What counts as a valid speedrun?
Whatever the category rules say — which is the whole point. Speedrunning has no single definition of a valid run, because different categories deliberately permit different things, and the rules are maintained by community consensus.
Timing methods:
Real Time Attack (RTA) — wall-clock time from start to finish, including loading screens. Most common.
In-Game Time (IGT) — the game's own timer, used where loading times vary by hardware and would otherwise make comparison unfair.
Load Removed Time (LRT) — real time with loading screens subtracted, an attempt to combine fairness with wall-clock honesty.
The main category types:
Any% — reach the ending by any means. Usually the fastest and most technically extreme category, since it permits whatever the rules allow.
100% — complete everything, as defined by the category rules, which must specify what counts.
Glitchless — no glitches, with the community defining precisely which techniques count as glitches. This is where most rule disputes happen, because the boundary between an exploit and clever play is not obvious.
Low%, All Bosses, No Major Skips and dozens of game-specific categories.
What is generally accepted: sequence breaks and glitches in categories permitting them, since the community view is that the game's actual behaviour is the game.
What is generally prohibited: external tools that play for you. Tool-assisted speedruns (TAS) — using frame-by-frame input, save states and rewinding — are a respected separate discipline showing theoretical limits, but are never mixed with human categories. Also prohibited: modified game files unless the category allows, cheat devices, and splicing separate segments together.
Verification. Leaderboards such as speedrun.com require video evidence, and moderators review submissions. High-profile runs have been retracted after community analysis found inconsistencies — load times that were impossible, or audio that did not match.
Emulator runs are often separated from console runs.