Overview
When multiple players achieve the same score on a Unity leaderboard, the ranking order depends on the leaderboard’s sort order.
How Are Ties Resolved?
Unity's backend ranks players with identical scores based on their PlayerID in alphabetical order:
- If the leaderboard sorts descending (higher scores rank higher), a PlayerID later in the alphabet will be ranked higher.
- If the leaderboard sorts ascending (lower scores rank higher), a PlayerID earlier in the alphabet will be ranked higher.
Example Scenarios
Descending Leaderboard (Higher Scores Are Better)
In this case, players with the same score are ranked alphabetically from A to Z, with later letters ranking higher.
| Player | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| aaa | 5 | 1st |
| ccc | 3 | 2nd |
| bbb | 3 | 3rd |
| zzz | 1 | 4th |
Even though "bbb" and "ccc" have the same score, "ccc" ranks higher because "c" comes after "b" in the alphabet.
Ascending Leaderboard (Lower Scores Are Better, e.g., Golf)
Here, players with the same score are ranked alphabetically from A to Z, with earlier letters ranking higher.
| Player | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| aaa | 1 | 1st |
| bbb | 3 | 2nd |
| ccc | 3 | 3rd |
| zzz | 5 | 4th |
Since "bbb" and "ccc" have the same score, "bbb" ranks higher because "b" comes before "c" in the alphabet.
Key Takeaways
- Ties are broken using alphabetical order of PlayerID.
- Descending leaderboards rank PlayerIDs later in the alphabet higher.
- Ascending leaderboards rank PlayerIDs earlier in the alphabet higher.
- There is no built-in option to randomize or modify this tie-breaking behavior.
For more details on leaderboard behavior, please reach out to Unity's Support Team.