Run Rules
⟁Category codes, rules & verification
Rules & Categories
The authoritative spec for SF-Rider verified runs. The mod links here from its Start SF-Run dialog — runners read it mid-session. Two halves: the rulebook (how runs are recorded, verified, and judged) and the two Path pyramids (how categories multiply).
How runs are recorded and submitted
There is no manual submission form. The SF-Rider mod records the run automatically:
- The category is chosen in the mod’s Start SF-Run dialog and is frozen when the world is created; it can never be changed afterwards.
- The clock starts at the runner’s first movement (looking around at spawn is free; the storm-gate descent is equal, free scouting for everyone).
- Splits, session boundaries, world-modifier state, and integrity telemetry upload automatically during play.
- When the run reaches a terminal state — completed, death, or forfeit — the final time, the full route trace, and the world map upload automatically and the run appears on the site.
- Video is not required for a run to appear, but is strongly recommended for competitive times: reviewers may request video and/or a recorded history of attempts before verifying record-level runs (see B2). Runners intending to compete at the top should record their attempts.
Verification and approval
Every completed run passes an automated verification pipeline before it ranks:
- ✓the reported category matches the world’s minted category;
- ✓the world’s modifier state matches the category (default, or exactly the Hardcore preset);
- ✓the splits satisfy the category’s goal;
- ✓the mod build is a known, unmodified release (integrity manifest);
- ✓no integrity flags at or above the blocking threshold (console cheats enabled mid-run, a second player joining a solo world, debugger/injection detection, blind-seed access anomalies);
- ✓one completed run per world.
Runs that pass automatically are marked Verified and rank. Runs with review-relevant signals (e.g. break patterns on Anchor suggesting combat logout, Glitchless runs, record times) are marked Needs review and are checked by a human before ranking. Human reviewers may request video or attempt history; runs may be rejected at reviewer discretion for violations of these rules or of good faith (B3). Deaths and forfeits are never ranked but remain visible with their full data (map, route, splits) for review and for the runner’s own records.
Fair play
Runs are expected to be performed in good faith. Runs may be rejected at reviewer discretion if performed otherwise — including, but not limited to: extended stalling to achieve a specific time; deliberately targeting a last-place or longest-possible time; or exploiting technicalities in the written rules in a manner contrary to the spirit of the category. Long runs and runs with breaks are considered good faith so long as genuine effort is being made.
Techniques: allowed and banned
Defined and enforced by the mod today — both Paths
- The developer console is locked during an active run (only
/ggto forfeit and/vrfor status); it unlocks when the run ends.devcommandsleft enabled from practice is automatically disabled when a race world is entered; enabling cheats during a run flags it. - External tools that modify the save or the game client are banned (integrity-scanned).
- One seed per run: worlds are minted once and the category (and seed) are immutable.
- On Random-seed runs the seed is mechanically unlearnable; attempting to extract it is a violation. On Set-seed runs the seed is public and any planning tool is fine.
- Anchor: logging out to de-aggro enemies is banned (human-reviewed). Vortex: relogging is allowed; quitting the game forfeits.
The Glitchless rulesets (all of Anchor; opt-in on Vortex) currently use this working definition, which has not yet been ratified against the community’s technique list.
Banned
- · Terrain / collision clipping
- · Out-of-bounds movement
- · Item or resource duplication
- · Any technique that depends on the game failing to enforce its own rules
Allowed
- · Routing
- · Combat technique
- · Crafting efficiency
- · Terrain use via intended tools
Edge cases will be ratified explicitly and this section updated; until then, reviewers resolve disputes case by case.
Outcomes
Completed
The category’s goal was met; eligible for verification and ranking.
Death
Permadeath was active and the runner died; terminal, never ranks, full data retained.
Forfeit
The runner gave up via /gg or the forfeit hotkey, or (Vortex) quit the game or left the run’s world mid-run; terminal, never ranks, full data retained.
Anchor’s Path
Starts at the runner’s first movement, pauses during breaks (logout, menu), and resumes in the next session on the same world and character. Multi-session runs are fully supported. Logging out to de-aggro enemies is a rules violation, assessed by human review. All breaks are visible to reviewers via the session log.
Always. No clipping, out-of-bounds, item duplication, or exploits. No "glitches allowed" option on Anchor.
Blind. Server-generated, never written to disk, console masked, map cache disabled. Revealed only after the run ends.
Public. Runner chooses the seed; study it in any external tool before and during the run. No blind-seed checks.
All seven, any order. Clock stops on the final kill of the set.
The complete set up to and including a chosen target, any kill order. Clock stops on the last missing boss of that set.
Only the chosen boss; everything else may be skipped.
On: death ends the run as a terminal, non-ranking result. Off: standard.
On: world created with Stormforge’s official Hardcore preset, verified server-side. Off: default modifiers.
Each is an independent leaderboard, ranked by in-world time, with loadless time displayed alongside.
Vortex’s Path
Starts at the runner’s first movement and keeps running through everything you do: the pause menu counts, teleports count, logging out to the main menu counts, relogging counts. Relogging to de-aggro enemies is permitted — it simply costs the time it takes. The only way to stop the clock is deliberate: press the Pause hotkey to take an intentional break ("that's it for today"), and press it again to resume — every pause and resume is recorded with its exact run-time and is visible to reviewers. Closing the game also stops the clock where it stands (a crash or forced update simply does the same): the run is not lost — it resumes from the saved time next session, so a Vortex run may span multiple sessions. Which breaks are acceptable for a ranked run is defined in the review rules, not by the mod — the mod's job is to make every break visible.
Default. Any technique the game permits — clipping, duplication, exploits. Every trick costs only the seconds it takes.
Same continuous clock, but no clipping, out-of-bounds, or duplication. Clean play, human-reviewed. Separate leaderboards.
Blind. Server-generated, never written to disk, console masked, map cache disabled. Revealed only after the run ends.
Public. Runner chooses the seed; study it in any external tool before and during the run. No blind-seed checks.
All seven, any order. Clock stops on the final kill of the set.
The complete set up to and including a chosen target, any kill order. Clock stops on the last missing boss of that set.
Only the chosen boss; everything else may be skipped.
On: death ends the run as a terminal, non-ranking result. Off: standard.
On: world created with Stormforge’s official Hardcore preset, verified server-side. Off: default modifiers.
Each is an independent leaderboard, ranked by real-time (RTA).