Osu! mods

A game modifier(also known as Mods) is one of several optional modifications to gameplay the player can select. Some mods lower difficulty in various ways but assign a score penalty by multiplying the final score with a modifier less than 1.00. Other mods increase difficulty to provide a greater challenge and also reward the player with a modifier greater than 1.00 to the final score. Players who use the Hidden and Flashlight mods also gain the possibility to attain Silver S and Silver SS grades. Finally, some mods can alter the gameplay experience without affecting difficulty (such as the Relax mod, which you just move your mouse to the hit objects in Osu! mode. ).

Mods can be accessed by pressing "F1" at song select, or by clicking the "Mods" button near the lower left of the screen. When multiple mods are applied, the product of the score multipliers is given instead of the sum of them. For example, when Hidden and Flashlight are applied at the same time, they give 1.1872x because (1.06 x 1.12) = 1.1872, rather than (1.06 + 1.12 - 1.00) = 1.18. osu! used to round this number down to the nearest hundredth (0.01), so Hidden and Flashlight together would appear to give a 1.18x multiplier, denying the supposed number round up. Thankfully, a patch corrected this, and now Hidden + Flashlight rounds correctly to 1.19x.

Difficulty Reduction Mods
These mods make the game easier at the cost of decreasing the score obtained.

Easy
Score multiplier: 0.5 "Reduces overall difficulty - larger circles, more forgiving HP drain, less accuracy required."
 * This mod is intended to lessen the difficulty of beatmaps, at a cost to your score. It increases circle size while decreasing approach rate(AR), overall difficulty as well as life drain]; each of these by a huge amount. It also allows 3 "lives"; that is, when the HP bar is exhausted, the game pauses and it refills up to two times. This restart will stop the song temporary to fill up the HP bar and rhythm hint is the "ready" (depends on skin used). In addition, replays do not show the restart or restored HP, and so if a replay is watched where the player had to use a "life", it will appear as though the player continues to play at 0 HP.


 * However, some (if not most) argue that Easy Mode fails to make maps easier to play. They claim that circles become comically large, and AR becomes ridiculously slower. The mod has the potential of making the play area much more cluttered and harder to read, especially on insane or approved beatmaps. These points are elaborated upon in this feature request to improve the mod, by Lybydose.

No Fail
Score multiplier: 0.5 "You can't fail, no matter what."
 * This mod makes the player incapable of failing when the life bar hits zero and reduces the amount of possible Performance Points by 10%. However, if the player has not scored any points during the map, they will not pass even if No Fail is used. Since this mod allows submitting scores with a very high miss-to-hit ratio, playing many maps with this mod can drastically lower one's accuracy.

Half Time
Score multiplier: 0.3 "Less zoom" ("Zoom" meaning here means how fast the beatmap's BPM is)


 * Half Time slows down the speed of the song and beatmap for easier play. However, the BPM is not decreased to half the original, as the name suggests, but to 75% the original. This causes an increases in the length of the song by 33%. The method used to slow down may cause the song to sound "muddy" but vocals may sound similar.

Difficulty Increasing Mods
These mods introduce new elements to make the game harder and rewards the player in terms of an increase in score multiplier.

Hard Rock
Score multiplier: 1.06 "Everything just got a bit harder..."
 * Hard Rock (named after the hardest difficulty of the DS game Elite Beat Agents) decreases hit circle size by 1 tick while increasing the overall difficulty, approach rate, and the HP drain by 2 or 3 ticks of their original value up to a maximum of 10. The difference in AR is often hard to notice except when used on maps with an original AR of 7 or greater, as it will push the AR to the maximum value of 10. Hard Rock can be a very difficult mod (especially on insane maps) as it not only demands higher cursor accuracy, it also requires the ability to read lightning-fast approach circles. Additionally, this mod flips the map on the X axis, so that elements that were at the bottom of the map are now at the top and vice versa.

Sudden Death
Score multiplayer: none "Miss a note and fail."


 * Sudden Death causes the player to fail the map if the combo is ever broken, creating an extra large miss figure and a full HP drain. Combos can be broken by missing notes, slider ticks, or failing a spinner, but will not be broken by missing a slider end (but may result in getting 100). This mod can be useful when trying to full combo a map, although many players dislike using it as it denies them a chance to practice the remainder of the map and get better at it faster.


 * Do note there are rare cases where the combo is broken but if the player managed to preserve at least a sliver of health by getting a slider tick in a very short time-margin right after the combo broke, the player can continue the map and no large miss figure will be imposed.

Perfect
Score Multiplyer: None *Click on Sudden Death again to get Perfect mod "SS or quit."


