Reference · 40 terms

The Frameperfectguide glossary

Splits, seeds, raids and runbacks: the words you will hear around speedruns, esports broadcasts and live streams, each explained in a sentence or two.

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100%#: A category that requires completing everything a game offers, as defined in that game's leaderboard rules. The definition varies from game to game.
Any%#: A speedrun category where the goal is to reach the end of the game as fast as possible, with no requirement to collect anything. Any completion percentage counts, which is where the name comes from.
Auto-splitter#: A script that reads a game's state and presses the split timer automatically. Speedrun.com's rules allow community-approved tools like these.
Bo1 / Bo3 / Bo5#: Best of one, three or five: series formats in which the first player or team to win the majority of games wins the match.
Bracket#: The chart showing how players or teams progress through a knockout tournament, from early rounds to the final.
Caster#: An esports commentator. Broadcasts often pair a play-by-play caster, who describes the action, with an analyst who explains the strategy.
Category#: The goal of a speedrun, such as any%, 100% or All Bosses. Each category has written rules, including exactly when timing starts and ends.
Clip#: A short excerpt of a live stream or past broadcast, shared as its own link. Twitch clips can be from 5 to 60 seconds long.
Double elimination#: A format where a team must lose twice to be eliminated. After a first loss, teams drop into a lower bracket and can still fight their way to the final.
Emote#: A small image used in stream chat, like an emoji. Channels often have their own emotes for subscribers or members.
Frame-perfect#: A trick that must be performed on one exact frame of the game, typically one-sixtieth or one-thirtieth of a second, depending on the game's frame rate.
GG#: "Good game": said at the end of a match or run as a sign of sportsmanship.
Glitchless#: A ruleset that bans tricks the game's community classes as glitches. Advanced but intended techniques are usually still allowed.
Gold split#: A runner's fastest ever time for a single segment, often shown in gold by timer software.
IGT#: In-game time: timing taken from the game's own clock, which usually does not count loading screens.
IL#: Individual level: a leaderboard for a single stage or mission rather than the whole game. ILs are a popular, lower-pressure way to compete.
LAN#: Local area network. In esports it means an in-person event where players compete on the same network in one venue, rather than online from home.
Low%#: A category where the runner finishes the game while collecting as little as possible. It is one of the percentage names Speedrun.com lists as common and acceptable.
LRT#: Load-removed time: real time with loading screens removed by an outside program, so players on slower hardware are not disadvantaged.
Marathon#: A charity event where speedruns are streamed back to back, often for a week, while viewers donate. Games Done Quick, ESA and UKSG are examples.
Meta#: The strategies, characters or items widely seen as most effective in a game at a given time. Game updates often shift the meta.
Mod#: A chat moderator: someone a streamer trusts to remove messages and time out or ban users who break the channel's rules.
PB#: Personal best: a runner's fastest completed time in a category. Beating it is the main goal of most practice sessions.
Raid#: When a streamer ends their broadcast by sending their viewers to another live channel.
Reset#: Abandoning a run part-way through, usually after a mistake makes a personal best unlikely, and starting again.
RNG#: Random number generation: the parts of a game left to chance, such as enemy behaviour or item drops. Some runs try to influence it; others simply hope for good luck.
Round robin#: A format where every team in a group plays every other team, with standings decided by results across all matches.
Route#: The planned path through a run: the order of objectives, items, skips and tricks. Routes change as communities find faster strategies.
RTA#: Real Time Attack: a human speedrun timed in real time, like a stopwatch, from start to finish. Most leaderboard runs are RTA.
Seed#: A ranking given to a team before a tournament, used to place them in the bracket so the strongest teams do not meet in the earliest rounds.
Segment#: The part of a run between two splits. Runners often practise difficult segments on their own before attempting full runs.
Sequence break#: Completing parts of a game out of the order the designers intended, often using a glitch or clever movement.
Single elimination#: A knockout format where one match loss ends a team's tournament.
Split#: A checkpoint time recorded during a run, such as the end of a level. Timer software compares each split with previous attempts to show where time was gained or lost.
Sum of best#: All of a runner's gold segments added together. It gives a rough idea of how fast a run could be if every section went perfectly.
Swiss#: A format where teams with the same win-loss record play each other each round. Nobody is knocked out after one loss, and teams advance or exit after reaching a set number of wins or losses.
TAS#: Tool-assisted speedrun: a run built from pre-programmed inputs using emulator tools such as save states and frame advance. It is presented openly as tool-assisted and kept separate from human runs.
Verification#: The check a leaderboard moderator makes before a submitted run appears on the board. On Speedrun.com, moderators watch the video and verify or reject the run.
VOD#: Video on demand: a recording of a past live broadcast that can be watched later. On live platforms, stored broadcasts may expire after a set time.
WR#: World record: the fastest verified time on a leaderboard for a category. It is usually expected to be watched in full by moderators before it is verified.

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