced in the bitcoin blockchain?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-27)

Is it through some sort of voluntary acceptance by miners or is it hardcoded into the bitcoin blockchain to not accept a block which doesn't achieve a given difficulty level?

**Tags:** difficulty, consensus


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-12-27. Score: 4

Difficulty progresses in epochs of 2016 blocks. The difficulty for a given epoch is [calculated](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/5840/5406) from the difficulty of the preceding epoch and the difference of the timestamps between the first and the last block of the preceding epoch. The rules governing difficulty are part of the consensus rules.

Following the consensus rules is [sort of voluntary](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/61759/how-exactly-bitcoin-consensus-rules-are-forced) but it's pointless not to. The network can only converge on a shared ground-truth by adhering to a set of shared rules. Generally, all nodes enforce those consensus rules. While you'd be free to create a block that doesn't adhere to the consensus rules, the block will be considered invalid by all other nodes.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-12-27. Score: 1

Bitcoin has consensus rules, not consensus voluntary agreements.


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