The node would have been an XMIXER
XMIXER requires 1000 XC,
XNODE requires 0?
Correct
What is the default? I have 1001 XC but the mining icon is green and it says "Minting" (and the elusive reward is *always* 15-20 hours way).
Is it necessary to have "-distmix-autonode" to be XNODE? I remember that was suggested 2-3 weeks ago, but I don't know which mode is better now.
-distmix-autonode is to be an Xmixer.
Every node (including Xmixers) are Xnodes, since they all use the end-to-end encrypted, serverless Xnode protocol.
For a normal node, you need no minimum balance and you shouldn't run -distmix-autonode.
For staking, don't run an Xmixer. For transaction fees, run an XMixer.