Difficulty naming d1d20

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. 37513t

Default 522a2n

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! 5w6z1z

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

osu!taiko 3064n

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

osu!catch 6s334y

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

osu!mania 5m604a

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

Widely accepted alternatives 4n3n4j

• 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 4w231b

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 2h5v6i

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

DanceDanceRevolution 2y6750

• Beginner
• Basic
• Difficult
• Expert
• Challenge

DJMAX 5z6o4y

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• MX
• SC

EZ2DJ, EZ2AC m2m1y

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• SHD
• EX

In The Groove 1t5r57

• Novice
• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Expert

Pop'n Music 2a6s23

• Easy
• Normal
• Hyper
• EX

SOUND VOLTEX 2q4z1q

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- 165rj

• INFINITE / INF

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS 4d306y

• GRAVITY / GRV

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN k3k5d

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• HEAVENLY / HVN

SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE 4j1452

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• VIVID / VVD

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR 1i6y4j

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• EXCEED / XCD

Arcaea 65q6r

• Past
• Present
• Future
• Eternal
• Beyond

Lanota 352u6b

• Whisper
• Acoustic
• Ultra
• Master

maimai, CHUNITHM, Ongeki 2br2x

• EASY
• BASIC
• ADVANCED
• EXPERT
• MASTER

maimai 615q3s

• Re:MASTER

CHUNITHM 306z2e

• ULTIMA / WORLD'S END

Ongeki 1k5p4c

• LUNATIC

Cytus, Deemo, VOEZ 51512b

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane

Cytus 1c3k1i

• Chaos
• Glitch / Crash

Deemo 2d135a

• Extra

VOEZ 135q33

• Special

Touhou Project 2i6s4w

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