X-Coin (XCO) SHA256 Mining Pool Setup — Stratum Behavior and Operator Controls
XCO pools often look fine until the first burst of miners arrives. The goal here is predictable Stratum behavior: steady share rates, sensible ban policies, and a node/wallet layer that stays safe even when traffic is messy.
XCO pool: stratum behavior that miners notice immediately
An XCO pool is a pipeline: Stratum accepts miner submissions, the backend validates shares against current difficulty, and the node layer builds and submits blocks. Where operators get burned is not “setup,” but edge-case traffic—rapid reconnects, proxies, and rental hashpower that behaves differently from steady farm miners.
- Traffic profile: decide whether you will accept public internet traffic, invite-only miners, or marketplace hashpower—and set limits accordingly.
- Share cadence: use varDiff (variable difficulty) to keep a predictable share rate per connection so CPU and bandwidth stay stable.
- Abuse controls: set ban thresholds and rate limits that block obvious abuse without banning legitimate miners on flaky links.
- Payout defensibility: keep payout calculations and block status tracking auditable so you can resolve “missing shares” claims quickly.
XCO build options: when Yiimp is enough and when it isn’t
For XCO, pick the stack that matches your expected miner mix. Some operators need the fastest route to a working portal; others need deep control over APIs, authentication, or multi-gateway Stratum routing.
- Yiimp-based: a practical default for many pools; use the Yiimp setup guide as your baseline and then tune XCO-specific Stratum policies.
- Miningcore: better when you want an API-first interface and clean service boundaries; see the Miningcore setup guide for that path.
- Custom stack: appropriate for multi-region Stratum frontends, unusual authentication requirements, or custom share acceptance logic.
If you plan to accept rented hashpower, publish separate ports with stricter limits and more aggressive vardiff ramping. Mixing rentals and long-lived farm miners on one port is a common source of disconnect storms.
XCO pool components we assemble and test
- XCO node + wallet: daemon build/install, RPC hardening, wallet strategy, and monitoring for sync drift and block submission errors.
- Share processing DB: retention planning, indexing for dashboards, and restore drills so accounting survives a host loss.
- Stratum policy: port tiers, vardiff targets, connection caps, and miner compatibility tests (including proxy scenarios).
- Payout workflow: confirmation policy, batching rules, fee strategy, and safeguards. Use the payout-model comparison to choose between SOLO/PPLNS/PROP behavior.
- Portal and support pages: XCO landing page, miner dashboard, status/uptime page, and a short reject-reason glossary.
- Security posture: network segmentation, secrets rotation, and guidance from the hardening and reliability page.
If you need multiple Stratum gateways (for latency or DDoS control), we document routing rules so miners always land on the right backend and share accounting remains consistent.
XCO worker strings, ports, and onboarding notes
For XCO onboarding, show the smallest set of working endpoints and keep the username convention consistent (payout address plus optional worker name). If you offer multiple port tiers, explain what each tier is for and who should use it.
stratum+tcp://POOL-DOMAIN:3333
stratum+ssl://POOL-DOMAIN:3443We typically publish a short “rental hashpower” note for XCO so marketplace clients connect with correct difficulty expectations and fewer rejected shares.
XCO tuning priorities for volatile hashrate
- VarDiff ramp profile: decide how quickly difficulty increases when a miner spikes hashrate, and validate that the pool doesn’t oscillate difficulty every few seconds.
- Connection flood protection: ensure your gateway can survive reconnect storms (rate limits, per-IP caps, and sensible timeouts).
- Reject analysis workflow: log and summarize rejects by reason (stale/low-diff/unauthorized) so you can tune settings using data instead of anecdotes.
XCO readiness checklist for first public miners
- XCO daemon is synced and submitting templates cleanly; block submission errors are visible in logs and alerts.
- RPC is locked to private interfaces and uses least-privilege credentials for pool tasks.
- At least two Stratum port tiers exist (steady miners vs bursty/rental clients) with documented limits.
- Vardiff behavior is validated using a miner that changes hashrate quickly, plus a proxy-style client.
- Payouts are tested with a small batch and reconciled against share totals and wallet outputs.
- Database backups are verified by restoring to a staging host and re-generating a dashboard view.
- Support docs are ready: endpoints, worker format, reject reasons, and maintenance/status updates.
XCO pool setup FAQ (troubleshooting included)
How do you set vardiff for XCO when hashrate swings quickly?
We tune vardiff targets around a steady share cadence and then test with miners that ramp up and down. The goal is stable share flow without forcing miners to reconnect or flooding the server with tiny shares.
What is the fastest way to troubleshoot “low difficulty share” rejects on XCO?
Start with the Stratum logs for reject reason codes, confirm the port’s minimum difficulty policy, and verify that the miner is pointed at the intended port tier. Many cases are simply “wrong port for this hashrate.”
Do you support mining proxies for XCO farms?
Yes. We test against at least one proxy-style setup and document any header or extranonce quirks so farms don’t see unexplained rejects.
Can you segregate XCO ports by miner class or client type?
Yes. Publishing separate ports for farms, small miners, and rental hashpower is one of the most effective ways to keep the pool stable under mixed traffic.
How do you verify XCO blocks are actually being submitted?
We monitor getblocktemplate/submitblock activity, record block candidate IDs, and cross-check accepted blocks against node logs and the chain view so “found blocks” in the UI reflect real submissions.
If you want an XCO pool designed around traffic control and clear runbooks, get in touch.