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Minesweeper 3BV, 3BV/s and Efficiency Explained
Understand 3BV with two small board examples, calculate 3BV per second and read efficiency without confusing board complexity with logical difficulty.
3BV describes a Minesweeper board’s opening work. It helps explain why two boards of the same size can take different amounts of time. It is useful alongside a timer, but it is not an intelligence score, a health measure or a complete description of logical difficulty.
What does 3BV mean?
3BV stands for Bechtel’s Board Benchmark Value. Imagine opening a fully known board without flags or chords. One click on a zero opens its connected empty region and its bordering numbered cells. Other safe numbered cells still need individual clicks. Count the zero-opening regions, then add the safe numbered cells those openings do not reveal: that is the board’s 3BV.
The measure describes reveal work, rather than the number of guesses or deductions a player must make. A number beside a mine can contribute to 3BV even when identifying it safely is logically difficult. Minesweeper Online’s gameplay documentation explains the metric in the context of its game modes.
Two tiny boards, very different opening work
Both examples below have nine cells and one mine. They show the entire layout so we can count opening work. These are not claims that either board can be logically solved without guessing from any first move. M means mine; 0 means no adjacent mines; 1 means one adjacent mine.
| Row / column | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Row / column | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | M | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
What does 3BV/s tell you?
Divide 3BV by elapsed seconds. A hypothetical 3BV-60 board solved in 30 seconds gives 2 3BV/s. A 3BV-120 board solved in 60 seconds also gives 2 3BV/s. The second solve takes twice as long but processes twice the reveal work in this measure.
That normalization is useful; it is not perfect. Pattern difficulty, board density, input method, mode and the definition of start and finish still affect comparisons. Keep those conditions similar before reading a change as improvement. The community discussion “What stat should I focus on improving?” illustrates why players look beyond a single best time; its comments are not a universal ranking standard.
How is efficiency different?
A common efficiency formula is 3BV ÷ counted clicks × 100%. A 3BV-60 board finished with 75 counted clicks would be 80% efficient under that convention. At 60 clicks it would be 100%. Chording can reveal several numbered cells at once, so efficiency can exceed 100%; it is not necessarily an error.
Check what your client counts: all input actions, only valid clicks, flags and chord gestures may be handled differently. Do not assume every label such as efficiency, EFF or IOE has an identical definition. Minesweeper Online documents its own efficiency calculation, including the effect of flags, wasted clicks and chording.
Turn a statistic into one practice goal
- Too many extra actions? Review repeated reveals, unnecessary flags and missed safe chords.
- Long pauses? Review the position where you stopped and identify the deduction you missed.
- Very inconsistent times? Compare board work and mode before blaming your controls.
- Fast losses? Separate accurate solves from attempts that trade certainty for speed.
Choose one habit to practice over several comparable games. A history or replay can help when the client provides one, but a single number cannot explain every decision.
Does our Minesweeper have these statistics?
Play classic offline boards and resume your progress in our current iOS release. Advanced statistics including 3BV, 3BV/s and efficiency are Coming soon in a future update. Explore our Minesweeper page for the game and upcoming features. For a wider selection checklist, read how to choose a Minesweeper game.