Difficulty naming 3k6a4n

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. 613v6y

Default 242a5j

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! 2702m

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

osu!taiko 5u1n6p

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

osu!catch 2k4w

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

osu!mania q3v4f

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

Widely accepted alternatives 644238

• 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 154k4e

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 6o5n6

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

DanceDanceRevolution 66731g

• Beginner
• Basic
• Difficult
• Expert
• Challenge

DJMAX 615d2y

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• MX
• SC

EZ2DJ, EZ2AC 55201s

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• SHD
• EX

In The Groove r496v

• Novice
• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Expert

Pop'n Music 723e2u

• Easy
• Normal
• Hyper
• EX

SOUND VOLTEX 3l6m2x

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- y35d

• INFINITE / INF

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS 2l3hn

• GRAVITY / GRV

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN 1r2wx

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• HEAVENLY / HVN

SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE 2q611

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• VIVID / VVD

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR bs2x

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• EXCEED / XCD

Arcaea 2c1h3x

• Past
• Present
• Future
• Eternal
• Beyond

Lanota 661r60

• Whisper
• Acoustic
• Ultra
• Master

maimai, CHUNITHM, Ongeki 6a3t59

• EASY
• BASIC
• ADVANCED
• EXPERT
• MASTER

maimai 503x31

• Re:MASTER

CHUNITHM 2z3h5y

• ULTIMA / WORLD'S END

Ongeki 82k2v

• LUNATIC

Cytus, Deemo, VOEZ 6g1p50

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane

Cytus 6w365x

• Chaos
• Glitch / Crash

Deemo 6g612k

• Extra

VOEZ 6t6v4c

• Special

Touhou Project 5u7327

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