With a recent surge in bans and publicly visible cheating, it's about time I clear up some things so everybody can have the knowledge to stay safe and to help keep osu! a fair game, where fun can be had without worrying about who is playing "legit" or not. I highly recommend (and hope) everyone reads this post and takes note.

I have been banned for cheating. I didn't cheat!
We ban using automated metrics combined with manual confirmation. We have not yet placed an incorrect ban for cheating. As with everything I do in life, I am absolutely meticulous about being 100% before any actions are taken. I am not out to stop legit people playing my game (what would be the point in that?).

My friend has been banned for cheating! They definitely wouldn't cheat! You are wrong!
It may be hard to come to terms with, but you will have to trust me on this. I know what I am doing and (unfortunately have to) spend a lot of time making sure my actions are warranted. If you still don't believe me, I would suggest reconsidering how much you trust other people. I am not trying to tear apart friendships here, but throughout running osu! I myself have learnt that nearly no one can be trusted. Even those you hold the closest and would never suspect could be acting behind closed curtains.

Prove that I/they were cheating! Tell us how you know!
Sorry but we can't do that. Giving away the countermeasures would make them useless in further detecting cheaters.

I'll make a video to prove my innocence!
Sorry but if you have been banned, we are already 100% sure you are cheating. A video will not help.

Okay, I give in and want to come clean.
Send an email to osu@ppy.sh and it will be considered depending on the seriousness of your offences, and your good standing history. Please understand these queries can take up to a week to reply to, as incoming support emails are high in volume and cheating responses are lower priority.

I found someone who is definitely cheating. I can tell by their replay/score! What should I do?
Stay calm. DON'T discuss their play in public chat. Don't give them undue attention or ask others to spectate them. Report their score on the beatmap info page (website) or use !report in in-game chat to send a message to moderators. Your help in spotting foul play is much appreciated. You can also send an email directly to osu@ppy.sh for a relatively fast response.

Is using specialised hardware counted as cheating?
Peripherals such as tablets and touchscreens are fine. Anything which decreases the skill required to play is not. This means that using multiple PCs, input splitters or anything of that kind is considered a no-no. Obviously, this is hard to monitor unless we are standing next to you, but if you have been accused of such practices, making a video (using a camera) of your play on a map may help clear the air.

If you have any other questions regarding cheating that are not listed above, please post them in this thread and I will add them to the list. Any other replies may be deleted.

What about Bikko? :/

I guess that doesn't count since the ban was undone as soon as possible








EDIT: Bikko was banned after his replays showed that the cursor was teleporting to each note's location, which made people suspect him of bot play. However, it was later comfirmed (a week, I think) that he was using a touchscreen (I remember Bikko saying that he contacted peppy directly and showed him how he played), and the ban was lifted.

Its nice to show the people how things work here

I don't recall the Bikko situation exactly, but that was a very special case.

Edit after KRZY's info: Since then I have been a lot more careful with bans and in such cases I will first make sure they are not, for instance, using a touchscreen. I did regret that call, but did everything I could to restore Bikko's account to the previous state.

Um, i just wanna know, many people think that you can't detect some certain measures of cheating, like using two computers and one tablet and keyboard to control them.
Is that true? And if it is, are we just going to leave them doing whatever they want?

There are obviously some methods of foul play which cannot be detected (without sitting next to the player and watching them play). In these cases, I do suggest you nicely request a video of their play to be uploaded to youtube for your own peace-of-mind. I unfortunately do not have the time to follow-up such cases, so will only act if they are confirmed beyond doubt to be cheating the system.

It's pretty bad when you have to make an announcement about this kinda stuff...

Are you looking at all scores or just the ones in the top 40?

I am dont understand o English. If I try cheat, I have been baned
Thanks to ingame AC?

quite curious with this. But I think all scores regardless of top 40 or not.

I am dont understand o English. If I try cheat, I have been baned
Thanks to ingame AC? To the point, I often failed on last hitcircle, when my computer, or network laging, when I played song. AC dont ban me? Sorry, for my bad english.

You won't get banned due to things like network lag and timing inconsistencies where you miss the last note due to lag. It's quite a bit more in depth than that, I'd wager. Mainly because these things have NEVER affected me, and my system and internet connection were quite terrible.

Thanks for this peppy. Now maybe we wont have to see a huge wave of bullshit when someone is cheating again.