osu!catch ranking criteria

Notice: This article is an extension of the general ranking criteria.

This set of osu!catch ranking criteria lays out rules and guidelines that osu!catch-specific beatmaps must follow in order to progress through the beatmap ranking procedure.

Overall

Overall rules and guidelines apply to every kind of osu!catch difficulty. Rhythm-related rules and guidelines apply to approximately 180 BPM beatmaps with 4/4 time signatures. If your song is drastically faster or slower, some variables might be different, as detailed in Scaling BPM on the ranking criteria.

General

Rules

• Your map must be possible to SS. This means it must be possible to catch absolutely all fruits, drops and droplets.
• Each beatmap must use at least two different custom combo colours unless the default skin is forced.

  • The combo colours must not blend with the beatmap's background, storyboard or video in any case.
• Do not use keysounds without hitnormal support. If sounds blend perfectly with the song, feedback for catching fruits is minimal.
• If the drain time of each difficulty is...

  • ...lower than 2:30, the lowest difficulty cannot be harder than a Salad, or provide a proper spread¹ containing at least 4 difficulties.
  • ...between 2:30 and 3:15, the lowest difficulty cannot be harder than a Platter, or provide a proper spread¹ containing at least 3 difficulties.
  • ...between 3:15 and 4:00, the lowest difficulty cannot be harder than a Rain, or provide a proper spread¹ containing at least 2 difficulties.
  • Break times may be combined with drain time to meet the above thresholds. For the highest difficulty, this is limited to at most 30 seconds of break time. This does not apply to difficulties with less than 30 seconds of drain time.

Guidelines

• All fruits should represent a sound existing in the music. This is usually a distinct sound but can also represent a continuous sound with an indistinguishable start or end.
• The last fruit of a slider should be snapped according to the song's beat structure. For example, if the song is using a straight beat, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16 should be used. If the song is using a swing beat, 1/6 or 1/12 should be used.
• Dashes and hyperdashes should not be used when the destination of the dash or hyperdash is located near the left or right border of the playfield. This creates an uncomfortable movement as the catcher is forcibly stopped upon reaching the border of the playfield (x:16 on the left and x:496 on the right).
• Combos should not reach unreasonable lengths. This ensures the player's view is not obstructed by the fruits stacked on the plate.
• Overall difficulty must have the same value as the approach rate. In case of score overflow, a lower value must be used.
• The slider tick rate should be set according to the song. For example, if your song contains a section that uses 1/3 rhythms only, tick rate 2 would not fit the entire beatmap.
• Avoid using combo colours with ~50 luminosity or lower. Dark colours impact the readability of fruits with low background dim.
• Avoid using combo colours with ~220 luminosity or higher if Kiai time is used. Light colours create bright pulses during Kiai time, which can be unpleasant to the eyes.

Skinning

Rules

• Custom catchers must be included in the v2 skin format. The needed elements can be found in the osu!catch skinning article.
• Custom fruits must include all necessary elements and be coloured in a scale of grey colours. This is to ensure that your images are clearly defined and of acceptable quality. The needed elements can be found at osu!catch skinning article. It is recommended that transparent elements are used for the overlays.
• Skinned elements must be the same size as their default skin counterparts. This is so they represent the hitbox properly and don't alter gameplay.

  • Fruits must be 128x128 pixels.
  • Drops must be 82x103 pixels.
  • The catcher must be 306x320 pixels.

Difficulty-specific

Difficulty-specific rules and guidelines only apply to the difficulty level they are listed for and therefore do not apply to every osu!catch difficulty. Rhythm-related rules and guidelines apply to approximately 180 BPM beatmaps. If your song is drastically faster or slower, some variables might be different, as detailed in Scaling BPM on the ranking criteria.

Difficulty names

Main article: Difficulty naming

• Cup
• Salad
• Platter
• Rain
• Overdose

Snapping reference table

Cup

Rules

• Dashes and hyperdashes of any kind are disallowed.
• At least 250 ms must be left between fruits and the start and end of spinners.

Guidelines

• Combos should not exceed 8 fruits.
• Note density should follow a mostly 1/1 pattern. 1/2 and/or 1/3 patterns should be used sparingly.

Difficulty setting guidelines

• Approach rate / overall difficulty should be 6 or lower.
• HP drain rate should be between 2 and 3.
• Circle size should be 2.5 or lower.

