Common questions about why the courts came out the way they did.
A player lost and stayed on the same court.
Cause: That is the format. In Humpty Dumpty a loss on any court except the top costs you nothing but the chance to climb — you hold your place.
Fix: Nothing to fix. If you want losers to drop a court, you want Up and Down the River instead — same shape, but a loss moves you down.
Someone on Court 1 is now on the last court.
Cause: They lost on the top court. That is the great fall, and it is the defining rule of the format — the only place a loss is expensive.
Fix: Working as intended. If it feels too punishing, running fewer courts softens it: falling from Court 1 to Court 3 is a smaller setback than falling to Court 8.
The same players sit on Court 1 week after week.
Cause: Winners on the top court stay there, and only a loss dislodges them. If your strongest players keep winning, they keep their place.
Fix: Expected behaviour, but worth checking your seeding. Starting round 1 by rating puts the strongest on Court 1 immediately; a random start mixes things up and gives the top court more turnover early.
Most players have climbed and the lower courts are thin.
Cause: Also inherent to the format. A loss in the middle does not cost you a court, so over time players ratchet upward and only the top-court fall sends anyone back down.
Fix: Nothing is broken. If you want a ladder that spreads players out more evenly, Up and Down the River or a Ladder League will do that — both move losers down.
The new round has the same courts as the last.
Cause: The previous round was not scored. Movement comes entirely from who won.
Fix: Score the round, then generate again. If you already generated the empty round, clear it, enter scores, and regenerate.
The bye group looks like it is not rotating.
Cause: Bye Mode is set to By Position, which sits the bottom-ranked players out.
Fix: Switch to By Rotation if you want the bye shared evenly. See Byes in Humpty Dumpty.
Note that the bottom court is unusually busy in this format — it collects both its own losers and everyone who fell from the top — so position mode does produce some natural rotation.
One group is short.
Cause: That is the bye group. Courts need four players, so any remainder after dividing the opted-in players by 4 sits out.
Fix: Nothing to fix. Adjust the roster if you would rather nobody sat out, or accept the bye.
People on the roster were not scheduled.
Cause: Only players opted in for that date are included.
Fix: Check opt-in status for that date, set it, and regenerate. See League opt-in.
The clear option is unavailable.
Cause: Auto-generation is running.
Fix: Stop auto-generation, clear the round, then restart it. See Auto-generation in Ladder formats.
