This article lists all the various tips seen in the game, which contain useful and obscure information. They have been slightly modified in this listing to fix formatting inconsistencies and add links.
Add new
beatmaps to osu! by simply dragging the
.osz file into the window, double-clicking it in Windows Explorer, or choosing "open" when downloading in your browser.
You can efficiently navigate large lists of beatmaps in
song select by holding left-mouse to drag the list, or right-mouse to quick-seek.
Press
F8/
F9 anywhere in game to join osu!
chat!
Right-clicking on a beatmap or clicking the Beatmap Options button in the song select will show a menu that will allow you to manage the beatmap.
If your game or mouse
feels laggy, try toggling the
Framerate Limit in
Options or using
Fullscreen mode/
Letterboxing! It might just help!
For fast combos, try toggling between left and right mouse button, or use keyboard alternative Z/X!
If you can't play videos, take a look at the wiki before posting a bug report!
Take a screenshot from within osu! by hitting F12.
Try watching others as they play using
spectator mode. Hit
F9 to toggle the extended chat interface and utilise this!
When a beatmap has been updated, as long as you are in online ranking mode you will be given a button to update to the latest version.
The wiki has a wealth of information in it. Seriously,
read it.
Did you know you can load new beatmaps by simply double-clicking on an osz file or dragging it into a running osu! window?
If you find that the 'beats' sound too early or late in every beatmap you play, try adjusting the Universal Offset in Options.
The fastest way to find a beatmap is to simply type part of its title/artist/creator directly into the
song select screen.
Chat can be set to automatically close during gameplay. See the toggle buttons located at the bottom right of the screen when chat is open.
Adjust the volume in-game using the mouse wheel. This can be disabled in options if you wish.
Pause/unpause the game quickly by hitting the middle mouse button. This can be disabled in options if you wish.
You can gain quick access to web links by clicking the chat bubble icon in song select, just above the
score listings.
Hit
F8 at any time to activate the in-game chat window. You can check out the
commands available in chat by typing
!help or
/help
Make sure to take breaks every so often. Your hands have to serve you in life for more than just osu!
spinners.
Ever wondered where someone was from? Hit F9 and hover their user panel!
Hit F5 at the song select screen to refresh and load any new songs from disk.
Hit Shift + F12 anywhere in-game to take a screenshot and automatically upload it to the internet.
You can customise the keys you use to play osu! under Options > Input.
You can search for
specific conditions at song select, like
ar>8 od=9. Supported keywords are:
ar,
od,
hp,
cs,
bpm,
length and
drain (time in seconds).
Quickly retry a beatmap by holding Ctrl + R for a short time! You can also use a custom key (see Quick Retry in Keyboard Bindings).
Use the keyboard shortcuts
1,
2,
3, and
4 to quickly navigate between different
object types. As a mapper, you'll be using these buttons all the time!
Right-clicking on objects in the playfield or
timeline will remove them. Right-clicking on an empty spot of the playfield will make the next object or any selected objects the start of a new
combo.
Clicking while drawing a
slider creates a curvy gray
anchor and double-clicking creates a sharply angled red anchor.
Ctrl + right-clicking adds anchors to completed sliders.
Timing is important! Α wrongly timed beatmap is frustrating to map and play. If you need timing assistance, post your beatmap in the
Timing Help thread of the
Modding Queues forum or ask for a timing check in
#modreqs.
Slider speed can be adjusted through the
Timing Setup window (
F6). Click the plus button and adjust the
Slider velocity multiplier value on the left!
Swap the start and end positions of a slider with the "reverse selection" tool (Ctrl + G). Reversing the selection of multiple objects switches their positions in the timeline as well.
Jumps can be used to highlight important sounds in the music!
Distance snap is a handy tool for precise spacing calculations. Hold the
Alt key to fine-tune it.
Try synchronising the most important sounds in a song to clicks in gameplay. This is especially important when deciding slider
rhythms!
The
Beat Snap Divisor option in the top right determines how objects synchronise to music. For most songs, sticking to the default
1/4 value will work fine.
If you're looking for feedback on your map, check out the Modding Queues forum, the #modreqs channel in-game, or ask your friends for advice!
Bookmarks (Ctrl + B) are a fantastic tool to visualise a song's changes. Many mappers separate large sections of music with bookmarks to easily coordinate changes in their mapping.
