Hello everyone,

To maintain the integrity and accuracy of LeetCode Contest Rating and Global Ranking, we are introducing updates to the contest rating rules.

I. Applicability

• New Users: Users who have not participated in any LeetCode Weekly or Biweekly Contests.
• Experienced Contest Users: Users with a contest rating history. For these users, the Contest Rating Algorithm and contest achievements displayed on your profile will remain unchanged.

II. Rating Phases for New Users

A new user's contest journey will now be divided into two phases:

Phase 1: First 5 Contests (≤ 5 contests)

1. Independent Scoring: The standard rating algorithm will not be applied. Instead, each contest rating will be determined solely based on the user's ranking percentile in that contest. See the table below for details.

   Ranking Percentile	Contest Rating per Contest
   Top 5%	70
   Top 10%	50
   Top 15%	30
   Top 30%	10
   Top 50%	-10
   Bottom 50%	-20

2. Unranked: Since ratings in this phase are calculated independently, they are not included in the global ranking. Global ranking and the rating distribution will not be displayed on your profile.

Phase 2: From the 6th Contest Onward (> 5 contests)

1. Initial Rating: The initial rating starts at 1,500 and is combined with the total points earned during Phase 1 (the first 5 contests). This combined value becomes the user's base contest rating.
2. Rating Algorithm: Starting from the 6th contest, the rating calculated using the Contest Rating Algorithm.
3. Achievements on Profile: Your contest rating, global ranking, rating history, and rank distribution will be displayed on your profile.

Rule Effective Time: Apr 27, 2026, 0:00 PT

Thank you for your continued support of the LeetCode Contest. Good luck in your upcoming contests — may you AK every contest!
If you have any questions or need support, feel free to contact us.

Best,
LeetCode Team