Frequently asked questions
If you're looking for answers, perhaps some of these tidbits will be of help. You can also look at our help page for more detailed information about how to use the website.
What is racetime.gg anyway?
racetime.gg is a place where you can organise races online between people all over the world. It provides a simple, yet modern and secure platform to help you and your friends (or rivals) compete in real-time.
What does this site offer that other places don't?
racetime.gg prides itself on providing the most versatile and straightforward platform for races. Features come as standard here that you may struggle to find elsewhere, including:
- Ease of use. Getting started with races is quick and simple, all you need is a Twitch account for streaming and you'll soon be set. For communities looking to grow their racing scene, making it easy as possible to jump into races is a clear no-brainer.
- A space for your community. Each game category can have multiple leaderboards, per-game moderators, bots, and much more. Behind the simple interface, there are some powerful tools to help category moderators nurture their racing scene. We want to put your community in charge.
- Open source. Why does that matter? It means the site will remain free, and can be developed and improved as time goes on. Maintaining core functionality is important to us, but so is building new features to the benefit of everyone in the community.
- Modern security. Full end-to-end encryption, best-practice data storage and professionally-backed hosting ensures the safety of all our racers, spectators, and other stakeholders.
- Fine-tuned control. Set up invitational races for your ongoing tourney bracket. Use our chat filtering tools to avoid nasty mid-race spoilers. And yet more still to come.
Can I use LiveSplit?
LiveSplit has an integrated plugin for joining racetime.gg races and syncing your splits timer with the race room. You can find more details on our LiveSplit integration guide page.
Do you have a Discord bot?
Yes we do! If you are a Discord server admin/owner, then you can add our race announcer bot to your community with just a few simple clicks. Please read the wiki guide for more details.
My game isn't listed, what should I do?
You can request a new category to be added to the site, simply fill in the form (note: you'll need to create an account and log in first), and within 24 hours your new category should be approved and visible on the site. The person who requests the category will be granted ownership by default, but that person can transfer ownership to any other racetime.gg user via the category's "Manage" page.
If you just want to get stuck in with a race straight away without waiting for your request to be approved, start a race in the miscellaneous category. This category can also be used for races that defy simple categorisation (e.g. multi-game relays).
If you race a game under miscellaneous and that game later gets added via category request, we'll move the completed races over to the newly-made category for you.
I'm a moderator/organiser for [game]. How can I get started?
If your game isn't already listed, add a request and once approved you'll be given ownership status, allowing you access to the game's moderation tools.
If the game is already listed but doesn't have an owner, please DM the site staff (available via Discord) your request to adopt the category. We'll get back to you ASAP.
In the case of a disputed ownership, we will typically look at who holds authority on speedrun.com leaderboards, relevant Discord servers or other clear points of authority. Ideally there should be consensus amongst members of the game's community as to who should manage races; if this is not possible then the category may come under direct rule temporarily.
What's your data/privacy policy?
Our policy regarding user privacy and data is summarised on the about page. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to get in contact. We will always strive to make sure your user data is well-protected.
How can I report a problem/make suggestions?
If you have a technical issue, you can either ask for help on our Discord server, or you can report a bug via GitHub. You can also suggest new features this way.
If you have an query about a race result, moderation decision or similar, please either get in touch with the category's moderators, or with racetime.gg site staff via Discord.