The Commons has slightly different mechanics to the Farm.

A farmer in the Commons is different from a farmer in the Farm. They can only plant credits using the command !commons amount, and cannot harvest, water, strengthen, weed, or perform other actions.

Blooms have a base chance of 1 in 4500 of occurring every second. When a Bloom occurs, all credits in the Commons grow by a certain percentage, known as the Commons Multiplier. The command !commons may be used to check the Commons Multiplier. The chance for a Bloom to occur can be increased, but not by farmers in the Commons. On average, one bloom occurs every 4500 seconds, or 90 minutes. In the regular Farm, farmers can water to decrease this average time between Blooms, known internally as the Growth Denominator. The command !commons or !farm may be used to check the Growth Denominator. The Commons Multiplier is determined by the number of Bloom Periods since the last Bloom. 1 Bloom Period is equivalent to the Growth Denominator in seconds. For every Bloom Period, the Multiplier smoothly increases by 15%. The command !commons may be used to check the Time Since Last Bloom and the Multiplier per Bloom Period.

When a Bloom occurs, all credits in the Commons are grown, then equally distributed to anyone who planted, regardless of the number of credits they planted. A farmer who planted 1000 credits and one who plants 1 credit receives the same number.

When the Bot Restarts, all credits in the Commons are destroyed. This is the only way for credits in the Commons to be lost without a Bloom. The Blight, which ordinarily affects the regular Farm, has no effect on the Commons.

Instability limits the maximum number of credits the Commons can grow by. This maximum number of credits is known as the Instability Threshold, and is equal to 4 times the increase in credits in the regular Farm. For example, if there were 100 000 credits in the Farm and a 5% Bloom occurred, the Commons can only grow by 20 000 credits. When the Commons would grow by more than the Instability Threshold, it instead divides the credits inside it by said Threshold before distributing them equally to all farmers inside it.

Instability was introduced in response to an event known as the Commons Incident. At the time, the Commons Multiplier was 30x the Farm's Growth Rate, and Instability did not exist. The incident involved the Commons distributing tens and hundreds of thousands of credits, multiple times. Overall, the economy grew from 7.1 million to 29.8 million credits, marking an over 4x increase. This incident also sparked a rollback of BowlBot, reverting all statistics to before the Commons Incident occurred.

There is one Invocation that can affect the Commons.

Fertilize is used to increase The Commons' Growth Multiplier. The command !fertilize consumes 3 Ephemera to increase the Multiplier per Expected Bloom by 5%. The effect of Fertilize is removed by Bot Restarts.

At its core, the Commons requires collaboration from different farmers to enable a profit for everyone. In theory, the fairest method of using the Commons is for all to plant the same number of credits. However, this method is rarely applicable, though many have tried to implement it.

The Commons Alliance is an offshoot server from TaylorBowl, founded when the Commons Multiplier was based on the Growth Rate, and Instability did not exist. Members of the server planted an equal number of credits to receive an equal number in return. One benefit they enjoyed is the large number of Commons users at the time. With more planting the same amount, the impact of those who planted less would be dampened, thus aiding all. EsteBot first started in this server and had commands that helped inform members of the amount to plant and the returns on their planting.

The term “Commons Thieves” was coined by members of The Commons Alliance, used to refer to those who deliberately planted small numbers of credits in the Commons to enjoy a much larger profit using credits others had planted. However, these were hard to track as the Commons does not disclose the planters, and even when found, no action could be taken against them as they did not break any rules.

Another general rule of thumb is to avoid planting in the Commons when a Bot Restart is imminent, or when it is around 1 Bloom Period away. Due to the random nature of Blooms, this may not always prevent a loss of credits, so it is up to the user to decide how far in advance they would like to stop planting. The command !farm may be used to check the approximate time to next Restart.

If a Bloom has not occurred for longer than expected, and the Instability Percentage is increasing to worrying levels, it may be worthwhile planting credits into the Farm. This will increase the Instability Threshold and reduce the likelihood of Instability dividing credits. However, this also risks losing those credits if a Blight occurs and users are not able to harvest their invested credits in time. Depending on how many credits were in the Commons and how many credits were additionally planted in the Farm, this may lead to reduced gains or even losses. Another use of planting in both the Farm and the Commons is when users intend to use Flourish. Since the Commons often has a higher growth multiplier than the Farm, if there are no other users in the Commons, users could plant into both and use Flourish almost immediately. This will lead to increased gains. It is important to be cautious of Instability and Commons Thieves while doing so.

The Instability Threshold is given by the formula: and the number of credits The Commons grows by is given by the formula: so the criteria for The Commons to grow regularly is given by: However, it is important to note that due to the Growth Rate and Commons Multiplier constantly changing, the possible planting or harvesting of credits from The Farm, and the possible planting of credits into The Commons, any calculations will likely be inaccurate unless a Bloom occurs very shortly after doing them. Users are advised to be cautious and play it safer when planting in The Commons.

1   Instability Threshold:

Term	Definition
Bloom Period	A period of time equal to the Growth Denominator.
Commons Thief	(Informal) A user who knowingly and deliberately plants a small number of credits into The Commons while others have planted significantly more.
Growth Rate	The percentage by which all credits in the Farm grow by when a Bloom occurs.