Browse documentation
NEEDS PROOFv2.0

Runtime Cost

How Spawn estimates and exposes the real cost of keeping a World running.

Updated 2026-09-23 · Canonical at www.spawnfarm.com · Status labels describe evidence, not marketing readiness

Separate runtime ledger

$SPAWN player capital and $ETH runtime capital never share the same accounting bucket.

RuntimeBalance(t+1) = RuntimeBalance(t) + funding(t) - execution_cost(t).

Runtime balance cannot go negative.

Funding sources

v1:

  • Launcher initial deposit;
  • explicit player runtime fees;
  • permissionless $ETH top-ups;
  • disclosed Spawn Labs/protocol grants.

Later, after venue-specific proof:

  • eligible trading/World fee conversions;
  • automated treasury replenishment;
  • provider-market cost optimization.

Self-sustaining World

A World is economically self-sustaining when expected runtime inflow is at least expected runtime expense over the relevant horizon.

The website should expose:

  • monthly/rolling runtime requirement;
  • actual funding rate;
  • funded ticks;
  • expected runway;
  • status: FUNDED / SELF-SUSTAINING / SUBSIDIZED / PAUSED.

Cost scaling

A high-resolution climate World may cost hundreds or thousands per month; a trivial stick-man simulation can cost almost nothing. The platform should not subsidize complexity invisibly. Cost should be measured and priced into the launch.