Difficulty naming 2q6n50

The purpose of difficulty naming is to inform players how difficult a map is. This article lists common conventions as well as other alternatives that have been gathered throughout the years. However, as long as the set of difficulty names is descriptive and clearly indicates progression of difficulty, you may use any desired kind of scheme. 2sz3g

Default 2h2d68

These difficulty names are the most commonly used for each game mode.

Note: The special difficulty name Marathon historically allowed mappers to submit maps of longer songs, and thus became popular for single-difficulty mapsets. Today, the name has no special meaning and is typically only used for very long songs or song compilations.

osu! 244n3p

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

osu!taiko 1m1n6n

• Kantan
• Futsuu
• Muzukashii
• Oni
• Inner Oni / Ura Oni

osu!catch 4z374f

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

osu!mania 13c2g

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

Widely accepted alternatives 4y2u5n

• Beginner: Below Easy
• Shokyuu: Below Kantan
• Advanced: Between Normal and Hard
• Hyper: Between Hard and Insane
• Extra: Alternative to Expert
• Extreme: Above Expert
• Hell Oni: Above Inner Oni / Ura Oni
• Deluge: Above Overdose

Difficulty naming schemes from other games 6d3y5g

Mapsets of songs that originated from other games often borrow that game's difficulty naming scheme. Usage of these difficulty names is acceptable for any song. Some of the common naming schemes that made their way into osu! are listed here:

Beatmania IIDX 271j4v

• Beginner
• Normal
• Hyper
• Another
• Black Another
• Leggendaria

DanceDanceRevolution 1u1m6p

• Beginner
• Basic
• Difficult
• Expert
• Challenge

DJMAX 1z69d

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• MX
• SC

EZ2DJ, EZ2AC 5il1o

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• SHD
• EX

In The Groove 224a5h

• Novice
• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Expert

Pop'n Music 6ce6b

• Easy
• Normal
• Hyper
• EX

SOUND VOLTEX f3p5t

Note: Large mapsets of SOUND VOLTEX songs often use difficulty names from multiple versions of the game, even if the song does not appear in all of them.

• BASIC / BSC
• NOVICE / NOV
• ADVANCED / ADV
• EXHAUST / EXH

SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- 1w432a

• INFINITE / INF

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS 2n3t5v

• GRAVITY / GRV

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN 5n4d1n

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• HEAVENLY / HVN

SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE 136g25

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• VIVID / VVD

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR 71153j

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• EXCEED / XCD

Arcaea 645k6i

• Past
• Present
• Future
• Eternal
• Beyond

Lanota dz59

• Whisper
• Acoustic
• Ultra
• Master

maimai, CHUNITHM, Ongeki 3f3512

• EASY
• BASIC
• ADVANCED
• EXPERT
• MASTER

maimai 35t4

• Re:MASTER

CHUNITHM 2qy1l

• ULTIMA / WORLD'S END

Ongeki z1tz

• LUNATIC

Cytus, Deemo, VOEZ 6u6j5v

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane

Cytus 4qd4y

• Chaos
• Glitch / Crash

Deemo 124g5p

• Extra

VOEZ 2m4w4h

• Special

Touhou Project 4x1h2d

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Lunatic
• Extra / Extra Stage / Phantasm