Hey everyone.

Months ago someone in the AC7 Speedrunning Community Discord Server expressed interest in a rule change that would allow for a mid-run bathroom break. We discussed the issue as a community for a while but never arrived at a verdict. Recently a NG+ run was submitted that forced us to revisit the issue as it contained an extended break of just under 5 minutes between missions, and it’s verification would depend upon our decision regarding the proposed rule change. After a week of community debate on discord where multiple valid perspectives were raised, a compromise between those perspectives was found. On April 21st 2025, a 3 day vote was opened and the results were unanimous to adopt the change.

The proposed compromise was laid out in a document submitted to discord, here is what that document contained:

Under the current rules, mods are forced to reject any submitted run that contains an “extended pause” during a mission, or an “extended period of inactivity” between missions. The determination of whether runs contain extended pauses or inactivity is currently up to moderator discretion.

Under these rules, bathroom breaks would not be possible for certain categories as New Game runs cannot take advantage of the current method for bathroom breaks involving a period of AFK flight during missions 6,11 or 15. The community has expressed interest in a rule change that would allow for players to take a bathroom break between missions since not everyone is medically capable of going 4+ hours without one. We would also like to create a rule amendment which would no longer require the rejection of full game runs containing extended mid-mission pauses resulting from unforeseen circumstances.

During debate surrounding the proposed rule changes, the following concerns were raised:

1. We do not want to create loopholes that can be used to gain an advantage over other players.
2. We want to preserve the spirit of speedrunning by making breaks a non-competitive strategy.

So for the purpose of increasing inclusion while simultaneously maintaining the challenge and significance of performing World Records, we’ve opted to allow both between-mission inactivity and mid-mission extended pauses, but with penalty. Here are the following rule amendments:

1. Between-mission extended inactivity is now allowed within full game speedruns. It will be left to moderator discretion whether extended inactivity has occurred, but if deemed present, the entire duration of the cumulative inactivity from that between-mission section will be added to the run’s IGT as a penalty. “Between-mission section” includes the mission replay, mission results screen, next mission briefing, and hanger. Note that the game’s final cutscene (after exiting the space elevator in Mission 20) is not bound by this rule, it can be watched without penalty. Runs with more than 10 minutes of cumulative extended inactivity may be rejected at the moderator team’s discretion.

2. Extended mid-mission pauses are now allowed within full game speedruns. It is up to moderator discretion whether an extended mid-mission pause has occurred. If deemed present, the entire duration of the extended mid-mission pause/pauses from that mission will be multiplied by 2, and then added to the run’s IGT as a penalty; This results in a “double penalty”. Runs with more than 5 minutes of cumulative extended mid-mission pauses throughout the run may be rejected at the moderator team’s discretion. Note that the traditional method of taking breaks during unpaused AFK flight is not subject to penalization as the game is not paused; A break during AFK flight remains an acceptable and unpenalized strategy.

These amendments are intended to give those who could not normally perform a 4+ hour speedrun, a path to the AC7 leaderboard. Penalizing a run’s IGT (and thus its ranking) is the only way to keep extended inactivity and pauses from becoming a normal part of competitive AC7 speedruns. Runner’s are still expected to play with haste and are encouraged to not use extended inactivity or pauses unless necessary. Neither of these rule amendments apply to IL speedruns, those are still subject to rejection for the presence of extended mid-mission pauses. If your submitted run contains any extended pauses or breaks, please note where in the run they are present within the Run Description Box during submission; This will greatly increase the speed which mods can verify runs. Please reach out to the AC7 moderation team with any questions regarding AC7 Speedrunning rules.

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The NG and NG+ Category rules have been updated to reflect the voted upon changes, please check them out as the wording has been refined (click rules, and then switch tabs to “Category”). To participate in any future votes/discussion concerning rule amendments, please join the Ace Combat Speedrunning Discord Server if you haven’t already (https://discord.gg/HRbXkrsQ). There are still important discussions about the future of AC7 speedrunning to be had in the near future.

Thanks for reading and take care.