A walkthrough of where boosts come from, how they combine, and what happens to them over time.

Every boost has a type (see Boost-Types) and a multiplier. A player can be boosted by four different sources at once:

Source	Who It Affects	How It's Created
Player boost	One player	/sparkles boost start <type> ... <players>. See Commands.
Global boost	Every player on the server	/sparkles boost start <type> ... global. See Commands.
Boost area	Every player standing inside the area	Defined in Boost_Areas.json.
Charm	The player carrying the charm	Charm items, defined in Items.json.

Each player can have one active player boost per type. For example, a player can have a Shiny boost and an EV boost running at the same time, but not two Shiny boosts. The same rule applies to global boosts: one active global boost per type.

When several sources apply to the same player and type, they combine. How they combine depends on the type.

Shiny: each source divides the shiny rate on its own, so the multipliers multiply together. A 2x player boost and a 3x global boost make shinies 6x as likely. The shiny rate can never go below 1 in 1.

Every other type: the multipliers from each source are added together. A 2x player boost and a 3x global boost give a 5x multiplier. If no source applies, the multiplier is 1x.

Sources	Shiny	Other types
2x player boost	2x	2x
2x player + 2x global	4x	4x
3x player + 3x global	9x	6x
2x player + 2x global + 2x area	8x	6x

Boosts are started with /sparkles boost start. When the target already has an active boost of the same type:

• If allow_queued_boosts is true in Config.json, the new boost is added to the queue for that type.
• If it's false, the new boost replaces the active one.

When a boost starts, a boss bar appears for the affected players (if one is set up for that type in Messages.json). Global boosts show their boss bar to everyone, including players who join later.

Queues are kept separately for every type, and separately for each player and for global boosts. When a boost ends, the next boost in the same type's queue starts automatically, with its full duration.

• View queues with /sparkles check-queue.
• Clear a type's queue with /sparkles clear-queue <type>.

A paused boost keeps its remaining time but has no effect. Its boss bar stays visible and switches to the bar_text_paused text. Boosts pause in these situations:

Situation	Setting in Config.json	Affects
A global boost of the same type is running	pause_player_boosts_during_global_boost	Player boosts of that type. They resume when the global boost ends and no other global boost of that type is queued.
The player disconnects	pause_player_boosts_on_disconnect	That player's boosts. They resume when the player rejoins.
The server shuts down	pause_player_boosts_on_shutdown	Online players' boosts. They resume when the player joins again.
The server shuts down	pause_global_boosts_on_shutdown	Global boosts. They resume when the server starts.

If a pause setting is false, the boost's timer keeps running in real time, so a player who logs off with 10 minutes left and returns an hour later will find the boost expired.

A boost ends when its timer runs out or when it is stopped with /sparkles boost stop. When it ends:

1. Its boss bar is removed.
2. The next queued boost of that type starts, if there is one.
3. For global boosts, the Discord webhook message is deleted (if delete_when_boost_ends is true).

Boosts survive restarts:

• Global boosts and their queues are saved in Global_Boosts.json.
• Player boosts and their queues are saved per player in players/<uuid>.json.

If enabled in Config.json, each active global boost gets a message in your Discord channel. The message is edited every update_rate_seconds so its placeholders (like the time remaining) stay current. Player boosts and boost areas are never posted. The content of each message is set per type in Messages.json.

• Boost-Types: what each type's multiplier actually changes.
• Config.json: queue, pause and webhook settings.
• Commands: starting, stopping and checking boosts.