(set_merge)=
# set merge
Turn on or off (default) the mering of similar and adjacent time steps for gate discharge and plant production results. The option "/stop" will only keep merged blocks from the previous iteration and stop further merging

|   |   |
|---|---|
|Options|/on, /off|
|License|SHOP_BLOCK_MERGE|
|Release version|13.0.0.a|

```{contents}
:local:
:depth: 1
```

## Merging time steps with similar behaviour
Hours with similar discharge or production can be merged together into blocks in order to save computation time. This is done by the command:
```
Command: set merge /<option>
```

|<option>|Comment|
|---|---|
|on|Merge similar hours into blocks|
|off|Don’t merge similar hours, discard all previously merged blocks|
|stop|Keep previously merged blocks and stop further merging|

If command not set: Don’t merge similar hours.

The tolerance for merging hours can be set by a TXY table, see the block merge functionality documentation.