Aura points explained: what +1000 aura and −10,000 aura mean

How the aura points meme works, where it started in May 2024, why the numbers are always huge, and a list of things that gain or lose aura points.

If you've seen "+1000 aura" or "−10,000 aura" under a video and wondered who's keeping score: nobody is. That's the joke. Aura points are an imaginary scoreboard for how cool you looked in a given moment, and the numbers are deliberately inflated because there is no total.

Where aura points came from

The format has a precise birthday. On 1 May 2024 a TikTok creator posted a point-of-view video with a running tally of aura lost. Within two weeks the "school edition" versions were pulling 26 million plays, and by late June the template "how many aura points did I lose when…" was everywhere. BuzzFeed ran a mainstream explainer that July.

It built on an April 2024 precursor, "the most aura I've ever used on a level 1", which treated aura as a resource you spend on people who don't deserve it.

The conventions

• Numbers run from about ±100 to ±10,000, with occasional absurd precision like +22,100.
• You gain aura for composure, style and acting unbothered.
• You lose aura for cringe, visible effort or embarrassment.
• Losses are usually funnier than gains, so most videos are about losing.
• "Negative aura" is a state, not just a number: someone who can't stop losing.

Things that gain aura points

• Pronouncing "Porsche" correctly: +1000.
• Ignoring a call and texting "what" instead: +500.
• Wearing all black.
• A composed walk-off after winning anything.
• Not reacting when hit by a ball.
• Offering aura to someone in need: +22,100 (yes, someone posted that).

Things that lose aura points

• Pushing a pull door: −1000.
• Waving back at someone who was waving at the person behind you.
• Accidentally spitting while talking: −1000.
• Tripping in front of the class: −100 (surprisingly lenient).
• Not wearing all black: −5000.
• Adding a "note" to your Instagram post: "hefty loss".
• Explaining what aura is: unrecoverable.

From points to battles

Once there's a score, there's a competition. Aura points became aura battles: two people trading moves while the crowd decides who farmed more. The numbers stayed meaningless in the street version. In the online version they're real, and they're the thing you're fighting over: both fighters pay an ante in aura into a pot every round, one leads with a move and the other answers, and the bigger move takes the pot. The aura you scoop lands on your profile afterwards, and your lifetime total sets your level.

One rule the meme doesn't have: lifetime aura never goes down. There is no −10,000 here. Lose a match and you farm less than the winner; you never farm backwards. See how it works in the game, or start a battle.

FAQ

What are aura points?

An imaginary score for how cool or composed you looked in a moment. People assign arbitrary numbers, usually in the hundreds or thousands, as a joke.

How much is 1000 aura?

There's no exchange rate. +1000 is a solid win, +10,000 is legendary, −10,000 means you should leave.

Can you actually lose aura?

In the meme, yes, constantly. In the Aura Battles game you can lose aura inside a match — the antes you pay and the pots you don't take — but your profile total never goes down.

Who invented aura points?

The first documented aura points video is from 1 May 2024 on TikTok; the format was popularised by school-themed videos two weeks later.

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