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Grass Points are two separate reward types - Uptime Points, earned by hours your device stays connected, and Network Points, drawn from a fixed daily pool of 1,000,000 distributed only when Grass routes bandwidth through your node. On days with no routed traffic, Network Points are zero. That is expected behavior, not a malfunction.
People often ask whether a flat point count means something is broken. In my experience, the answer is usually no. According to Grass Foundation documentation, the 1,000,000-point daily pool is split pro rata by actual bandwidth routed - if none routes through your connection that day, nothing from that pool reaches you. Uptime Points still accumulate, but the Network Points column stays flat.
The checklist in this guide separates real problems - an unsupported IP or a dropped connection - from low-demand days quickly, so you know exactly which situation you are dealing with before spending time on fixes.
Grass Points are how the Grass network tracks your contribution - a measure of two distinct activities: how long your device stays connected, and how much bandwidth the network actually routes through your node on any given day. The two are also displayed differently, and that difference is behind most confusion: Uptime Points tick up in real time whenever the app is connected with a Network Quality above 0%, while Network Points don't move during the day at all - they appear only after the daily calculation process finishes. So a counter that "stays flat" while the app shows connected usually isn't broken. In my experience, the explanation is almost always simpler, and often requires no fix at all.
The Grass Dashboard shows a percentage labelled Network Quality. That number is the fastest diagnostic available. A reading of zero means there's an issue with your IP address - the network is reading it as a datacenter, VPN, or proxy connection rather than a residential one - and neither point type will accrue until you switch to a residential IP. A reading above zero means your device is reachable: your Uptime Points should be climbing in real time, and your Network Points will post once the daily calculation completes. If they come in low - or at zero - after that calculation, it most likely reflects low routing demand that day rather than anything wrong with your setup. That is how the system is designed - not a bug, not a glitch.
An analysis of the Grass Foundation's official documentation and community support threads shows that most "points stopped increasing" reports trace back to one of six specific causes, the most common of which requires no fix at all. This guide covers all six, and shows exactly how to tell the ones that need action apart from the ones that resolve on their own.
The Short Answer
Check your Network Quality percentage on the Grass Dashboard before touching anything else - that single number tells you which situation you're in. If it reads 0%, the issue is your IP address: the network is reading it as a datacenter, VPN, or proxy connection, and you'll need to switch to a residential IP before points can accrue - the checklist below shows how.
If it's above 0% and connected, your node is working: Uptime Points should be climbing in real time, and Network Points never move during the day - they post only after the daily calculation finishes. A zero after that calculation usually means low routing demand, not a broken setup.
Why did my Grass Points stop going up?
The two-type split is the key thing to understand first. Uptime Points accumulate whenever your device is connected and your bandwidth is available - these keep moving in real time, even on quiet days.
Network Points are different. They are awarded only when the Grass network actively routes traffic through your connection, drawn from that fixed 1,000,000-point daily pool, and credited in a batch after the daily calculation - never in real time.
Here is what's actually happening when your counter flatlines. Which nodes carry traffic on a given day depends on factors like regional demand for web data and your location - and demand varies day to day. If demand in your region is low, the network simply may not route requests through your connection that day. Your Uptime Points still tick up. Your Network Points for that day: zero.
This is not a failure of your setup. The official documentation is explicit on this point: if a contributor's bandwidth is not actually used by the Grass network on a particular day, that contributor does not receive Network Points that day. Consistent uptime is still valuable - it builds your eligibility and your Uptime Points balance. But it does not guarantee daily Network Points in the way many users expect.
The reality is, zero Network Points today is often the formula working correctly, not a sign that something broke. I call this the demand-zero case, and it is the most common cause of flat point totals. The practical question to ask yourself before troubleshooting is simple: does my Grass Dashboard show a non-zero Network Quality percentage? If yes, your node is eligible and connected. If the points are still flat after a day or two, demand may simply be low in your area right now.
| Point Type | What triggers it | Stops if... |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime Points | Device connected and bandwidth available | App disconnects or device goes offline |
| Network Points | Grass routes live traffic through your connection | No demand in your region, or node is blocked/disconnected |
Keep that distinction in mind as you read through the checklist. It will help you separate "working as intended" from "something needs fixing."
What is a bandwidth-sharing node, and how does the selection process work?
A Grass node is any device running the Grass app - desktop, Android, or Chrome extension - that makes your unused internet connection available for the network to route public web data requests.
That last part is important: being available does not mean being selected. The Grass network chooses which nodes to route traffic through on any given day, and demand for web data varies by region and by day. In practice, this means two users with identical setups in different cities can have very different daily point totals - and neither of them is doing anything wrong.
