HOW IT WORKS
One number a night that nobody can steer, us included, and that anyone can check. Here is who does what, the exact recipe, and why it holds.
At midnight ET each unit seals its day: a SHA-256 fingerprint of the day's record, locked in the archive where nobody, us included, can change it.
The League of Entropy's quicknet: many independent members together publish a new signed random value every 3 seconds. Nobody can know a round before it comes out.
On each unit, a small service waits for both seals, takes the first drand round 30 seconds after the later one, hashes the seven lines and publishes. A night counts only when both units agree.
ONE NIGHT, START TO FINISH
THE RECIPE · APEX-BEACON-V1
- 01WAIT UNTIL BOTH UNITS HAVE SEALED THE DAY. NO NUMBER UNTIL BOTH HAVE.
- 02TAKE THE LATER OF THE TWO SEAL TIMES, AS THE ARCHIVE RECORDED THEM, AND ADD 30 SECONDS.
- 03USE THE FIRST DRAND QUICKNET ROUND AT OR AFTER THAT MOMENT.
- 04WRITE SEVEN LINES: THE RECIPE'S NAME, THE DAY, BOTH FINGERPRINTS, THE DRAND NETWORK, THE ROUND AND ITS RANDOMNESS.
- 05THE SHA-256 OF THOSE LINES IS THE NIGHT'S NUMBER.
APEX-BEACON-V1 day <YYYY-MM-DD> apex1 <APEX1's fingerprint> apex2 <APEX2's fingerprint> drand quicknet <chain hash> round <R> randomness <round R's randomness>
EACH LINE ENDS WITH A NEWLINE. THE CHAIN HASH IS 52DB9BA70E0CC0F6EAF7803DD07447A1F5477735FD3F661792BA94600C84E971.
THIS RECIPE WAS FIXED ON NOV 8, 2026, BEFORE THE FIRST NIGHT IT WAS USED. A CHANGE WOULD GET A NEW NAME AND A START DATE, AND EARLIER NIGHTS KEEP THEIR RECIPE.
WHY NOBODY CAN STEER IT
Both fingerprints are locked in the archive before the drand round exists, and that round takes many independent members of the League of Entropy to produce. Choosing when to seal only chooses between rounds nobody has seen yet.
So we can't pick a number we like, and neither can anyone else. Each unit also works the number out on its own: a night only shows when both agree, and a night where they don't is put on hold with both numbers shown.
ABOUT DRAND AND THE LEAGUE OF ENTROPY ›HOW THE SEAL WORKS ›WHAT IT'S FOR
- CHOICES THAT HAVE TO BE FAIR AND CHECKABLE AFTERWARD: A RANDOM SAMPLE, WHICH RECORDS GET AUDITED, A FAIR SPLIT INTO GROUPS
- A SEED FOR RESEARCH OR A SIMULATION, NAMED BEFORE THE NIGHT
- PROOF A PHOTO OR FILE WAS MADE AFTER A NIGHT: SHOW THAT NIGHT'S NUMBER IN IT
- PASSWORDS, KEYS OR ANYTHING SECRET: THE NUMBER IS PUBLIC
- RAFFLES, PRIZES OR BETS: THOSE COME WITH THEIR OWN RULES, HOWEVER FAIR THE NUMBER
- ANYTHING THAT NEEDS AN ANSWER BEFORE THE NIGHT'S SEALS
PROVE SOMETHING WAS MADE AFTER A NIGHT
Show that night's number in it. Nobody could know the number before that night, so whatever shows it can't be older. The first 8 characters are plenty: a guess would be right about once in four billion tries.
PICK SOMETHING FAIRLY
Say in advance which night's number you will use and exactly how you will turn it into a choice. Then nobody, you included, can pick after seeing it.
AND THE DICE · APEX-BEACON-DICE-V1
Every 80 seconds, a fresh drand round is hashed with last night's Midnight Beacon and the roll's place in the day. The first two characters from 1 to 6 are the dice. For fun, not for stakes.