Rules and regulations

To ensure that all scores and times on this website are legit, a few simple rules need to be put in place. Most of these can be broken by the persistent cheater and this website is largely built around good faith; be good!

Only one account per person is allowed. Do not submit runs using alternate accounts.


Community Rules


Breaking any of our community rules in a video submitted to MossRanking will be banned from MossRanking. Rules include but are not limited to:

  • No discrimination or hate speech will be tolerated at all. This includes racism, sexism, and homophobia. No racial or sexist slurs.
  • No spamming or threats at another member of the Spelunky Discord server.
  • No graphic material or discussion is allowed. This includes pornographic content.
Also see our Code of Conduct for participating in the community below.

Acknowledgement of Rules


All run submissions in the future will require acknowledging that you read the rules and that you agree that the run is in accordance with the rules.


Verification Edge Cases


  • If a run did not qualify for the top 10 of a category but is later moved to the top 10 (such as in the case of a player deleting their runs) the run will need to undergo the verification process if it has not already in order to qualify for the new ranking.
  • To avoid verification problems arising such as audio becoming muted due to copyright, it is encouraged to store a local recording of the run at least until the run becomes "Verified"
  • In certain circumstances, a run that is "Verified" can later be unverified if new evidence is discovered that would make the run unverified. However, circumstances outside of the runners control such as a run losing its audio due to copyright is not something that would make the run lose verified status.

To summarize, if you are aiming to get runs in the top 10 of any category you will want to ensure you follow the video and audio standards and avoid any mods not explicitly allowed above.

Code of Conduct

MossRanking is a collective of individuals dedicated to creating a healthy and inclusive space for Spelunky players to collaborate, communicate, and compete with one another. The care and consideration of the community is what keeps MossRanking moving forward. To continue to ensure the community is as healthy as possible, we encourage all participants to understand and abide by the following Code of Conduct.

1. Community

  1. MossRanking is an inclusive community and welcomes individuals of any identity, orientation, and ability. We do not condone exclusionary behavior or hateful speech towards others.
  2. MossRanking is run voluntarily by community members who have dedicated time, energy, and finances to keep things running smoothly. Please understand and respect these efforts when discussing ideas.
  3. There is a person behind every screen. We should always aim to be understanding and empathetic towards others, even when differences in opinion arise.
  4. Harassment within the boundaries of the community will not be tolerated. While MossRanking does not oversee all private and public spaces involved, we uphold a duty to minimize any potential harm that could befall members of the community, even in places of privacy.

2. Development

  1. MossRanking operates with some expectations of adherence towards the contents of Spelunky and its design. We aim to accommodate a variety of categories and features for the community, but will encourage such additions to remain faithful to the game itself. Exceptionally specific ideas, or ideas that deviate from and/or modify the game’s design will be met with greater scrutiny.
  2. MossRanking is run by the community and for the community. While some dedicated members have been given privileges to direct discussions and decide certain outcomes, they are expected to adhere to the best interests of the community first and foremost.
  3. MossRanking is always evolving. While we aim to be steadfast in meeting the needs of the community, some unavoidable burdens will fall upon the technical or cultural sides of development. Please be considerate of when these difficulties arise.

3. Fair Play

  1. When participating in MossRanking leaderboards, players are expected to read and understand the rules of each game and category documented on the website. Misunderstandings, should they arise, should attempt to be resolved through communication with other community members.
  2. Barring some significant circumstances, the deletion of runs is generally frowned upon and should be avoided. This is especially true of current and former world record runs, as the website aims to document these runs as well as rate all other runs relative to them. While you will never be forced to submit runs, please do so with the intent to have them remain on the website. On some occasions, publicized world records may be posted to MossRanking on behalf of an individual outside the community. Such runs can be removed if requested by the individual.
  3. When competing within the MossRanking community, competition should remain friendly and uplifting. An individual's profile, personal bests, or run preferences should never be used as an excuse to spur negativity towards others. We should always seek to be gracious and encouraging of others, even when their runs may surpass our own, to ensure that the competitive environment is welcoming to anybody involved. Lifting others up will always be more rewarding than tearing others down.

4. Enforcement

Violations of the Code of Conduct will be reviewed by MossRanking moderators and governors to determine the most appropriate actions moving forward. In most cases, any misunderstanding or violation of the above will result in a warning to the individual in question. Significant and/or repeated instances may lead to removal from our community Discord server and MossRanking itself. If you see or experience any violations of the above statements, do not hesitate to reach out to trusted community members to report them. Such reports can be anonymized if preferred.

You can report issues that stem from:

  • MossRanking
  • MossRanking Discord
  • Spelunky Discord (aka Speedrun/Community Discord)
  • Spelunky 2 Discord (aka Official/Developer Discord)
  • Any community involved Discord servers (public or private)
  • Community and MossRanking events
  • r/spelunky Subreddit
  • Social media websites (Twitter, Facebook, etc)
  • Content platforms (Twitch, YouTube, etc)
  • Direct messages

If you see or experience any violations elsewhere that still are relevant to the community, we encourage you to report those as well. The list above serves as a guideline.

