Datenshi PP System Update

Why change it at all?

Our old pp formula was built by hand years ago, and tuned by trial and error against a handful of sample plays. Over time we found it had real bugs, the kind that could make a play worth 20 to 40 times more pp than it should on certain maps. It also never quite matched how the real osu! game calculates difficulty and performance.

The new calculator (we call it Senku) is built to match the official game's own math exactly. We tested it directly against real scores from the official osu! servers, and the numbers line up to the decimal. For vanilla play (no Relax), this means your pp will now be calculated the same way it would be on the official game.

What changes for vanilla play

Most scores will land close to where they were. The biggest changes happen on maps where the old formula's bugs were hiding, especially maps that stack several mods together, or very fast "stream" maps where a specific miscalculation used to inflate pp. Those get corrected now. You can browse real examples for every mode below.

What changes for Relax play

This one needs a bit more explanation. The official osu! game doesn't actually give out official pp for Relax at all: it's not a mode the real servers rank. So there's no "correct answer" we can copy from the real game the way we can for vanilla. What we can do is use the same accurate difficulty math and be honest about what Relax actually removes: with Relax, the game aims and clicks precisely for you, so timing-based skill stops mattering as much. The new system reflects that honestly, which on its own would make most Relax pp drop quite a bit.

Since we don't want Relax to suddenly feel worthless, we're adding a manual bonus on top, a different amount for each mode, based on how big the drop was:

osu!standard+50% bonus
osu!taikono bonus needed
osu!catchno bonus needed

Heads up: even with the bonus, some individual Relax scores will still end up lower than before, especially on very fast, stream-heavy maps, where Relax genuinely removes more of the challenge. This isn't a bug, it's the new system being honest about difficulty instead of applying one flat number to everything.

See it for yourself

Below is a real sample of maps and real scores from our database, showing the old pp next to the new one for every mode, vanilla and Relax. Search for your favorite map or sort any column to explore.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the same map show a lower star rating (SR) with Relax than without it?
SR isn't just a description of the map's note pattern, it's an estimate of how much skill is needed to full-combo it. Relax changes what skill actually gets used: the game auto-hits notes for you as long as your cursor is in the right place, so precise click timing stops being something you need to get right. Because that skill is genuinely no longer required, it's no longer counted toward the rating either. This isn't a display bug, it's the new calculator being accurate about what Relax removes.

How much it drops depends on the mode:
- osu!standard sees the biggest drop. Precise, fast clicking is the piece that gets removed entirely, so "stream" or speed-heavy maps lose a lot more of their rating than maps that are mostly about aiming.
- osu!taiko drops by less. Quickly reading alternating hit patterns matters less under Relax, but the map's overall pace and density still count.
- osu!catch doesn't change at all. We checked the official game's own difficulty code directly, and Relax never touches catch's rating or pp there either, so we left catch exactly as it was.
This is also why the Relax bonus isn't a single flat number: it's larger for standard, where more of the real difficulty gets removed, and unnecessary for taiko and catch.

We're switching to a new, more accurate PP calculator

Why change it at all?

What changes for vanilla play

What changes for Relax play

See it for yourself

Before & after browser

Frequently asked questions