What this calculator does
Levelling questions are usually really time questions. Knowing you need 10,500 more XP tells you nothing useful until you divide it by what you earn an hour, at which point it becomes three and a quarter hours and you can decide whether that fits in your evening.
The session figure is the one most people actually want. Any grind is tolerable in the abstract; what matters is whether it is two sittings or eleven. Enter how long you usually play and the calculator turns the total into something you can plan around.
The formula
The remaining experience is the level requirement minus what you have now, floored at zero. Time is that remainder divided by your XP per hour, and sessions is the time divided by your usual session length. The progress figure is how far through the current level you already are, which is what most in-game bars display.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| XP now | Experience accumulated toward the current level, not your lifetime total, unless your game counts it that way. |
| XP needed | The requirement for the next level, read from your game. |
| XP per hour | Your realistic earning rate, measured rather than guessed. |
| Sessions | Hours needed divided by how long you usually play in one sitting. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| XP now | Your current experience. Use the same basis as the next field: either both counted from the start of the level, or both as lifetime totals. |
| XP needed for the level | The experience at which the next level triggers. |
| XP per hour (/h) | Experience per hour. The honest way to get this is to note your XP, play for twenty minutes, and multiply the difference by three. |
| Session length (h) | How long a typical session runs, in hours. Used only for the sessions figure. |
When to use it
Deciding whether a level is reachable tonight
Enter your numbers and read the time. If it is longer than you have, the XP per minute figure tells you the rate you would need instead, which is usually the point at which you look for a better method.
Comparing two grinding methods
Run the calculation twice with the XP per hour of each method. A method that is 20% faster saves a predictable amount, and seeing it in hours rather than XP makes the choice obvious.
Planning a long haul
For several levels, add up the requirements first and put the total in. The sessions figure then tells you whether this is a weekend or a month.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
How long does 10,500 XP take?
The same gap at different earning rates.
| XP per hour | Time to the next level | Sessions needed |
|---|---|---|
| 1000 | 10 h 30 min | 7.0 |
| 1500 | 7 h 0 min | 4.7 |
| 3200 | 3 h 16 min | 2.2 |
| 5000 | 2 h 6 min | 1.4 |
| 8000 | 1 h 18 min | 0.9 |
Questions
My game shows a percentage rather than an XP figure. What do I enter?
Put the level requirement in the needed field and the percentage of it you have in the current field. If you are 58% through a 25,000 XP level, enter 14,500.
How do I measure my XP per hour?
Note your experience, play for a measured twenty minutes doing what you normally do, note it again, and multiply the difference by three. Guessing tends to overestimate, because the good runs are the memorable ones.
Does this handle rested or bonus XP?
Only if you build it into the rate. If a bonus doubles your earnings for the first hour, work that hour out separately and then run the remainder at the normal rate.
Can I use it for several levels at once?
Yes. Add the requirements for every level you want to cross and enter the total, with your current experience measured from the same starting point.
For Minecraft specifically, Minecraft XP levels works the requirements out for you, and speedrun pace handles time targets of the other kind.