What Does Hacker News Karma Unlock? The Thresholds the FAQ Leaves Out

What is Hacker News karma?

The number next to your username on Hacker News is your Hacker News karma, which HN's own FAQ defines as "Roughly, the number of upvotes on their posts minus the number of downvotes." The FAQ adds the caveat that makes it approximate: "These don't match up exactly. Some votes are dropped by anti-abuse software."

Karma is a running total across every story and comment you post. HN documents no reset or expiry, and karma does not buy ranking. The FAQ answers the question "Do posts by users with more karma rank higher?" with a single word: "No."

How is Hacker News karma calculated?

Each upvote on something you posted adds one point and each downvote takes one away, with exceptions the FAQ does not list. The clearest description of those exceptions is the Arc source code Paul Graham and Robert Morris released with Arc 3.1 in 2009. Its news.arc file is the last public version of the software that runs Hacker News.

That code sets three rules worth knowing:

• A new account starts at karma 1, from the default profile template.
• Your own votes on your own items never change your karma. The vote function skips the karma update when the voter is the author.
• Votes on poll options change the option's score but not the poll author's karma.

The FAQ's "some votes are dropped by anti-abuse software" covers the rest. The 2009 source already had a just-downvoted check with the comment "prevention of karma-bombing," which blocks one user from downvoting another in a burst. Hacker News has changed since 2009, so read the source as a record of the design, not the live rules.

What does Hacker News karma unlock?

A short list of moderation and display features, each behind a threshold. HN's FAQ never prints a number. It says flag links appear after "a small karma threshold," vouch links after "a small karma threshold," and comment down arrows after "a certain karma threshold." The numbers come from comments on the site by dang, the Hacker News moderator.

Feature	Threshold	Source
Flag stories and comments	more than 30 karma	dang, 2014: "The karma threshold for flagging is only 30." Again in 2023: "The karma threshold for flags is only 30."
Vouch for [dead] posts	more than 30 karma	dang, 2020: "You need > 30 karma to vouch, same as to flag."
Change your top bar colour	above 250 karma	dang, 2019: "After 250 you can change your top bar color."
Downvote comments	more than 500 karma	dang, 2016: "Downvote links on comments (but not stories) appear when your account has more than 500 karma."
Create a poll	more than 20 karma in the 2009 Arc source	HN has not published the current value

Downvotes come with limits of their own. The FAQ says there are "no down arrows on stories," and on comments they appear "never on direct replies," so you cannot downvote someone who answered you. Dang added in January 2024 that "A comment can only be downvoted for 24 hours," which matches downvote-time* in the Arc source, set to 1440 minutes.

Why do the FAQ and the code disagree about downvoting?

The 2009 Arc source sets downvote-threshold* to 200. Every moderator comment since at least 2015 gives the threshold as 500. In September 2015 dang wrote, "You currently need 501 karma to downvote," and in April 2016, "It takes 500 karma. That's the highest threshold we have." The public code never caught up with the live site, and the FAQ never stated either number.

Other published values moved too. The Arc source closes threads to new comments after 45 days, set by commentable-threshold*. Today's FAQ says "Threads are closed to new comments after two weeks." The flag threshold of 30 and the top bar threshold of 250 are the same in the 2009 code and in dang's recent comments.

That pattern is the useful takeaway. When an HN number matters, check the FAQ for the rule, then search dang's comments for the value, and treat the Arc source as a historical default.

The 2009 source versus the live site

2009 Arc source

• Downvoting at 200 karma
• Threads close after 45 days
• Flags at 30 karma
• Top bar colour at 250 karma

Dang and the FAQ today

• Downvoting at more than 500 karma
• Threads close after two weeks
• Flags at 30 karma, unchanged
• Top bar colour at 250 karma, unchanged

Does high karma give you any extra power on Hacker News?

No, not after 500. In October 2017 dang wrote, "Higher karma doesn't unlock any powers after the downvote threshold (500)." In April 2023 he repeated it: "High karma users don't gain any special authority or privilege. There are a few places in the code that consider karma but IIRC it's never more than 500 (the downvote threshold)."

High-karma accounts get no ranking boost and no heavier vote. Dang wrote in 2023 that "High karma users don't have any special voting or flagging power." The FAQ's list of factors that affect story rank includes "account or site weighting," which HN does not define further. Karma is not on the list.

