Each record must include a video with uncut footage from the beginning of the level to a given progress point. For example, a record of 89% on a level must correspond to an uncut video from 0% to 89%. In addition, each record is required to include a link to original raw footage in the Raw Footage section of the submission form. As such, players may submit an edited video in the "Video" section as long as the raw footage meets all eligibility requirements. The list team will not accept a record with edited raw footage under any circumstances.
Players should also note that each submission must include a video or raw footage with consistently audible clicks during the corresponding attempt. More information and suggestions for recording clicks can be found here.
It should be noted that players who mistakenly exit the level midway through an attempt are still eligible to submit a record as if they had died at the percentage they reached. This guideline also applies to players that pause the game with the "Hide Pause Menu" hack enabled, as this hack is not allowed for list records. A run is also eligible for a record if it was achieved with a single attempt from 0% in Practice Mode.
In order to verify that records were achieved by a single player, levels using the 2-player gamemode require a handcam showing both inputs to be present throughout the record. This handcam must be present in the raw footage but may be excluded from the public video.
A record may contain one or more skips throughout the level, and the record may be fully or partially accepted based on the “severity” of the skip. The list team has divided skips within a level into three distinct classifications, ranging from insignificant orb skips to bypassing entire sections of the level.
If a record uses a prohibited skip (either a patched Type II skip or a Type III skip - see below), the progress of the record will be lowered to the point of the level at which the skip occurs. If the skip was taken prior to the level's minimum progress requirement, the record will be rejected.
This subsection of the guidelines addresses the three classifications of skips, but players are highly encouraged to check with the List Team before achieving a record that uses a skip!
A Type I skip either barely deviates from the intended route in regard to difficulty or makes the level harder than intended while keeping the player close to the original path. A "secret way" that features difficulty beyond that of the rest of the level is still not considered a Type I skip because of the significant deviation from the normal route.
A Type I skip will always be accepted, even after it is patched in the level on the servers. An example of a Type I skip is 57% in Sonic Wave Infinity. This section features two gravity orbs in a platform, but the player may skip the first one without dying. This is a Type I skip because it only skips one click and does not affect difficulty in any meaningful way.
A Type II skip is notably more significant; for example, the skip may bypass a section of a level longer than just a click or two. However, they are not egregious enough to warrant partially accepting a record. Type II classification often applies to longer skips that do not significantly change level difficulty.
Type II skips will be accepted unless they are patched in the level on the servers; an example is 67-68% in Zaphkiel (previously allowed, but not now because it was fixed). This skip previously bypassed the entirety of a short ball section, warranting this classification. Note that records previously accepted with a Type II skip will remain on the list unless its classification changes (see below).
A Type III skip is significant enough to warrant only partially accepting a record that uses it, with no exception. This classification includes but is not limited to taking a "secret way" or bypassing the hardest part(s) of the level.
An example of a Type III skip is 83% in Devil Vortex. Skipping the speed change at this transition significantly lowers the difficulty of one of the hardest parts of the level. A player that takes this skip will be eligible for a maximum progress submission of 83%.
Although this is uncommon, a variety of possible circumstances may prompt the List Team to reevaluate the classification of a skip. Records will only be removed if the corresponding skip is now considered a Type III, instead of II or I.
Similarly, records using a skip may be subsequently added if it ends up being less severe compared to our initial evaluation.
In Geometry Dash, gameplay features such as jump rings and ramps are known to behave differently on higher framerates. As such, a level on the list may occasionally contain gameplay that is impossible at certain FPS values. Fixing this gameplay does not affect the eligibility of a record as long as the intended difficulty is maintained as accurately as possible. An example of an acceptable bugfix is 1% in Arctic Lights. At higher framerates, the player falls too quickly off the opening ramp into the wall of spikes; the wall may be adjusted to allow the player to avoid it.
This guideline also applies to gameplay made unreasonably more difficult compared to the verification. An example of a possible part that is still eligible for a bugfix is 48% in Spacial Rend. The two clicks in the ball section can be buffered at most framerates, but is extremely difficult at very high FPS values. This issue did not apply to the original verification, so a bugfix is allowed for higher framerates.
Despite these acceptable fixes, players should be aware of the difference between buggy gameplay and general inconsistencies!
Players should communicate with the list team as regularly as possible when creating custom bug fixes! Submitting an illegal bug fix alone is not grounds for a player ban; however, repeatedly submitting prohibited bug fixes prior to clearing them with the team may result in a player ban.
Although this issue is not necessarily considered a “bug”, certain conditions may cause a level to desynchronize with its song, especially in longer levels. Players are allowed to add speed changes at transitions to adjust the sync of the level if and only if all difficulty remains unchanged. Any player that manually adds speed changes to a level should clear it with the List Team before submitting a record.
In updates 2.1 and 2.11, certain changes to the in-game physics made some existing levels impossible or unreasonably difficult to complete compared to the verification. One example is the trajectory of the UFO gamemode after activating a red jump ring. These bugs are generally fixable, but they are handled by the list team on a case-by-case basis.