The device you use makes a measurable difference. As of July 2026, under the Stage 2 reward structure, the Android app and the desktop app earn points at higher multipliers than the Chrome extension, which earns at the standard base rate. This is not a small gap. If your points have been moving but feel slow compared to someone else's, checking which Grass client you are running is a useful first step - the difference is often the multiplier, not a fault.
The tension in all of this is that routing demand is not visible in the dashboard. You can see your total Uptime Points, your Network Points for the current epoch, and your Network Quality percentage. What you cannot see is what demand looked like in your region today. That opacity is frustrating when your counter is flat and you're trying to work out the cause.
What I have found useful is treating the Network Quality percentage as the most honest readout you have. Here is what each reading actually signals:
- Non-zero Network Quality + zero daily Network Points: Your node is eligible and reachable. The most likely explanation is demand. No fix is needed today - check again after the next daily calculation.
- 0% Network Quality + app shows connected: Your IP address is reading as an unsupported type - datacenter, VPN, or proxy. Disable any VPN and get a fresh residential IP; the checklist's router step covers how.
- 0% Network Quality + app shows disconnected: The app needs to be reloaded or reinstalled. Start there.
One more thing worth knowing before you start troubleshooting. The Grass network has grown substantially, and the fixed 1,000,000 daily Network Points pool does not expand as the network grows. More nodes means each node's expected daily share is smaller - not because the system is malfunctioning, but because the same pool is now divided among more contributors. Keep that context in mind when comparing your current totals to what you earned in earlier epochs.
What this means in practice: if your points have stalled for more than two days and your Network Quality is non-zero, the demand explanation is plausible but not certain. Two days with zero Network Points is within normal range. Five or more days is worth working through the full checklist in the next section.
What is the step-by-step fix when Uptime Points stop moving?
Uptime Points are the stream this checklist is for. Unlike Network Points - where a flat day is often just low demand - Uptime Points should climb in real time whenever your app is connected with a Network Quality above 0%. If they have stopped, something genuinely needs fixing.
Start by checking your Network Quality. A score of 0% indicates that the IP address you're using cannot participate in the Grass Network - commonly caused by a data center IP, proxy, VPN, or another unsupported connection, since Grass only supports residential IPs. If that's your reading, disable any VPN and jump straight to Step 4. If your Network Quality is above 0% but your Uptime Points are still frozen or you can't connect to the network, work through the checklist from the top.
The checklist below is ordered by how often each fix actually resolves the issue. Start at step one. If that resolves it, you do not need to continue.
Step 1: Reload the app
Right-click on the Grass app display and select "Reload." Then wait between 1 and 15 minutes. The app needs time to reconnect and sync. Many temporary glitches clear with a reload alone.
Do not check the dashboard mid-sync. Give it the full wait before concluding the reload did nothing.
Step 2: Reinstall the Grass app
A clean reinstall clears corrupted files and ensures you are running the current version. Outdated versions can lose connection silently - the dashboard still shows "connected" but the node is not actually contributing. This accounts for a meaningful portion of zero-points-despite-connected reports.
In practice, reinstalling is faster than diagnosing which file or version is the problem. I'd do it early in the process rather than late.
Step 3: Check your firewall
Firewall rules blocking Grass from making outbound connections will produce the same symptom: connected status, zero contribution. Check that Grass is not blocked by any local firewall or security software on the device. If you recently updated your OS or installed new security software, this is worth checking first.
Step 4: Restart your router
If you have a dynamic IP address, restarting your router assigns you a new IP. This matters because your previous IP may be the problem: if it reads as a datacenter, proxy, or VPN address - or carries a poor reputation score - it cannot participate in the network. A fresh residential IP clears that. You can check how your IP reads at whatismyipaddress.com and ip2location.com; if your IP shows a usage type of "Data Center" or "Residential Proxy," you will need a new one. If your router gives you the same IP after restart, this step will not help - contact your ISP about a residential IP instead.
Step 5: Confirm you are not running the app and the extension at the same time
Running both the desktop app and the Chrome extension simultaneously can create a conflict. Use one Grass client at a time: if you have both installed, close the extension while the desktop app is running, or close the desktop app and run only the extension. The community has recorded cases where the dual-client setup produces exactly the flat-points symptom this checklist is for.
