Difficulty naming 5i63a

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. 5b391t

Default 1k6y3n

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! 264ob

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

osu!taiko 113w47

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

osu!catch 211a6i

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

osu!mania 4q3t3h

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

Widely accepted alternatives 661a2i

• 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 56670

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 3r5x3t

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

DanceDanceRevolution 6k151y

• Beginner
• Basic
• Difficult
• Expert
• Challenge

DJMAX 362o3v

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• MX
• SC

EZ2DJ, EZ2AC 6y4x51

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• SHD
• EX

In The Groove 176q6s

• Novice
• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Expert

Pop'n Music 6s1g32

• Easy
• Normal
• Hyper
• EX

SOUND VOLTEX 3a601v

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- 4a616n

• INFINITE / INF

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS 6y1t6a

• GRAVITY / GRV

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN 5j4m4q

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• HEAVENLY / HVN

SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE 251x46

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• VIVID / VVD

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR 4bf4

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• EXCEED / XCD

Arcaea 1j4945

• Past
• Present
• Future
• Eternal
• Beyond

Lanota 6wp33

• Whisper
• Acoustic
• Ultra
• Master

maimai, CHUNITHM, Ongeki 6y2g48

• EASY
• BASIC
• ADVANCED
• EXPERT
• MASTER

maimai y4m3k

• Re:MASTER

CHUNITHM 4h4t62

• ULTIMA / WORLD'S END

Ongeki 611328

• LUNATIC

Cytus, Deemo, VOEZ 26255a

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane

Cytus 571050

• Chaos
• Glitch / Crash

Deemo 3z6j4f

• Extra

VOEZ 4221f

• Special

Touhou Project 6z5r38

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