Tier

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Tier is a key concept to understand when it comes to Second Life land ownership. There's common confusion about what "tier" means and what it's all about, so hopefully this page will help you straighten it out.

Important: These are the simplified basics. There are exceptions, be sure to see below.

In general usage, "tier" can mean a "rank".

In Second Life:

• "Tier" refers to the maximum amount of land you can own on the Second Life mainland, measured in square meters (m²).
• "Available tier" or variations like "free tier" (free in this instance means "it can be used", not "free of charge") refer to the remaining, potential land you can own, not counting land you already own.
  • For example, "My tier is 1024m². I own a 256m² parcel, so I have 768m² of free tier. If I buy a 384m² parcel, that leaves me with 384m² of tier that's available."
• A Premium account includes of 512m² tier, which can be used for a free Linden Home, which is a rather pretty house on a 512m² parcel.
• Tier is not the land itself. It's your potential container to own land. Think of it like this: each land parcel is a toy block like Lego (larger parcels are bigger blocks), and tier is a box. Buying land "fills the box with blocks".
  • For example, if you have "4,608m² of available tier" — the Premium account's included 512m² + 4,096m² additional tier level — then you can own any combination of land parcels up to a total of 4,608m². So owning a 1,024m² parcel + a 2,048m² parcel + a 1,536m² parcel = 4,608m² which completely fills your tier.
• If you need more land, you need to upgrade. By upgrading to a higher tier, you also increase your land use fees, but you also get a "bigger box for blocks".
  • Increasing your tier level is sometimes called "tiering up".
• Tier is not the same as land use fees; the service and cost are connected but different. Each tier level is tied to Land Use Fees, which is where you change your tier level.
  • Tier is not a currency like Linden Dollars. This is especially important for new landowners to understand, as some experienced Residents use it inaccurately (they know what they mean by it, but you might not).
  • For example, "I pay for tier" or "I pay tier fees", NOT "I pay tier".
• When purchasing a land parcel, you're notified if buying it will increase your tier.
• Tiers don't have formal ranking names aside from the amount of land you can hold. But to have a mainland tier, you need to have a Premium account.

Does a Premium account always have 512m² of tier?

To be accurate, a Premium account has an included minimum 512m² tier. Let's call it "512m² base tier". As long as you have a Premium account, it's there with you, and one of the perks of being Premium.

You can always increase your tier on the Land Use Fees page, which adds to the 512m² base tier. For example, if you upgrade to the "8,192m²" tier level, that's actually:

512m² base tier + 8,192m² additional tier = 8,704m².

Say for some reason, you wanted to downgrade the additional tier to 0. That means:

512m² base tier + 0m² additional tier = 512m².

So yes, as a Premium member, you can't have less than 512m² tier.

Since a Premium account includes a 512m² of tier, does it also come with free land?

With the introduction of Linden Homes as a benefit for all Premium account holders, yes, if you choose a Linden Home. Previously, the answer was no: you had to buy the land separately, which you can still do if you want, but why not give a Linden Home a try? It's free, after all.

Exceptions

This list is partial.

• As explained in the different levels of account membership, you can own a private estate, yet not have a mainland tier.
• Group land gets a 10% bonus tier. This is understandably confusing at first.
• Some Resident-owned private estates may have own, different tier systems which are not part of Linden Lab's Land Use Fees. Resident estate owners may adopt similar ideas to Linden Lab's system, but ultimately, if you're renting land from them, you need to contact them (or another appropriate Resident) for help.