Try reading the site's wiki, asking a question in
#modhelp, or posting on the
Beatmap Help forum if you need additional mapping information!
Disable
Grid Snapping if you want unhindered control of object composition. You can be extra precise by selecting objects and using the
Ctrl + Arrow key shortcuts too.
When your beatmap is ready for feedback, you can upload it through the
Beatmap Submission System! Look for the
Upload Beatmap option under the
File dropdown menu.
The sampleset and addition options near the top left of the editor permit complex
hitsound combinations.
Converting a slider to a
stream (
Ctrl +
Shift +
F) is a convenient way to design smooth stream shapes.
If you place an object after a spinner, try to leave enough time between them for players to readjust their aim.
Beats placed on top of each other will be
stacked in play mode. To see how stacks look during the play, select
Stacking from the
View dropdown menu.
Using
AiMod (
Ctrl +
Shift +
A) is a fantastic way to identify potential issues with your map long before the first
modder ever checks it out.
Navigate the timeline by scrolling or using the left/right arrow keys. Hold Shift to navigate 4x faster.
You can use the copy/paste commands (Ctrl + C/V) to duplicate objects in your beatmap. In conjunction with horizontal/vertical flipping (Ctrl + H/J) and rotation (Ctrl + Shift + R), you can easily arrange objects into cute patterns!
Use the playback speed buttons in the bottom right to slow the song down and easily decipher timing and rhythms.
Spice your beatmap up by using Whistle, Finish and Clap hitsounds to punctuate certain points! Different sound samples can be used by checking out the Audio tab in the Timing Setup window (F6).
Zoom in on the timeline by hovering your mouse over it, holding Alt, and scrolling with the mouse wheel. You can also press the +/- buttons to the left of the timeline.
If you adjust timing after starting a map, don't forget to resnap objects through the
Resnap All Notes option in the
Timing dropdown menu. Watch out for unsnapped
inherited timing sections though — they won't resnap!
Any
pending beatmaps will be considered
abandoned after 30 days without updates. Abandoned beatmaps can be moved back to the pending beatmap listing through your userpage.
When copying objects (
Ctrl +
C), the clipboard will contain the current time location and combo numbers of selected objects. This is especially useful for writing
map feedback!
Press Ctrl + T anywhere in the game to toggle the toolbar!
Press Ctrl + O anywhere in the game to access options!
All settings are dynamic and take effect in real-time. Try changing the skin while watching autoplay!
New features are coming online every update. Make sure to stay up-to-date!
If you find the UI too large or small, try adjusting UI scale in settings!
Try adjusting the Screen Scaling mode to change your gameplay or UI area, even in fullscreen!
What used to be "
osu!direct" is available to all users just like on the website. You can access it anywhere using
Ctrl +
B!
Seeking in replays is available by dragging on the progress bar at the bottom of the screen or by using the left and right arrow keys!
Multithreading support means that even with low "FPS" your input and judgements will be accurate!
Try scrolling right in mod select to find a bunch of new fun mods!
Most of the web content (profiles, rankings, etc.) are available natively in-game from the icons on the toolbar!
Get more details, hide or delete a beatmap by right-clicking on its panel at song select!
All delete operations are temporary until exiting. Restore accidentally deleted content from the maintenance settings!
Check out the "playlists" system, which lets users create their own custom and permanent leaderboards!
Toggle advanced frame / thread statistics with Ctrl + F11!
Take a look under the hood at performance counters and enable verbose performance logging with Ctrl + F2!
You can pause during a replay by pressing Space!
Most of the hotkeys in the game are configurable and can be changed to anything you want. Check the bindings panel under input settings!
When your gameplay HUD is hidden, you can press and hold Ctrl to view it temporarily!
Your gameplay HUD can be customized by using the skin layout editor. Open it at any time via Ctrl + Shift + S!
Drag and drop any image into the skin editor to load it in quickly!
You can create mod presets to make toggling your favorite mod combinations easier!
Many mods have customisation settings that drastically change how they function. Click the Mod Customisation button in mod select to view settings!
Press Ctrl + Shift + R to switch to a random skin!
Press Ctrl + Shift + F to toggle the FPS Counter. But make sure not to pay too much attention to it!
While watching a replay, press Ctrl + H to toggle replay settings!
You can easily copy the mods from scores on a leaderboard by right-clicking on them!
Ctrl + Enter at song select will start a beatmap in autoplay mode!