Where can you see someone's Hacker News karma?

On their profile page and through the official API. The Hacker News API on GitHub documents a karma field on every user object at /v0/user/<id>.json, next to id, created, about and submitted. The endpoints and the Algolia search API are walked through in the Hacker News API.

How is Hacker News karma different from Reddit karma?

Both totals start from votes, and the similarity ends there. Reddit splits karma into post karma and comment karma, and its help center says individual subreddits "require a certain amount of karma before allowing you to post there," so karma decides where you can take part. Hacker News has one number, and its FAQ lists no karma requirement to submit a story or comment. What HN karma gates, per the FAQ, is moderation: flagging, vouching and downvoting. The Reddit side is covered in what Reddit karma is.

Reddit karma versus Hacker News karma

Reddit

• Split into post karma and comment karma
• Some subreddits require a certain amount before you can post
• Karma decides where you can take part

Hacker News

• One number
• The FAQ lists no karma requirement to submit a story or comment
• Karma gates moderation: flagging, vouching and downvoting

Does karma matter for a Show HN launch?

HN will not say. The Show HN guidelines tie visibility to the post, not the author: "Once it clears a small points threshold, it will appear on the show page." But HN now also shows some accounts a page at /showlim that reads, "We're temporarily restricting Show HNs because of a massive influx, mostly by users who aren't yet familiar with the site or its culture." In April 2026 dang described it as "what many accounts without much HN history now see." Neither page names a karma number, an account age, or any other test, so account history counts and the cutoff is unpublished. Build that history with comments before launch day.

Once the post is up, what matters on launch day is votes on the post itself and how quickly they arrive, which the decay formula in the Hacker News ranking algorithm punishes if they come late. The launch rules and format are in Show HN.

Do not try to shortcut it. HN's guidelines say "Don't solicit upvotes, comments, or submissions," and the FAQ warns, "We penalize or ban submissions, accounts, and sites that break this rule." If you want to know when your product comes up in a thread, RedReplier's Hacker News monitoring watches Show HN, Ask HN and front-page stories for your keywords and ranks each match by buyer intent. You reply yourself, from your own account.

Frequently asked questions

How much karma do you need to downvote on Hacker News?

More than 500. Moderator dang has given that number in comments from 2015 through 2023. Downvote arrows appear only on comments, never on stories or on direct replies to you, and only for 24 hours after a comment is posted.

How much karma do you need to flag on Hacker News?

More than 30. The FAQ says only that "There's a small karma threshold before flag links appear," and dang has given the value as 30 several times. Vouching uses the same threshold.

Why is my Hacker News karma lower than my total points?

The FAQ says karma is roughly upvotes minus downvotes and that "Some votes are dropped by anti-abuse software." In the released 2009 source, your own votes on your own posts never count, and votes on poll options do not count toward the poll author's karma either.

Does Hacker News karma decay over time?

HN documents no decay. The FAQ describes karma as upvotes minus downvotes with no time component, and the 2009 Arc source only adds and subtracts points when votes arrive.

What does a green username mean on Hacker News?

The FAQ says "Green indicates a new account." It does not tie the colour to karma, and it does not state how long an account stays green.

Can you transfer karma to a new Hacker News account?

HN does not document a transfer. If the goal is a new name, the FAQ says to email hn@ycombinator.com to change your username, which keeps the account you already have instead of starting a new one.

How much karma do you need to vouch on Hacker News?

More than 30, the same as for flagging. Dang wrote in 2020, "You need > 30 karma to vouch, same as to flag." Vouching applies to [dead] posts.

Does Hacker News karma make your posts rank higher?

The FAQ answers "Do posts by users with more karma rank higher?" with a single word: "No." Its list of ranking factors includes "account or site weighting," which HN does not define further, and karma is not on the list. Dang wrote in 2023 that high karma users don't have any special voting or flagging power.

How much karma does a new Hacker News account start with?

One. The 2009 Arc source starts a new account at karma 1 from the default profile template. Your own votes on your own items never change it. HN has changed since 2009, so read that as the original design.

How much karma do you need to submit a story on Hacker News?

HN's FAQ lists no karma requirement to submit a story or comment. What karma gates is moderation: flagging and vouching above 30, downvoting above 500. The /showlim page can restrict Show HN for accounts without much history, but it names no karma number.