Difficulty naming 303x63

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. i1o3l

Default 2i6y6y

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! 3y3w6j

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

osu!taiko 51322n

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

osu!catch 2o5lj

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

osu!mania 1y5x6k

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

Widely accepted alternatives 6co1r

• 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 1p726g

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 715i9

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

DanceDanceRevolution 4t4yp

• Beginner
• Basic
• Difficult
• Expert
• Challenge

DJMAX 6c252i

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• MX
• SC

EZ2DJ, EZ2AC 6p4r3h

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• SHD
• EX

In The Groove v5fg

• Novice
• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Expert

Pop'n Music 4o483r

• Easy
• Normal
• Hyper
• EX

SOUND VOLTEX 3k917

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- 453852

• INFINITE / INF

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS l722t

• GRAVITY / GRV

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN 5z392r

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• HEAVENLY / HVN

SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE 6r5c5k

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• VIVID / VVD

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR g5f39

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• EXCEED / XCD

Arcaea 4z3ts

• Past
• Present
• Future
• Eternal
• Beyond

Lanota 6d6v3o

• Whisper
• Acoustic
• Ultra
• Master

maimai, CHUNITHM, Ongeki 4b5e6v

• EASY
• BASIC
• ADVANCED
• EXPERT
• MASTER

maimai 632a6z

• Re:MASTER

CHUNITHM 241l4v

• ULTIMA / WORLD'S END

Ongeki 1ky1y

• LUNATIC

Cytus, Deemo, VOEZ ww6h

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane

Cytus 4p454f

• Chaos
• Glitch / Crash

Deemo v303p

• Extra

VOEZ 16e2s

• Special

Touhou Project 6mj2l

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