📏 Break Rules

To support accessibility and well-being during long Factorio speedruns, breaks are allowed, but under strict conditions to ensure fairness. Breaks are currently allowed only in non-challenger runs. Time spent on breaks does not count toward final run time.

🔒 Challenger Runs (Top 3)

• Break rules do not apply to Challenger Runs
• Any breaks taken are included in the final time

⏸️ Short Breaks (Non-Challenger Only)

A short break is a pause without saving or closing the game, typically for restroom, food, or stretching.

• Short breaks may last up to 10 minutes

• You may take 1 short break for every 2 full hours of final run time

• Short breaks may be taken at any point during the run, regardless of when the 2-hour marks occur

• The game state must be paused during the break

• The entire break must be visible in the recording

Example: A run with a final time of 07:59:00 is allowed 3 short breaks at any point during the run. For example one at 00:20:00, 00:55:00, and 04:10:00.

💾 Long Breaks (Non-Challenger Only)

A long break allows saving and closing the game to resume later, typically on another day.

• This is not a segmented run: Each long break may be continued exactly once, with no retries.

• Allowed only after 4 hours of gameplay since the start of the run or the previous long break.

• Time spent on short breaks does not count toward this 4-hour requirement

• A long break begins only once the game state is paused or closed, not when the save is created. Leaving the game running may count as immediate continuation and is not permitted.

• The run must be completed within 8 days of starting

• Recording of the break itself is not required

⚠️ Warning: In categories that require achievements to be completed (e.g. 100%), any achievement progress made during a break may invalidate the run. You must not play any other save, as this may affect achievement tracking.

Example #1: A runner plays from 00:00:00 to 02:00:00, takes a 5-minute short break (02:00:00–02:05:00), then plays from 02:05:00 to 04:05:00. This totals 4 hours of gameplay, so a long break may now be taken at 04:05:00.

Example #2: In an all achievements category run, a player saves the game without pausing or quitting, then stops the recording while the game remains running. Since achievement progress (e.g. 20 million green circuits) occurs during the unrecorded period, this break may invalidate the run.

⚖️General Break Rules (Non-Challenger Only)

• Breaks may never be used to gain insight or advantage, including pausing during complex situations, inspecting replays, analyzing the save file, or planning actions between segments

• Timestamps for all breaks must be included in the submission description

⛔ Violations

• Runs that violate short break rules will be retimed to exclude the break period.

• Runs that violate long break rules will be retimed if possible, otherwise rejected.