The Basic tab is the one every build uses. It sets how many lineups you will play, whether the build also simulates, which projection the optimizer maximizes, how different lineups must be from each other, the salary window, and the randomness. Two collapsed cards at the bottom hold whole-lineup constraints and the sport's roster rules.
Before you start
- Open the sheet with Build. See Build Settings overview.
- To build on your own numbers, edit My Proj in the Player Pool first. See Projections and ownership.
Step by step
- Under Entries Preview, click the number of lineups you will enter: 1, 3, 20, 150, or Custom.
- Under Build Mode, leave the default. It is Build & Sim with an entries file uploaded and Build Only without one.
- Under Core, pick the Projection Source and the Min Unique Players.
- Leave both Player Floors and Salary Range at their automatic floors for a first build.
- Under Randomness, leave Smart Randomness on and pick Minimum, Moderate, or Aggressive.
- Expand Constraints or Sport Rules when you need them.
- Click Build in the footer.
Every control
Entries Preview
How many lineups the lineups panel selects for you after the build, from the larger pool. The Entries Preview tab shows them. The default is 150. Custom takes any count from 1 to 500.
With an entries file uploaded, DFS Hero sets Entries Preview to the file's entry count and locks the field. See Upload your entries.
Build Mode
Build Only builds the pool. You can simulate it later from the lineups panel. Build & Sim builds the pool, then simulates it against the scenarios on the Sim tab. Build Only is the default with no entries file. When you upload an entries file, the default moves to Build & Sim, so one click builds and simulates your contests. Your own pick always wins over the default.
Core
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Projection Source | The number the optimizer maximizes. Hero Projection is DFS Hero's projection. My Projection is your My Proj column. Pre-Lock is the projection as it stood at lock. Actuals appears only on a slate with final scores. My Projection equals Hero Projection for every player you did not edit. | My Projection |
| Min Unique Players | Each lineup differs from every other by at least this many players. Options run from 1 Player up to the roster size less one. | 1 Player |
| Player Floors | One control with two minimums. A player under either floor leaves the pool before the build, with three exceptions: a locked player stays, a player with a Min Exp above 0 stays, and a roster slot the floor would leave short gets its players back. On most showdown slates every slot takes any player, so a floor that leaves fewer players than one lineup needs does not apply at all. When a floor you typed does not apply, the build tells you in a warning that names the floor and its value. An automatic floor that does not apply gives no warning. Late swap gives no warning either. To remove a player for certain, exclude the player. Neither floor limits a lineup's total. Both floors start at an automatic value: the lowest projection and the lowest projected ownership that real top-1% lineups use on this sport, slate type, and slate size. The automatic value shows in gray in the empty box. Type a value to set your own floor, 1 included. Set a floor to 0 to turn it off. Clear a box to go back to the automatic floor. | Auto |
| Player Floors: Proj (Min Player Projection) | Removes players projected below this value, in fantasy points. Steps of 0.5. The automatic floor sits between 0.5 and 10 by sport and slate size, for example 3 on an NFL main slate and 10 on an NBA main slate. Showdown slates use 1, and soccer showdown uses 0.5. | Auto |
| Player Floors: Own (Min Player Ownership) | Removes players with projected ownership below this percent. A player with no ownership projection stays in the pool, and a slate with no ownership projections ignores it. The automatic floor sits between 0 and 1 by sport, slate type, and slate size, for example 0.1 on an NFL main slate and 0.8 on an NFL showdown, where a floor of 1 would remove players that real winning lineups use. | Auto |
| Salary Range | The window the lineup's total salary must fall inside. The lower field starts at an automatic floor, shown in gray, set from past contests for this sport, slate type, and slate size. Type a value to set your own floor, or 0 for no floor. Clear the field to go back to the automatic floor. The upper field starts at the site cap. | Auto floor to the cap |
Randomness
Smart Randomness (on by default) scales the variance to each player's own volatility in three tiers: Minimum (the default), Moderate, and Aggressive. Turn it off to use Manual Randomness, a flat 0 to 100 percent applied to every player, with Divide Between Players to split it across the lineup. Which tier fits which contest is in Randomness.
Constraints
Bands on a whole lineup's sum. They are not per-player filters. Every field is optional and starts empty.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Min Total Ownership % and Max Total Ownership % | The range a lineup's summed projected ownership must fall inside. |
| Min Total Projection and Max Total Projection | The range a lineup's summed projection must fall inside. |
| Force low ownership players | Every lineup holds at least n players projected under p% ownership. n runs 1 to 5, p runs 0 to 100. |
Sport Rules
Roster construction rules that change with the sport and site, for example 1 RB Per Team or FLEX Position on NFL. Every checkbox rule starts off. Offense vs Defense, Skaters vs Goalie, Offense vs Goalie, Hitters vs Pitcher, and Offense vs Team start on Auto. The full list per sport is in Sport rules by sport.
How it works
Entries Preview and the lineup count in the footer are two different numbers. The footer count is the pool the optimizer builds. Entries Preview is how many of those the lineups panel selects for you to play, with the rest on the Pool tab. See Pool size and lineup count.
Min Unique Players is enforced while lineups are generated. At 3 Players, every pair of lineups differs by 3 or more. Higher values give a more diverse pool, slow the build, and at a large count can run out of valid lineups. The lineups panel has a separate Min Uniques selection method that re-picks from an already built pool.
Salary Range is a window on the lineup's total. The lower field starts at an automatic floor, set from past contests. Where lineups that spent less finished in the top 1% clearly less often and won clearly less money, the floor cuts them. The drop must show in both older and newer contests, and a few unusual slates do not move it. Where a slate size has too little data or shows no clear drop, the floor keeps its earlier measured value. Raise it to force the optimizer to spend more, for example $49,500 to $50,000 on DraftKings. Type 0 to remove the floor, and clear the field to go back to the automatic floor.
Tips
- Keep Entries Preview equal to what you will actually enter.
- Set Min Unique Players to 2 or 3 on a 150-entry GPP build. It removes near-duplicates without slowing the build much.
- The automatic Proj floor already keeps deep bench players out of the pool on a large slate. Raise it further to trim the pool harder.
- Use Max Total Ownership % instead of excluding chalk one player at a time. It lets the optimizer choose which chalk to skip.
- Force low ownership players with 1 player under 5% gives every lineup one leverage piece without a hand-picked group.
Troubleshooting
"Min salary is greater than max salary" : the lower Salary Range field is above the upper one. Fix either field.
"Min ownership is greater than max ownership" : the two ownership constraints cross. Fix either field.
"Min projection is greater than max projection" : the two projection constraints cross. Fix either field.
"Built {n} of {m} lineups" with "The pool ran out of unique lineups under these settings." : Min Unique Players, the constraints, or the salary window left too few valid lineups. Lower the value or widen the window, then rebuild.
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