5. Outreach

When issues arise, it is important for them to be addressed appropriately and timely. In many cases, we rely on communication from the community to be able to meet these expectations. As such, we encourage you to be ready and prepared to reach out to moderation.

Visit the Staff page to learn about who you can contact about any issues.

Consider joining the MossDev Discord server to keep up with development, report bugs, and request communication with a moderator.

  • No daily challenges for non-daily categories. As the seeds of daily challenges can be worked out, we allow only runs in the ordinary play mode. Please include in your video proof either the main menu or previous run's death.
  • Only solo runs except for the Co-Op categories (which are 2p2c : 2 players, 2 controllers). Co-Op mode is also allowed in the the All Achievement category for the purpose of the Good Teamwork achievement. Only 1 player is to play the run though. See the All Achievements guide for more details. Players 3 and 4 may not be used for any categories.
  • Segment Categories. For submissions in these categories, runs must feature the entirety of the run beginning from 1-1 or a valid shortcut and may end after the level/area is completed. For ease of verification, include a timestamp in your submission's link or comment. To calculate your time for individual levels, areas or paces, use the last visible times when exiting levels (accurate to 0.1s rounded down) or the exact time at the end of a run if available. For Speed IL Tutorial levels, time starts on the first frame that the black border has completely disappeared and ends on the first frame it appears after exiting the level.
  • Pausing. Pausing during an In Game Time (IGT) run can impose advantages to the player that take away from the spirit of speedrunning Spelunky. There are many gray areas when it comes to pausing and due to this, pausing is looked at in a case by case basis. Pausing in an IGT speedrun may lead to a penalty to the final time or removal of the run, at the discretion of the MossRanking team. In the case of a time penalty, a time greater than or equal to the total amount of time paused will be applied to the final time.


    The following cases of using pauses are examples that will potentially influence our decision on a time penalty or run removal.

    • - Pausing for strategic purposes (i.e. planning movements or observing the area)
    • - Intermittent pauses to slow the timer down and better plan actions
    • - Pauses to clear the level feeling text
    • - Excessive pausing

    The following examples do not cover all cases but are listed to give an idea of what to avoid when pausing during a run. As a side note, waiting during a level transition in an IGT run is not considered pausing. Pausing in score run and RTA categories is allowed.

  • No hacks. All hacks that change the game code to make the game easier for the player are disallowed. On the other hand, tampering with the save file to manipulate which characters are locked/unlocked is allowed. If you want to be the safe side, just stick to vanilla Spelunky.
  • Tools. Tools that modify the game or read the memory of the game are banned except for the ones listed below:
    The following tools from HD Toolbox are allowed outside of runs, before a run's timer (IGT, RTA, Loadless, etc) has started:
    • - Character Unlocker
    • - Slow Look / Auto-Fixer
  • Dailies and VODs. Any daily submission over $3M completed after Nov 1st 2018 is required to have a VOD. If your daily doesn't, it will be removed and not count for Daily Average/High Score.
  • Wrong Warp. In-Game Time runs must begin on 1-1 (Temple Shortcuts% must start in 4-1). Use of the tutorial wrong warp glitch for IGT runs will invalidate the run. The tutorial wrong warp glitch may be used in any RTA category.
  • Text Mods. Full ban on text mods.
  • Terrain Mods. Full ban on terrain mods.
  • Spelunker Skin Mods. Allow all except ones that blatantly attempt to abuse opacity or hitbox detection. Example skins that are not allowed is an invisible spelunker or a spelunker that shows the outline of the hitbox.
  • Enemy Skin Mods. Only allow Olmec and Yama skin mods.
  • Item / Entity / Equippable Skin Mods. Banned for the top 10 runs of a category. Any other runs can mod item skins in a way that does not attempt to abuse opacity or hitbox detection.
  • Damsel Skin Mods. Damsel mods are allowed where they are generally sized similarly to existing sprites. Mods that abuse transparency, overly saturated colors, or shapes such as hitbox outlines that could appear advantageous to a runner are not allowed.
  • Audio (SFX) Mods. Full ban on audio mods.
  • Music Mods. Allowed.
  • Audio Proof Standards. The top 10 runs in a category require in-game sounds. Music can be muted.
  • Video Proof Standards. The top 10 runs in a category require "passable" video quality. This will be judged more case by case as it is hard to set hardline rules for all the variables in video, but good rules to keep in mind to ensure verification are:

    • - Full capture of the entire game
    • - No cropping mistakes
    • - Consistent FPS above 24
    • - Overlays such as webcam are allowed, however, please avoid covering in game timer or HUD.
    • - Overlays such as trackers should have transparency if possible.
    • - An excessive number of frame drops may cause the run to be invalidated
  • Console / Version Differences. All retail versions allowed.