Dataminer reveals which villager decides to move out of the player’s island

It’s fairly easy to get attached to the villagers in Animal Crossing New Horizons, considering how friendly and cute they are, which is why it’s often a bummer to see a villager leave, especially if that villager was a favorite by the player.

While some players are forcing certain villagers to leave, there are players that want to keep their community as close-knit as possible. Thanks to a recent Animal Crossing New Horizons datamine, we now know why some villagers just pack their bags and leave a player’s island.

Here is the reason revealed by Ninji:

Villagers will only leave an island if there are at least six other villagers living on it. Once the target has been reached, the percentage chance of them leaving is calculated by “(v * 5) + c“. The “v” stands for the villager count with “c” standing for “MoveOutTalkCount.”

MoveOutTalkCount refers to the number of days since the player asked a villager to leave or stay behind. This value maxes out after 30 days. Once a villager asks to move out, players won’t have to worry about anyone else leaving, until five days have passed. Lastly, Animal Crossing New Horizons villagers won’t move out until 15-days after another villager has left.

It means that players don’t have to bully their villagers in any way if they want them to leave as the case is seemingly left to chance. However, players can also consider another unseen value called friendship level, which Ninji has uncovered as well.

The formula for this is “floor((300 – a) / 10) – r,“ in which “a” stands for average friendship will all of the villagers on the island and “r” is the number of residents with less than 200 friendship rating.

The good thing is that these villagers won’t leave the island unless players tell them to do so. What this means is that players can eventually get the villagers they want out by being patient.