 * If you click the Sudden Death mod again, the Perfect mod will come out. When this mod is activated, any hit that decrease the accuracy will be counted as a miss and the song will restart automatically. While this mod give no score multiplier, it is more unforgiving (100% accuracy or auto reset until you give up) when compared to Sudden Death (as long as the combo did not break).

Double Time
Score multiplier: 1.12  *BPM increases by 1/2 "Zoooooooooom"


 * Double Time increases the overall beatmap's speed to 150% of the original, reducing the length of the song by 33%. This might be considered deceptive because the BPM is not actually doubled, despite being called "Double Time". The method used to increase the speed doesn't increase the pitch of the song, but can make it sound "muddy".


 * Because the song is sped up, the approach rate also increases, which often makes it quite difficult when paired with Hard Rock.

Nightcore
Score multiplier: 1.12 *Click on Double Time again to activate Nightcore mod "uguuuuuuuu"


 * If you click the Double Time icon again, it becomes the Nightcore mod which increases the pitch and adds a bumpin' bass beat to the background. The multiplier stays the same, and the beatmap itself is unaffected beyond what Double Time would do because  Double Time will automatically be activated in order to use Nightcore mod.

Hidden
Score multiplier: 1.06 "Play with no approach circles and fading notes for a slight score advantage."


 * This mod was originated from an April Fool joke. Hidden debuted in Ouendan 2, the second Japanese DS game. In osu!, it eliminates the approach circles and causes the hit circles to fade out shortly after appearing, forcing players to more or less memorize the timing and, to a lesser degree, placement. Numbers on sliders and their approach circles vanish, but the sliders themselves do not, so the player only needs to remember the timing and which end to begin sliding from. Turning on "Snaking Sliders" in the options can help with this.

Flashlight
Score multiplier: 1.12 "Restricted view area."


 * Flashlight reduces the visible area of the screen to a small, illuminated section around the cursor. The visible area becomes smaller at 100 combo and again at 200 combo, returning to its original size if the combo is broken.
 * Flashlight nearly ran out of batteries!
 * 5 years ago, this mod has been subject to heavy controversy in the past, as its implementation makes it the easiest mod for hackers to cheat on. This mod has been made unranked before during a time of heavy cheater activity, but was restored not long after.

Special Mods
The mods listed below can't be used in conjunction with each other, except for Relax and Spun Out. Additionally, Auto can't be used along with Sudden Death/Perfect.

Relax
Score multiplier: 0 "You don't need to click.Give your clicking/tapping finger a break from the heat of things. **UNRANKED**"


 * A mod in which you don't need to click. Simply hover your cursor over each hit circle and it will be hit with the correct timing automatically. Using this mod also hides the score, combo and misses and makes it impossible to fail the map, much like No Fail. Also, your spin per minute value will be doubled, allowing you to spin much faster and obtain a higher score than in regular play.

Auto Pilot
Score multiplier: 0 "Automatic cursor movement - just follow the rhythm." **UNRANKED**


 * A mod in which you only need to click. The game moves the cursor for you, so you can focus on clicking with the correct timing. Using this mod also hides the score, combo and misses, and makes it impossible to fail the map, much like No Fail.

Spun Out
Score multiplier: 0.9 "Spinners will be automatically completed"   


 *     Spun Out is a mod in which the game does spinners for you, allowing you to relax during spinners, instead of tiring your arm out on them.

Auto
Score Multiplyer: None "Watch a perfect automated play through the song" **UNRANKED**


 * A mod that allows the player to watch a perfect playthrough of the selected beatmap. This mod functions exactly like a replay, allowing 2x speed to be used and comments on the beatmap to be seen and made. The Auto mod will always get an SS, except in special cases.

Cinema
Score Multiplyer: None 'Click on Auto again to get Cinema mod **UNRANKED**


 * This mod will show background and storyboard only without the gameplay objects. You can use DT/NC/HT, and you can still hear the hitsounds of the respective difficulty selected. User comments and the Results screen are disabled. Background Dim will be set to 0%, Background Video and Storyboard will be turned on when this mod is in effect.

Experimental Mods
WARNING:  These mods does not appear on "Stable" build. Due to its experimental nature, please proceed at your own risk. Also, the current name is probably a placeholder name. It might change.

Target Practice
Score multiplier: 1.00  **UNRANKED**

Play a simple and consistent "Target Practice" game. The game will immediately end if you failed to hit the target once.

Inverse Mods
Not all mods can be applied at the same time. Some mods are the inverse of others, and will be deactivated if their inverse mod is selected.

These are a few notable examples:-


 * Hard Rock is the inverse of Easy
 * Sudden Death/Perfect is the inverse of No Fail, Relax, AutoPilot, and Auto
 * Double Time is the inverse of Half Time