Step 6: Wait for the daily calculation to finish
If none of the steps above resolved the issue - and your Network Quality is above 0% - the most likely remaining explanation is timing. Every day starting at 12am UTC, uptime from the app is verified and real earnings are finalized onto the dashboard. While this calculation is running, the Uptime Points on your dashboard can temporarily disappear or dip. The calculation takes roughly 12-16 hours to complete, after which your finalized totals reappear. Repeating the earlier steps while this is in progress will not accelerate anything. Wait for the calculation to finish, then check again.
| Symptom | Likely cause | First step |
|---|---|---|
| Zero points, 0% network quality | Unsupported IP type (datacenter, VPN, or proxy) | Disable any VPN, check your IP type, restart your router for a fresh residential IP |
| Uptime Points frozen, non-zero network quality | App silently dropped its connection | Reload the app (right-click > Reload), then reinstall if needed |
| Uptime Points stalled for days | Unsupported IP, VPN, or dual-client conflict | Work through the full checklist above |
| Uptime Points dropped or disappeared on the dashboard | Daily calculation in progress (not a real loss) | Wait 12-16 hours for the calculation to finish |
One consistent pattern in community reports: users who see their points stall for more than a week without a clear cause often have a VPN running in the background they had forgotten about. Check for an active VPN first before going further - Grass cannot be used while a VPN is enabled, because a VPN masks the residential IP the network requires. Disable it, then work through the checklist.
The most reliable first move when your points stop moving is to check the Network Quality percentage before touching anything else. That number alone separates a real problem - an IP the network can't accept, or a dropped connection - from a low-demand day. Those two situations need completely different responses.
If Network Quality reads above zero and your Uptime Points are climbing, your node is reachable and doing its job - Network Points follow after the daily calculation, when demand picks up again. The troubleshooting checklist in this guide is designed specifically for cases where Uptime Points stop accruing: a Network Quality of zero, or an app that has silently dropped its connection. It is not for quiet days where the correct Grass system behavior simply results in no Network Points being allocated.
I'd recommend treating a single flat Network Points day as a data point, not an alarm. But if your Uptime Points freeze - or stay flat across multiple days while Network Quality remains above zero - work through the steps in order: reload, reinstall, check your firewall, restart your router, confirm you're running only one client, then wait out the daily calculation. In my experience, that sequence catches every genuine problem - IP or connection - before you need to contact support. The Grass Dashboard is the right starting point - and, most of the time, the right ending point too.
How Grass Can Help
The Grass Dashboard is the right place to start: your Network Quality percentage, Uptime Points balance, and epoch history are all visible there.
If you've worked through the full checklist and your Uptime Points are still stuck, open a support ticket through the chat button on your dashboard at app.grass.io to talk with an agent. To speed things up, have four things ready: a screenshot of your app, a screenshot of your dashboard, your device type, and your IP address. Live support is available through the dashboard chat Monday through Friday during support hours.
Written by
Theo Brandt
Contributor Education Writer
Theo Brandt writes Grass's getting-started and trust-and-safety guides, making the network easy to understand for anyone - what Grass is, how sharing your unused internet bandwidth works, and what to expect - in plain language, without the jargon.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The most common reason is demand-driven zero allocation. Network Points only accumulate when the Grass network actively routes traffic through your node, and they only appear after the daily calculation finishes - never in real time. On low-demand days, zero Network Points is the correct outcome. Check the Network Quality percentage on the Grass Dashboard first - if it reads above zero, your node is connected and working.
Uptime Points climb in real time whenever your app is connected with a Network Quality above 0%, so frozen Uptime Points mean something real needs fixing. The two causes are an unsupported IP - Network Quality reads 0% because your address looks like a datacenter, VPN, or proxy connection - or an app that has silently dropped its connection. Check your Network Quality first, then work through the troubleshooting checklist above.
Yes. Grass only supports residential IP addresses, and a VPN masks yours. With a VPN active, your connection reads as an unsupported IP type, your Network Quality drops to 0%, and Uptime Points stop accruing - and with no traffic routed, you won't receive Network Points either. Disable the VPN before running Grass.
Uptime Points accumulate in real time for staying connected, regardless of routing demand. Network Points only appear when the network routes bandwidth through your specific node, and they are credited after the daily calculation. On quiet days, Uptime Points increase while Network Points sit flat - that is the system behaving correctly, not a malfunction.
Use one client at a time. Running both simultaneously can create a conflict in how your node registers with the Grass network, and the community has documented cases where a dual-client setup freezes Uptime Points. Close one before running the other.
It can, when the underlying issue is your IP address. Many home routers assign a new IP on restart, and if your previous IP read as a datacenter or proxy address - or carried a poor reputation score - a fresh residential IP restores your Network Quality and lets Uptime Points resume. This step works best after reload, reinstall, and firewall checks have already been tried.
How long does it take for Uptime Points to update after I fix a connection issue?
After reloading or reinstalling, allow 1 to 15 minutes for the connection to stabilize - your Uptime Points should then resume climbing in real time. Network Points are different: they post only after the next daily calculation, which starts at 12am UTC and takes roughly 12-16 hours to complete. Don't judge Network Points until that calculation has finished.