The following is considered foul play and will generally cause a user to be restricted:
The rules state that any form of manipulation of the client such as score hacking, macro-enabled full-combo sequences, auto-aim, and anything else that plays the game for the player is considered cheating.
This is a one-strike rule. Cheaters will be restricted on their first offence for an indefinite amount of time. The support team may decide to lift their restriction if they submit a valid appeal after at least six months.
Peripherals such as tablets and touchscreens are fine. Anything which decreases the skill required to play (e.g. using fidget spinners on a tablet) or cancels out/defeats the effect of the game modifiers is not. This means that using multiple PCs, input splitters or anything of that kind is considered a no-no.
Each user may only use one account. Creating new accounts is strictly forbidden. First offences may be punished with a silence of varying length depending on the number of accounts made. Users that continue creating new accounts despite previous warnings will be restricted. Note that creating an additional account to participate in a tournament is considered an especially serious offence and will result in an immediate restriction, as well as an indefinite ban from any officially supported tournaments and contests if the offence pertains to such an event.
Allowing another person to use a different user's account is also strictly forbidden, and will generally cause a restriction for the first offence. This is in order to prevent highly skilled players "boosting" other users' accounts or using them to participate in tournaments outside their skill range, as well as to prevent users from circumventing penalties issued to their original accounts. If you have allowed another user to play on your account by accident, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.
osu! uses automated metrics combined with manual confirmation to detect foul play. If you don't know why you are restricted, contact [email protected].
The support team will not provide any "proof" regarding reasons for restrictions, but all are placed with well-founded suspicion. Normal users are extremely unlikely to be targeted by such actions.
Sorry, but if you have been restricted, the support team is already sure you are cheating. A video will not help, because even these can be doctored.
Stay calm and don't discuss their plays in public chat — doing so is against the chat rules and may cause you to be silenced. Don't give them undue attention or ask others to spectate them.
You should report the user and not mention them anywhere. There are three ways to do so.
This is the preferred way for reporting suspected foul play, as it provides the most information to the support team members.
On the user's profile, a Report button will appear when you click on the three dots next to the Message button. Write any information that can prove that the user is misbehaving.
Take note of the selected game mode before reporting.
This way of reporting is as effective as using the profile page for reporting – the reports go to the same endpoint.
In beatmap pages, you can report a user in the top leaderboards by clicking the Report button on the far right of their score.
This way of reporting is not encouraged because in-game reports are mostly chat-related.
Use the !report command in any channel to inform the chat moderators. If you are using osu!(lazer), right click or long press the offender's username instead. Other players will not see your reports in chat.
Format: !report <username> <reason>
Example: !report this_user suspected cheating
Your help in spotting foul play is much appreciated. We review every report we receive, but that does not mean that all of them will lead to us taking action! You can also send an email directly to [email protected] for a relatively fast response.
Wait at least three months (six months if you were restricted for cheating) after the latest issued restriction before appealing.1 Address your emails to [email protected] and use a subject line of Restriction Appeal: <username>.
The support team expects users to give a full history of their actions and give reasons why they won't be reoffending in the future.
It might take time for us to reply to your appeal, but no appeals will be ignored.
If you've broken the rules and you'd like to come clean, please contact [email protected] and explain what you've done. Honesty is very much appreciated, and this will likely not result in a permanent punishment.
Carefully read and follow the rules. If you're not sure whether something you want to do, such as a specific hardware configuration you want to use, would break the rules, ask the account support team.
The length of time you will have to wait before appealing depends on the reason for the restriction. If you're not sure how long your restriction lasts, email [email protected]. For more information, see Account restrictions. ↑