One slot lasts approximately 6 seconds.
One Epoch has 2400 slots, approximately 4 hours
One Era consists of six epochs and lasts around 24 hours.
To nominate your Polkadot (DOT) you can vote up to 16 validators.
Starting from the 6th epoch, all validators will go through an election process where the ones selected will become part of the active validator set. IE these validators will be elected to validate next era's blocks. In the following era after the election, active validators will be responsible to validate blocks and will receive rewards for doing so. They will then distribute those rewards to their nominators in the subsequent era.
To be elected, a validator address needs to be among the top 297 highest ones measured by the amount of stake nominated to them. All elected validators will receive the same amount of rewards for their work regardless of the amount of stake allocated to them. The only variation in rewards distribution is through era points which are earned by providing high quality staking services. If a validator has greater era points, they will receive greater rewards. There is an element of randomness in the way validators can earn era points, so it is normal to see variations in rewards from one era to the next.
During the election phase, your stake will be allocated to one of the 16 validator addresses you voted (it could be allocated to more than one if your stake is very large) if elected.
With Polkadot staking, it is important to monitor your nominations as their conditions may change. We have created an article providing you more information about polkadot staking mechanics as well as factors to consider to help you nominate the right validators for you.
For more information on staking Polkadot (DOT) with P2P Validator and our special offer for large DOT delegations, visit https://p2p.org/polkadot.
For additional staking support, visit the P2P Polkadot support center.
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