Upload Rules#

These rules apply to every map and every new version you upload, from the website or from the mod, in every status: public, work in progress, awaiting review and hidden. They are part of the Workshop Terms. Before your first upload, also read Content Usage and Permissions.

1. What you confirm#

1.1 Once, before your first upload, a short page shows what these rules ask of you, and you confirm two things: that you have read it and accept these Upload Rules and the Workshop Terms, and that "I am 16 or older, and if I am under 18 a parent or guardian agrees to what I publish here". If your qwu.world account already gave its date of birth when it was created, the age is taken from there and only the first confirmation is asked. Everything else this document asks of you (the rights to the music and the cover, honest content marks, the rest) is part of what you accept there, and the rights to one particular map are confirmed again at the last step of every upload (section 1.2). We record which version of each document you accepted and when. We ask again only when one of the two documents changes, and then we say what changed.

1.2 On every upload, on the last step, you confirm that you have the right to upload this music, cover and charts, or permission from the people who made them. This confirmation is given again for every new version, including one that replaces the audio or the cover.

1.3 Answer every upload step truthfully. Not reading a question does not excuse a wrong answer.

2. Rights#

2.1 Every part of a map needs a basis:

Audio: a Library track; a licence that allows this use; your own music; written permission from the rights holders; or no audio at all (players then use their own copy of the song).
Cover: your own image, an image you have permission for, or one under a licence that allows it.
Charts: your own, or published with their authors' permission.

2.2 Write in Credits where hosted audio and the cover come from: the licence and a link to it, or who gave permission and when. Keep the proof and show it to staff if they ask.

2.3 Music by artists marked "not allowed" in the artist permission list cannot be uploaded with audio. For artists marked "allowed with exceptions", follow the notes.

2.4 Not sure you have permission? Publish the map without audio.

2.5 First maps from new uploaders are reviewed before they appear publicly. A reviewer will not approve hosted audio that appears to be a commercial release unless it is a Library track, the credits name a licence or permission, or the artist allows it. The map is then approved without its audio, with no penalty, or you are asked to fix it.

2.6 A map is featured only when its audio has a clear basis: a Library track, no hosted audio, or a licence or permission a curator has checked.

3. Original work and credit#

3.1 Charts must be your own work or used with their authors' permission. Making your own map for a song that already has maps is fine.

3.2 Do not copy or convert charts from other players' maps or from other rhythm games without the chart author's permission.

3.3 Credit everyone who made charts in the map.

3.4 Do not re-upload someone else's Workshop map, changed or not, without their permission.

4. Audio#

4.1 Accepted formats: Ogg Vorbis, MP3, FLAC, WAV, M4A/AAC and Opus, up to 64 MiB, from 10 seconds to 15 minutes long. The Workshop converts the audio to Ogg Vorbis when needed.

4.2 Use the best-quality source you legitimately have. Do not upload low-quality copies re-encoded to look better.

4.3 No audio made so loud that it distorts, no sudden noise meant to startle or hurt, and no silence or loops added only to make a track longer.

4.4 The audio must be the song named in the title and artist fields. Mark edited versions in the title (section 6.2).

4.5 A map without audio still identifies the song players need. The upload step reads a fingerprint (size, length and a checksum) from your own copy; the file itself never leaves your computer.

5. Cover#

5.1 JPEG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MiB, at least 320 × 180 pixels.

5.2 Covers must suit everyone aged 13 and up, even when the song is marked explicit: no sexual content, gore, hate symbols or shocking images (Community Rules). Publishing is 16+, but the catalogue is open to anyone, including players without an account, and a cover is the first thing they see.

5.3 Credit the artist or source of the cover in Credits. Mark covers made with AI.

5.4 No advertising, links, QR codes or personal data in the cover.

6. Title, artist and other details#

6.1 Take the title and artist from an official source, such as the artist's release or official page. Use the original script fields for names in non-Latin scripts.

