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[Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility) 4. / 5. elijahcruz12/glicko2 ActiveLibrary[Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility) elijahcruz12/glicko2 ==================== A modern PHP 8.4 implementation of the Glicko-2 rating system, and the only one on Glicko.net 1.0.1(1mo ago)10MITPHPPHP ^8.4 Since Apr 6Pushed 1mo agoCompare [ Source](https://github.com/elijahcruz12/glicko2-php)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/elijahcruz12/glicko2)[ RSS](/packages/elijahcruz12-glicko2/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago READMEChangelogDependencies (1)Versions (3)Used By (0) glicko2 ======= [](#glicko2) A modern PHP 8.4 implementation of [Glicko-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glicko_rating_system), a rating system for competitive game ladders. Glicko-2 is a refinement of the well-known [Elo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system) rating system that adds the concepts of rating deviation, volatility, and rating decay. This is a clean, ground-up rewrite targeting PHP 8.4, with full type safety, immutable value objects, and a stateless calculator. It implements the algorithm as described in the [official Glicko-2 paper](https://www.glicko.net/glicko/glicko2.pdf) by Professor Mark E. Glickman (revised March 22, 2022), including the corrected Illinois algorithm for volatility convergence. This library is linked to on the [official Glicko-2 page](https://www.glicko.net/glicko.html) as a reference implementation. Requirements ------------ [](#requirements) - PHP 8.4+ Installation ------------ [](#installation) ``` composer require elijahcruz12/glicko2 ``` Usage ----- [](#usage) ### Creating a player rating [](#creating-a-player-rating) For new players, use the default values. The `tau` system constant should be between `0.3` and `1.2` depending on the application, and must be determined by estimation or experimentation. Smaller values prevent large swings in volatility. ``` use Elijahcruz12\Glicko2\Rating; // New player with defaults $player = new Rating; // Existing player with known values $player = new Rating( rating: 1500, rd: 200, sigma: 0.06, tau: 0.5, ); ``` ### Calculating updated ratings [](#calculating-updated-ratings) Ratings are calculated at the end of a **rating period** — a collection of games treated as having occurred simultaneously. The `Glicko2` calculator is stateless and returns a new `Rating` instance without mutating the original. ``` use Elijahcruz12\Glicko2\Glicko2; use Elijahcruz12\Glicko2\MatchResult; use Elijahcruz12\Glicko2\Outcome; use Elijahcruz12\Glicko2\Rating; $alice = new Rating(rating: 1500, rd: 200, sigma: 0.06, tau: 0.5); $bob = new Rating(rating: 1400, rd: 30, sigma: 0.06, tau: 0.5); $charlie = new Rating(rating: 1550, rd: 100, sigma: 0.06, tau: 0.5); $david = new Rating(rating: 1700, rd: 300, sigma: 0.06, tau: 0.5); $calc = new Glicko2; // Alice beat Bob, lost to Charlie, lost to David $newAlice = $calc->calculate($alice, [ new MatchResult($bob, Outcome::Win), new MatchResult($charlie, Outcome::Loss), new MatchResult($david, Outcome::Loss), ]); echo $newAlice->rating; // 1464.06 echo $newAlice->rd; // 151.52 echo $newAlice->sigma; // 0.05999 ``` ### Players who did not compete [](#players-who-did-not-compete) Pass an empty results array. The rating and volatility remain unchanged, but the RD increases to reflect growing uncertainty. ``` $newDavid = $calc->calculate($david, []); ``` ### Outcomes [](#outcomes) ``` Outcome::Win Outcome::Loss Outcome::Draw ``` Serialization ------------- [](#serialization) `Rating` implements `JsonSerializable` and supports PHP's native `serialize()`/`unserialize()`, making it suitable for storage in a database or use with Laravel Queues. ### JSON [](#json) ``` // Serialize $json = json_encode($rating); // {"rating":1500,"rd":200,"sigma":0.06,"tau":0.5} // Restore from JSON string $rating = Rating::fromJson($json); // Restore from array (e.g. from a decoded JSON column) $rating = Rating::fromArray($data); ``` The derived internal properties `mu` and `phi` are excluded from serialization — they are always recomputed from `rating` and `rd` on construction, so round-tripping through JSON is lossless. ### Native PHP serialization [](#native-php-serialization) ``` $serialized = serialize($rating); $rating = unserialize($serialized); ``` ### Laravel [](#laravel) For storing a player's rating in a database column, a simple JSON cast works well: ``` // In your migration $table->json('rating_data')->nullable(); // In your model use Elijahcruz12\Glicko2\Rating; protected function rating(): Attribute { return Attribute::make( get: fn (?string $value) => $value ? Rating::fromJson($value) : new Rating, set: fn (Rating $value) => json_encode($value), ); } ``` For Laravel Queues, `Rating` can be passed directly as a job property — PHP's native serialization handles it automatically. ``` class UpdatePlayerRating implements ShouldQueue { public function __construct( public readonly Rating $currentRating, ) {} } ``` Concepts -------- [](#concepts) **Rating (`r`)** — The player's skill estimate. Defaults to `1500` for new players. **Rating Deviation (`RD`)** — Uncertainty in the rating. High for new or inactive players, lower for active players with consistent results. Defaults to `350`. **Volatility (`σ`)** — How erratic the player's performance is expected to be. Defaults to `0.06`. **System Constant (`τ`)** — Constrains how much volatility can change per rating period. Recommended range is `0.3`–`1.2`. Defaults to `0.75`. Rating periods -------------- [](#rating-periods) Glicko-2 works best when each rating period contains a moderate number of games — ideally at least 10–15 per player. All games within a period are treated as simultaneous. The length of a rating period is left to the administrator's discretion. Testing ------- [](#testing) Tests are written with [PestPHP](https://www.glicko.net/glicko.html) and cover the full algorithm against the numerical example from the official Glicko-2 paper, including intermediate values for `v`, `Δ`, and `σ′`, as well as serialization round-trips. ``` composer require --dev pestphp/pest ./vendor/bin/pest ``` License ------- [](#license) [MIT](LICENSE) ### Health Score 40 — FairBetter than 88% of packages Maintenance90 Actively maintained with recent releases Popularity2 Limited adoption so far Community6 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity52 Maturing project, gaining track record Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~0 days Total 2 Last Release 45d ago ### Community Maintainers ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/3cd86be6ae99ffef0c65552b89e188d783330f4f33af68e9b7a08dc1fd60ee77?d=identicon)[elijahcruz12](/maintainers/elijahcruz12) --- Top Contributors [![elijahcruz12](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/14031707?v=4)](https://github.com/elijahcruz12 "elijahcruz12 (3 commits)") ### Code Quality TestsPest ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/elijahcruz12-glicko2/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/elijahcruz12-glicko2/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/elijahcruz12-glicko2) ``` ### Alternatives [krisseck/detect-cms PHP Library for detecting CMS. 9225.1k](/packages/krisseck-detect-cms) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)