NFT Royalties Explained: How They Work and How to Set Them Correctly
Royalties are the closest thing NFTs have to a superpower for creators — get paid every time your art resells, forever. They're also one of the most commonly misconfigured parts of a launch. Here's how they actually work, and how to avoid the setup mistakes that quietly cost creators real money.
01 — What NFT Royalties Actually Are
A royalty is a percentage of every secondary sale that gets automatically routed back to the original creator — not just the first sale, but every resale after that, indefinitely, as long as marketplaces continue to honour it. It's a genuinely novel idea: a painter doesn't earn anything when their canvas resells at auction decades later, but an NFT creator can.
Key point: Royalties are set at the smart contract or metadata level, not manually collected after each sale. Get the configuration right once at launch, and the payments (where honoured) happen automatically forever after.
02 — How Royalties Are Actually Enforced (Or Not)
This is the part that trips creators up: royalties are only paid if the marketplace where a resale happens chooses to honour them. Some marketplaces enforce royalties strictly, some make them optional for the buyer, and some ignore them entirely in favour of lower fees to attract traders. This has been a genuinely contentious topic across the NFT space, with different platforms taking different stances.
What actually determines enforcement:
- Whether the marketplace's smart contracts check and enforce the royalty field at all
- Whether your NFT standard supports an on-chain enforceable royalty mechanism, versus one that's just a suggestion in metadata
- Community and buyer expectations — some collector bases actively prefer platforms that honour royalties, which shapes where trading concentrates
03 — Setting Royalties Correctly at Launch
Where you configure your royalty percentage depends on your chain and standard, but the core idea is consistent: a percentage figure, plus the wallet address (or addresses) that should receive it.
| Field | What It Controls |
|---|---|
| Royalty percentage | Often expressed in basis points — 500 basis points = 5% |
| Recipient wallet(s) | Where royalty payments are sent on a qualifying resale |
| Split shares | If multiple creators are owed a cut, their shares must sum to exactly 100% |
| Verification status | On some chains (e.g. Solana), creator shares need on-chain verification or marketplaces may flag them as unverified |
Common mistake: Setting a royalty percentage in metadata but forgetting to verify the creator wallet split on-chain, where the chain requires it. The royalty field can look correctly configured while marketplaces silently treat it as unverified.
04 — Picking a Sensible Percentage
There's a genuine trade-off here. Set royalties too high, and traders may be discouraged from reselling on platforms that enforce them strictly — or gravitate toward marketplaces that don't. Set them too low, and you're leaving long-term revenue on the table for a collection that could trade actively for years.
- 5% is the most common figure across the NFT space, viewed as a reasonable middle ground by most collectors
- 7.5–10% is used by some premium or high-demand collections, though it can suppress trading volume on stricter marketplaces
- Below 5% is sometimes chosen specifically to encourage higher resale volume over a higher per-sale cut
Generate Metadata With Royalties Configured Correctly
Set your royalty percentage and creator wallet splits directly in the generator, formatted correctly for your chosen chain.
Start Generating →05 — Don't Set It and Forget It
Royalty enforcement policies across marketplaces have shifted more than once in the NFT space's short history, and they can shift again. It's worth periodically checking how your collection's royalties are actually being handled on the platforms where it trades, rather than assuming your launch-day configuration is the end of the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are NFT royalties guaranteed to be paid?
No — royalty payment depends on whether the specific marketplace a resale happens on chooses to enforce them. Some platforms enforce strictly, others make them optional, which has been a widely debated issue in the NFT space.
What's a typical NFT royalty percentage?
5% is the most common figure across the space, viewed as a reasonable balance between creator earnings and encouraging active secondary trading. Some collections go higher (7.5–10%) or lower depending on their goals.
Do I need to verify my creator wallet for royalties to work?
On some chains, yes — Solana in particular requires the creators field to be verified on-chain, or marketplaces may treat the royalty split as unverified even if it's technically set in the metadata.
Can I change my royalty percentage after minting?
This depends on your contract and chain — some allow an update authority to adjust royalty settings post-mint, others lock it permanently at mint time. Check your specific standard's capabilities before assuming either way.
A Percentage Worth Getting Right
Royalties are one of the few genuinely creator-favourable mechanics NFTs introduced — but only if they're configured correctly and land somewhere marketplaces actually respect. Set your percentage thoughtfully, verify your creator wallets where required, and keep an eye on how enforcement evolves.
TheMintLab's generator formats royalty fields correctly for your chosen chain automatically — free, no account required.