6.2 Mark shortened, extended, sped-up, slowed, cover, remix and similar versions in the title, for example "(Sped Up)" or "(Remix)".

6.3 Name the real performer as the artist. If a song is credited to a fictional character, add the performer too.

6.4 Tags must describe the song or the map. No unrelated popular names or long lists of keywords.

6.5 Pick the genre and language that fit.

6.6 Do not suggest that a map is official, made by QwU World, featured, a Library track, or made by someone else when it is not.

6.7 Descriptions follow the Community Rules. No links to piracy, rippers, ads or referral programmes.

6.8 If you show a linked Minecraft account on your profile, its UUID is written into map files you publish.

7. Content marks#

7.1 Explicit: mark a map when its lyrics contain strong swearing, sexual content, drug use or intense violence that stands out in the song. If a music service labels the track explicit, mark it too. The mark covers the audio only; covers, titles and descriptions must be suitable for all ages regardless, because they show in listings that anyone can see. Explicit maps are hidden in listings unless a player chooses to see them.

7.2 Flashing effects: mark a map when its chart effects flash or strobe more than 3 times per second. The mod warns players before they play it.

7.3 AI-generated: there are separate marks for audio, cover and charts. Use them when AI tools created all or a substantial part of that element. Marked AI content is allowed, and curators decide whether to feature it. An AI imitation of a real person's voice needs that person's permission, like any other use of their voice.

7.4 Spoilers: mark a map when its description reveals the plot of a game, show, film or book.

7.5 Staff may set or correct marks. Repeatedly wrong marks can lead to a warning.

8. Song content#

8.1 Not allowed: songs that promote hatred against people because of who they are (for example ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity), that glorify or call for violence or terrorism, that spread extremist propaganda, that harass or threaten real people, that sexualise minors, or that are otherwise illegal.

8.2 All other political and social topics are allowed. We do not remove a song only because it is political.

8.3 In borderline cases we explain the problem and first ask for a change (section 11).

9. Limits#

Current limits (they may change; the upload page shows the values that apply to you):

new maps per day: 5, or 2 if your account is less than 7 days old;
uploads in progress at the same time: 3;
maps awaiting review plus maps marked work in progress: 10 in total;
up to 16 charts per map; each chart up to 2 MiB, with 1 to 4,096 notes and up to 512 effects.

First maps from accounts younger than 7 days, or from uploaders who have no public map yet, wait for approval by staff.

10. Not allowed#

broken, disguised or harmful files, or files that do not belong in a map;
the same map uploaded again and again, or spam uploads;
uploading albums or discographies you have no rights to;
forged or altered permissions or licences;
anyone's personal data, including your own;
advertising, referral links and invitations unrelated to the map;
anything that breaks the Community Rules.

11. What happens when rules are broken#

Small problems with the cover, details or marks: we ask you to fix them within 7 days. If nothing changes, staff fix or remove that part, without a sanction.
Borderline song content: the first time, the audio is removed or you are asked to replace it, without a sanction. If it happens again, the audio is removed and a sanction follows.
Rights problems: the audio or cover can be removed. A removal because of a copyright notice is a strike (Copyright and Illegal Content).
Serious or repeated breaches: sanctions up to losing upload access (Moderation).
Forged permissions or uploading ripped albums: upload access ends straight away.

Every decision comes with a statement of reasons, and you can appeal it.

12. Changes#

Version 3 (18 September 2026). Publishing, commenting and rating are now 16+. In section 1.1 you confirm that you are 16 or older and, if you are under 18, that a parent or guardian agrees to what you publish. Covers, titles and descriptions still have to suit everyone aged 13 and up (sections 5.2 and 7.1): the catalogue is open to anyone, with or without an account.
Version 2 (18 September 2026). The rules are now accepted once, before your first upload, instead of on every upload: section 1 splits the standing confirmations (rights to the music and the cover, honest content marks, the age confirmation, acceptance of these rules and the Workshop Terms) from the single confirmation you still give for every map. Nothing else changed.
Version 1 (17 September 2026). First version.