Difficulty naming 6c512g

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. 2h2b

Default 4e4t1w

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! 3528u

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

osu!taiko 5y1e1j

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

osu!catch 5z1m26

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

osu!mania 622yu

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane
• Expert

Widely accepted alternatives 3o635i

• 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 6r1o15

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 665135

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

DanceDanceRevolution 474z6w

• Beginner
• Basic
• Difficult
• Expert
• Challenge

DJMAX 1j3sp

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• MX
• SC

EZ2DJ, EZ2AC 6u1c71

• EZ
• NM
• HD
• SHD
• EX

In The Groove 3i63l

• Novice
• Easy
• Medium
• Hard
• Expert

Pop'n Music 5k1r2w

• Easy
• Normal
• Hyper
• EX

SOUND VOLTEX j3g13

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- 2p682i

• INFINITE / INF

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS 6x4b54

• GRAVITY / GRV

SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN 4dc4i

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• HEAVENLY / HVN

SOUND VOLTEX VIVID WAVE 1kr4q

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• VIVID / VVD

SOUND VOLTEX EXCEED GEAR 4x3m2m

• MAXIMUM / MXM
• EXCEED / XCD

Arcaea 313j1l

• Past
• Present
• Future
• Eternal
• Beyond

Lanota 1e1i2q

• Whisper
• Acoustic
• Ultra
• Master

maimai, CHUNITHM, Ongeki 454wj

• EASY
• BASIC
• ADVANCED
• EXPERT
• MASTER

maimai 521i71

• Re:MASTER

CHUNITHM 1q5n6p

• ULTIMA / WORLD'S END

Ongeki 10486v

• LUNATIC

Cytus, Deemo, VOEZ vc5p

• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Insane

Cytus 5qd4z

• Chaos
• Glitch / Crash

Deemo 6d1w1i

• Extra

VOEZ g6p6g

• Special

Touhou Project 2b5qy

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