Salad

Rules

• Hyperdashes of any kind are disallowed.
• Dashes must have at least a 125 ms gap between their two objects.
• Dashes that are basic-snapped must not be used more than two times between consecutive fruits and drops.
• Dashes that are higher-snapped must always be followed by a walk.
• Edge dashes must not be used.
• At least 250 ms must be left between fruits and the start and end of spinners.

Guidelines

• All distances should be clear on whether they require the player to walk or dash. This is to ensure that players can easily recognise patterns that require dashing.
• Dashes that are basic-snapped should not be used consecutively when different beat snaps are used.
• Dashes that are higher-snapped should not be followed by antiflow patterns.
• Spinner traps should not be used.
• Combos should not exceed 10 fruits.
• Note density should follow a mostly 1/1 and 1/2 pattern. 1/3 and/or 1/4 patterns should be used sparingly.

Difficulty setting guidelines

• Approach rate / overall difficulty should be 7 or lower.
• HP drain rate should be between 3 and 4.
• Circle size should be 3 or lower.

Platter

Rules

• Hyperdashes must have at least a 125 ms gap between their two objects.
• Hyperdashes cannot be used on individual drops and/or slider repetitions. The accuracy and control required are unreasonable at this level and can create a situation where the player potentially fails to read the slider path.
• Hyperdashes of a different beat snap must not be used between consecutive fruits. For example, a 1/2 hyperdash must not be followed by a 1/4 hyperdash.
• Hyperdashes that are basic-snapped must not be used more than two times between consecutive fruits.
• Hyperdashes that are higher-snapped must not be used in conjunction with any other dashes or hyperdashes.
• Dashes must have at least a 62 ms gap between their two objects.
• Dashes that are basic-snapped must not be used more than four times between consecutive fruits.
• Dashes that are higher-snapped can be used up to two times between consecutive fruits, provided there isn't a direction change between them.
• Edge dashes must not be used.
• At least 125 ms must be left between fruits and the start of spinners.
• At least 250 ms must be left between fruits and the end of spinners.

Guidelines

• Strong hyperdashes should not be used.
• Hyperdashes that are higher-snapped should not be followed by antiflow patterns.
• Spinner traps should not be used.
• Combos should not exceed 12 fruits.
• Note density should follow a mostly 1/2 and/or 1/3 pattern. 1/4 and/or 1/6 patterns should be used sparingly.

Difficulty setting guidelines

• Approach rate / overall difficulty should be 8 or lower.
• HP drain rate should be between 4 and 5.
• Circle size should be 3.5 or lower.

Rain

Rules

• Hyperdashes and dashes must have at least a 62 ms gap between their two objects.
• Hyperdashes that are basic-snapped must not be used more than four times between consecutive fruits.
• Hyperdashes that are basic-snapped must not be used more than two times within a slider. The slider path must be simple and easy to follow.
• Hyperdashes that are higher-snapped must not be used in conjunction with any other hyperdashes.
• Hyperdashes that are higher-snapped must not be used within a slider.
• At least 125 ms must be left between fruits and the start and end of spinners.

Guidelines

• Hyperdashes should not be used on individual drops and/or slider repetitions.
• Hyperdashes that are basic-snapped should not be used consecutively when different beat snaps are used. For example, a 1/1 hyperdash must not be followed by a 1/2 hyperdash.
• Hyperdashes that are higher-snapped should not be used in conjunction with higher-snapped dashes. If used, those cannot involve antiflow, and the dash must be used before the hyperdash.
• Hyperdashes that are higher-snapped should not be followed by antiflow dashes.
• Edge dashes should not be used in conjunction with other dashes or hyperdashes.
• Spinner traps should not be used.
• Note density should follow a mostly 1/2 + 1/4 and/or 1/3 + 1/6 pattern. 1/8 patterns and higher should be used sparingly.

Difficulty setting guidelines

• Approach rate / overall difficulty should be 9 or lower.
• HP drain rate should be between 5 and 6.
• Circle size should be 4 or lower.

Overdose

Rules

• At least 62 ms must be left between fruits and the start of spinners.
• At least 125 ms must be left between fruits and the end of spinners.

Guidelines

• Edge dashes should not be used after hyperdashes.

Difficulty setting guidelines

• Approach rate / overall difficulty should be 9 or higher.
• HP drain rate should be 5 or higher.
• Circle size should be 4 or higher.

Notes