osu! spinner elements: legacy vs new, and why parts fall back to default

Spinners are the most version-sensitive part of an osu! skin. Ship the wrong set of files for the Version in skin.ini, or mix one legacy sprite into a new spinner, and the game will silently fill the gaps from the default skin mid-spin. This page is a map of the two layouts and a short test you can run after packing an .osk.

Written while cataloguing skins for osuskins.org, an unofficial osu! skin catalogue. Not affiliated with ppy.

Which spinner the game will use

The switch is the Version key in the [General] section of skin.ini:

• Missing Version, or 1.0: the legacy spinner.
• 2.0 and later (including latest): the new spinner.

Changing Version also affects other elements (mania layout, some slider start/end circles), so do not bump it only to “get the new spinner” without checking the rest of the skin.

Legacy spinner files

• spinner-background.png — the backdrop, often a dark disc or the old osu! logo treatment.
• spinner-circle.png — the rotating circle.
• spinner-metre.png — the vertical metre that fills as you spin. This is the file people most often size wrong; a metre that is too short looks like the spinner never completes.
• spinner-approachcircle.png — the ring that closes as the spinner’s time runs out. This is not the same sprite as the hit-object approachcircle.png.
• spinner-spin.png / spinner-clear.png — the “SPIN” and “CLEAR” prompts.
• spinner-osu.png — the old logo element some legacy skins still expect.

New spinner files (Version 2.0+)

• spinner-bottom.png, spinner-top.png — the lower and upper layers of the disc.
• spinner-middle.png and spinner-middle2.png — the middle layers; one of them typically rotates or fills as you gain speed.
• spinner-approachcircle.png — still used as the time ring.
• spinner-spin.png and spinner-clear.png — still used as prompts.
• spinner-warning.png — optional warning sprite some skins add before a spinner appears.

A frequent mistake is leaving legacy files in the folder and adding a partial new set. The game will not composite both. It picks one layout from Version, then falls back per missing file. The result is a custom top layer sitting on the default bottom, or a default “SPIN” prompt in a completely different art style.

skin.ini extras

SpinnerFadePlayfield (under [General]) fades the playfield while a spinner is active. That is often desirable, but if your spinner art is itself semi-transparent, fading the playfield can leave a muddy hole in the middle of the screen. Test with a busy background video, not on the default background.

As with other elements, @2x and 1x should be a matched pair. A new-style spinner that only ships @2x will look soft for players who have retina textures disabled.

A short test

1. Confirm Version matches the file set you actually drew.
2. Play a map with a long spinner and a very short one. Watch the metre or middle layer: it should reach a clear “complete” state, and the approach ring should still be visible near the end.
3. Look for any sprite that suddenly switches style mid-spin — that is a default fallback.
4. If you are choosing a finished skin, compare spinner previews at osuskins.org/best and follow the install guide so you can repeat the test in your client. The main catalogue is at osuskins.org.

Notes by ZentaoLabs. Unofficial fan resource, not affiliated with ppy or osu!.