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Declare and apply seeding

Seeding records the intended strength order of an event’s entries before a playoff draw is generated. Values are declared on Tournament → Entries; the actual bracket resolves those declarations later when Generate Bracket runs on Draws.

Before you start

Understand declared and resolved seeds

Two values describe an entry’s position in the strength order:

  • The declared seed belongs to the event entry. It is shared wherever that entry is used within the event and remains attached to the entry itself.
  • The resolved seed is the concrete numeric position assigned in one specific playoff draw when Generate Bracket runs. It belongs to the draw assignment rather than to the entry.

A declared seed is not a final place. Group declarations, described below, resolve to different concrete numbers in each draw.

Choose a seed mode

Open Tournament → Entries and select an event with entries. Choose one Seed mode for the active event:

  • Exact assigns one declared position, such as 1, 2, 3, or a later available number.
  • Group assigns a protected range: 1/2, 3/4, 5/8, 9/16, 17/32, and larger ranges when the entry count supports them.
  • No seed leaves the entry unseeded.

The selected mode is a screen setting rather than a saved event setting. It starts at Exact when the page opens and remains selected while you switch between event tabs. Values from the other mode appear as No seed while it is hidden. Do not switch modes merely to inspect hidden values: switching immediately clears every declared seed in the active event without confirmation.

Declare exact seeds

With Exact selected, assign a numeric position to each entry that should hold a fixed slot.

  • One exact position can belong to only one entry. The screen disables duplicate exact positions.
  • An exact position cannot occupy a slot needed by an already populated group range.
  • Positions do not have to be consecutive. Gaps are allowed if the resulting draw resolution can fill them.

Declare seed groups

With Group selected, assign the intended protected range instead of an exact number.

  • Valid protected ranges are 1/2, 3/4, 5/8, 9/16, 17/32, and further ranges produced by doubling the upper boundary and starting the next range one above the previous boundary.
  • Several entries can share a group range up to that range’s available capacity.
  • Each grouped entry receives a different randomly selected concrete position inside its range at draw resolution.

A 3/4 declaration says the entry is protected inside places 3 and 4. The playoff draw picks 3 or 4 randomly at bracket generation. It does not promise which side of the bracket takes the winner.

Change seed mode carefully

Changing Exact to Group, or Group to Exact, immediately clears every declared seed in the active event. The values are not converted, and there is no confirmation. Finish declarations in one mode before switching.

Seed several events by rating

Use Seed by rating above the seed table to fill exact seeds from the player-rating totals produced by the Rating screen. The action covers every event that contains at least one entry.

  1. Configure the rating window under Rating → Settings so that a range is available. The heading shows the active category, from, and to dates when a rating is ready.
  2. Under Seed by rating, choose the scope. Fill empty seeds only assigns rating-based seeds to entries that currently have No seed and leaves declared values in place. Overwrite all seeds replaces every declared seed. Overwriting shows a confirmation such as Existing seeds in 3 event(s) will be replaced. Continue? before saving.
  3. Select Apply seed by rating.

The app looks up each entry’s rating for the event’s category using the current window, orders eligible entries by rating from highest to lowest, and assigns exact seeds 1, 2, 3, and so on. Entries without a rating in that category remain unseeded. Only exact seeds are assigned — ranges are not used. A confirmation such as Seeded N teams reports the result.

If the rating window is not configured, the app shows Rating window is not configured. Configure it in Rating settings. and no seeds are changed.

Seed by rating cannot change seeds after matches exist. As soon as any match exists in an event, that event is skipped and the rest of the operation reports EVENT_HAS_MATCHES. Remove the affected matches before rerunning.

Understand how seeds resolve on the draw

When Generate Bracket runs on Draws → Matches, the app resolves declared seeds into concrete positions:

  • An entry with an exact declared seed keeps that number as its resolved position.
  • Entries in a seed group receive random positions inside the declared range.
  • Entries without a declared seed receive the remaining positions randomly.

The bracket size is the next power of two at or above the actual entry count. Declared values must fit the derived bracket: an exact seed cannot be greater than the entry count, and the upper end of a group range cannot exceed the derived bracket size. Correct the declarations or add the required entries before running Generate Bracket again.

For groups distributed by Auto Distribute on Draws → Lineups, the algorithm uses declared seed values as a balancing hint. Exact seeds are processed from the lowest number upward, and group ranges are represented by the lower number of the declared range. Entries without a declared seed are shuffled into the remaining balanced spaces. See Build draws, groups, and playoff brackets for the full round-robin distribution behavior.

Fix common problems

A seed change fails

The event already has at least one generated match. Remove or reset the later match data using the appropriate draw workflow before changing declared seeding.

Seed by rating is unavailable

The rating window is not configured, or every eligible event already has matches. Configure the window under Rating → Settings and remove any generated matches on the affected events, then retry.

A grouped entry received an unexpected number

Group declarations resolve randomly within the range. Use Exact if a specific number is required.

Switching seed mode cleared the values

That is the intended behavior. Values from the other mode do not survive the switch. Finish all declarations in one mode before switching, or work with Exact declarations that stay comparable.

Before you continue

  • Confirm each event’s seeding matches the intended strength order before generating any matches. Once a match exists in the event, declared seed changes and mode switches are rejected.
  • After Seed by rating, review the resulting exact seeds. Entries without a rating remain unseeded.
  • Compare the resolved bracket seeds with the declared values after Generate Bracket. A group declaration resolves to different concrete numbers than the declared range boundaries suggest.