I currently have a “low” compactness rating of 22 on the farm that I am building… its 450 plots 75x6. What can I do to improve the compactness to ensure I can expand properly when i have the plots?
Fill empty plots middle of your build, use plot map to locate those.
Try to keep your beacon plotted as square or rectangle in other words don’t plot long narrow lines.
there are currently no empty plots in the middle of he build its just one long line 6 deep 75 long… would that be the reason? it being so long and not that thick yet?
Yes! compactness only checks the top view iirc. So adding plots up or down wont do a thing you need to add plots on the sides
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ok!!! Ill give that a try and see what happens
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It sounds narrow line, better improve it from some end when you have plots available.
For example like this 
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main problem is its very tediously designed… 950 plots when its done itll be 13 long and 75 wide… im worried ill still run into some issues with compactness. I would rather not change the design as its a floating farm (yes I know im polluting the skies blah blah ;D) and I really like how ill eventually have it set up.
Yep the algorithmic ideal is a square. It sounds like you’ve achieved the length you want so just widen it up as you can.
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ill work up too it!!! 75x75 is a LOT of plots though lol 5,625 is a bit bigger than I think I need my farm too be
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yes it is lol.
I already built a farm that’s so big that when I found out I needed to make some detail changes I basically abandoned it 
If you widen it from 6 plots to 13 you will improve your compactness. And while 22 is a low compactness you are not restricted from placing any more plots until your rating reaches 0.
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luckily I planned it out block by block in an excel file already so its infinitely expandable lol
As long as your compactness is over 0 you are ok. Just be careful and mindful of where you’ll be plotting next 
You might be able to just make a separate beacon beside to increase the compactness.
Using separate beacons to bypass the compactness is viewed as an exploit and can lead to the plots being removed. per James
“Circumventing the system by using an extensive collection of smaller beacons is not allowed and also banned.”
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I think that applies more for long beacons like bridges but adding more beacons to form a square shouldn’t be a problem, thats how malls work.
He’s not making a long road. Widening your farm in a separate beacon is not an exploit. And I’m sure James would agree. I have random beacons from different alts all over my base. Not for compactness because I’m 100% compact but because ages ago I need more plot and would start a new alt to get a bunch quicker.
He is not forming a square so I think this is moot. He could but since it is a farm and owned by one player, why would he use more plots than necessary? If his compactness is 22 and he widens to the 13 he had planed then he should not have a problem. A wider build will be more square so he should end up with a better rating.
Well you may have gotten by then, but if you read the actual statement made by James it is aimed at sprawling builds and not roads. So your assertion that compactness only applies to roads may be your interpretation, but there are no developer statements to back that up.
Quoted
" The Known Worlds are shared by everyone and only together can we create a thriving civilisation. Beacons are an essential part of creating Settlements and collaborating on builds. To help everyone expand their Beacons in a fair way for all Citizens, we’ve added a new set of plotting rules to the Beacon system.
Now, as your Beacon expands there will be plotting limits to help keep your Beacons collectively compact and reduce excessive Beacon sprawl. A compact Beacon prefers to expand locally rather than meander across the landscape. Settlements can still grow and become large. But the sprawl needs to be proportional to the size. Once Plots are claimed they become unavailable for others, so the system now encourages you to claim Plots closer to home, leaving those further afield for others.
That was because people were using the plot protection to reserve massive amounts of area. Not someone building beside there own build to gain more compactness. This person it’s trying to do the right thing by becoming more compact. If the devs are against the multi beacons. Then I guess Jivita’s video showing how to do it should be removed… not likely going to happen.
As far as my plots. They were like that a good year before compactness became a thing. So I didn’t get by on anything.
So just separate it. If your not hurting anyone your fine. People do separate beacons all the time for foot fall as well.
Go to TNT and put on plot view.