Although the list team allows certain hacks for records on the list, a player may not submit a record obtained using hacks designed to alter or bypass the gameplay in any way. This guideline includes but is not limited to Noclip, GDBot/XBot/YBot, Macros, and Speedhacks. Please refer to this section for a list of allowed hacks for records on the Demon List.
It should be noted that, per the framerate guidelines players are no longer allowed to use the FPS bypass to change the in-game framerate in the middle of an attempt. Players are also prohibited from changing the state of other allowed hacks after the start of an attempt if this change is intended to alter the difficulty of the level.
Any records involving a player enabling or disabling allowed hacks to change the difficulty of the level will be rejected!
In addition to using only allowed hacks, users of Mega Hack v7 and above are expected to follow additional requirements: - Cheat indicator on endscreen must remain enabled (this should be enabled by default) - The FPS counter built into Mega Hack must be enabled
Any attempt to post an illegitimate (hacked) record while passing it off as not hacked will cause the player to be banned from the stats viewer on this website.
Each ban will be indefinite until the player confesses to the list team and publicly identifies their illegitimate videos as hacked. In addition, a player publicly encouraging the use of any hacking methods will be treated as if they submitted a record that used them, so they will be banned accordingly. The length of the ban after confession is primarily dependent on the severity of the infraction, the quantity of hacked records, and any attempts to prolong the investigation.
A player that continues to submit illegitimate records after confessing to hacking once will be permanently banned with no exception.
While not considered a hack, the list team also prohibits alternate accounts for players that have already submitted records under a different name. If a player is caught with more than one account on the list, the new account will be banned permanently, and the original account will be banned indefinitely until the owner publicly confesses.
In addition, the list team prohibits 'qwer' accounts that post records from multiple players under a single name. If multiple players are caught submitting records for a single account on the list, the group account will be banned permanently and the individual players recording the videos will be banned indefinitely until each one publicly confesses.
Geometry Dash typically sets the maximum framerate to the monitor's natural refresh rate. Software that increases the framerate of the game may be used, but the framerate must remain at or below 360FPS. Any record with a higher framerate will be considered hacked, even if the framerate is achieved through the monitor refresh rate. Any player that lies about their framerate or attempts to fake an FPS counter will be banned from the list.
Although players may use various framerates throughout their raw footage, players are not permitted to change FPS values midway through a record. This is a recent change, so please be mindful of this before submitting new records!
An FPS counter is required for every record submitted to the list. In addition, users of Mega Hack version 7.0 and above must use the FPS counter built into the program! An FPS counter is defined as an indicator of the player's framerate that is present and readable throughout the entire attempt corresponding to the record. Although we will reject records that do not have an FPS counter, a player will not be banned unless they attempt to lie about their framerate.
In general, records are not eligible for the list if the player changed the gameplay in any way from its original state. However, fixing bugs is an important exception to this guideline.
If a list demon uses the in-game two-player mode, only completions by a single player are permitted for records on the level.
Disallowed changes to the gameplay of a level are often classified as nerfs, which could pertain to an illegal bugfix or a significant alteration of the level’s decoration. The latter case includes strong LDMs and significant changes to a level’s color palette.
A completion video that does not show the in-game endscreen after completing the level will not be eligible for a record on the list, unless the player provides raw footage of the completion that includes this endscreen. However, if the game crashes before the endscreen is displayed, it will serve as an exception to this rule.
In addition, a visible endscreen should be easily readable by the viewer. If the record features a texture pack that makes the endscreen unreadable, it will not be eligibile for the list.
Although these changes are typically not significant, an in-game update may alter the physics of various gamemodes, which can change the difficulty of passing certain sections of list demons. Because of this inconsistency, any record that was not achieved on the current version of the game or the version in which the level was verified will not be accepted to the list. Note that this guideline permits records achieved on private servers (e.g., the 1.9 GDPS) as long as the list demon was originally verified and published on the server as well.
Although this classification is used for records that are potentially illegitimate, the list team also marks records as Under Consideration (UC) if a certain aspect of a legitimate run may or may not qualify under these eligibility guidelines.
For instance, the record may feature a custom LDM, bug fix, or skip that requires additional verification before we can add it to the list.
A UC record may feature a video of considerably low quality, to the point at which a hacked completion is indistinguishable from a normal run of the level. For many reasons in addition to low quality, a record may be rejected due to high suspicion of a hacked completion, but the player will not be banned unless conclusive evidence for illegitimacy is found.
As such, players are encouraged, but not required, to include strong indicators of a legitimate completion, such as moderate to high video quality, streams, and/or progress videos. Valid raw footage is an especially important indicator of legitimacy; it is required for every submission and often a significant point of reference if we become suspicious of a hacked record. Please refer to the Raw Footage section of the guidelines for more details.
A player that refuses to provide evidence to support their legitimacy when requested will be assumed to have hacked one or more completions and will be consequently banned. If a team member requests evidence that you do not possess, the corresponding record will likely be rejected, but a player ban will not be considered unless this case repeatedly occurs.