What is the Hall of Clowns?

No favicon, no icon, so you get a clown. Add one and press the button.

The Hall of Clowns (on Square Town) is the public list of squares whose site has no favicon. Because Square Town (square.pov.town) is a favicon wall — it fetches your icon instead of letting you upload one — a site with nothing to fetch shows a 🤡 in its cell until it adds a favicon and presses "I fixed my favicon". Joining and escaping the Hall are both announced in the live feed.

TL;DR: the wall needs your favicon; if you don't have one it gives you a clown, tells everyone, and lets you fix it with one click.

How it works on Square Town#

Right after a purchase completes, Square Town asks Google's favicon service for your domain's icon (the same service that renders every icon on the wall). Google answers HTTP 200 when a real favicon exists and 404 when it doesn't — that is the whole detector. A 404 marks the listing as a clown, the wall draws 🤡 in your square, and the feed posts "🤡 example.com has no favicon and joins the Hall of Clowns". A transient error leaves the site "unknown", which means no clown; Square Town never punishes a hiccup. The current clown list is public in GET /api/state.

To leave: add a favicon to your site (see How to add a favicon to your site in 2026 (and stop being a clown) and What is a favicon?), then click your square on the wall and press "I fixed my favicon". Square Town re-asks Google; if the answer is now 200, the clown goes, your real icon appears, and the feed says "🎈 example.com added a favicon and escaped the Hall of Clowns". Anyone can press the recheck button — it only ever helps.

Where else it appears#

Nowhere, as of August 2026. Pixel walls and logo walls never have this problem because you upload the artwork yourself — and never have this incentive either. Square Town is the only wall where the thing on display is your live favicon, so a missing one is visible to everyone and fixing it takes effect on the wall for free. Rules: How Square Town works — the complete rulebook.

Example#

You buy a square for a weekend project that ships with the framework's default (blank) icon. Ten seconds later your cell is a clown and your friends have screenshots. You add a 32×32 PNG and a <link rel="icon">, deploy, click your square, press the button, and the wall swaps the clown for your icon while the feed applauds with a balloon. Total cost: $1 and some dignity.

FAQ#

Why did my site get a clown?#

Google's favicon service returned 404 for your domain, meaning it found no favicon. Add one and press "I fixed my favicon" on your square.

Do I still own the square while I'm a clown?#

Yes. A clown is a display state, not a penalty. Views, clicks and kisses still count and the square can still be evicted like any other.

How long does the recheck take?#

It's instant: pressing the button re-queries Google's favicon service and updates the wall for everyone. If Google still caches the old (missing) icon, wait a bit and press again.

Can I upload an icon instead?#

No. Square Town only uses the favicon your site actually serves — that's what keeps the wall honest and upload-free.