A cannon is what the plugin will recognize as a formed, cohesive "thing." It consists of two key elements, the blocks that make up the design, and the sign. The designs are covered in detail in their respective Wiki pages, and can be found in the Cannons Guide found here. When you have completed a design, placing a sign (Currently two signs, due to a plugin error.) Will form the cannon and provide information on the cannons status(currently bugged.)
Cannons have many defining characteristics that are organized between their ammunition and the cannon itself. As each cannon files its own bespoke projectile on Marthia, this distinction is irrelevant.
Explosion Power / EP: How large the explosion the cannon creates is.
Direct Hit Damage / DHD: How much damage is done in half-hearts by the projectile.
Player Explosion Damage PED: How much damage is done in half-hearts by the explosion.
Spread / SPR: the angle of spread a projectile can fly in from a cannon.
Penetration / PEN: The number of blocks the projectile will penetrate before exploding.