How does HN algrorithm work for displaying entries on the front page?

Question

I am very interested in how exactly the position of a given entry on the HN front page is calculated.

gus_massa · Accepted Answer

Post are ordered using the formulaupvotes / age_in_hurs^1.6 * lot_of_penaltiesThe 1.6 is call gravity and may change from time to time without warning. I'm not even sure that it's the current number. It was 1.6 a long time ago.The lot_of_penalties are added automatically by the software, or manually by the mods, or indirectly by the users if enough users flag a postAlso, sometimes the mods give a second chance to some post they like and they appear near the bottom of the front page for a short time.

genericone · Answer

You're probably not going to get good answers here in the comments, I think people are rightly worried about hn-frontpage being seo-d / reddified / propagandized, not a good end result for hn regardless.

u2077 · Answer

Even if your post gets on the front page, it has to pass the smell test. HN is very good at detecting self-promotion and attention seeking.

usr1106 · Answer

Submissions with a lot of replies can get penalized if the secret algorithm concludes that flamewars are ongoing.Reliability of the source: I read it on HN...