How to use the cube timer
This cube timer works like a speedcubing timer at a competition. Pick your puzzle at the top, scramble your cube with the moves shown (hold it with white on top and green in front), then:
- Hold the space bar, or touch and hold the big time on a phone. It turns red, then green after 0.3 seconds (you can change the hold time in Options).
- Release to start. Solve.
- Press any key, or touch anywhere on the screen, to stop.
The time is saved in the current session with its scramble, and a new scramble appears. Use +2 or DNF under the time if the solve deserves a penalty, or open any solve in the list to change it, add a comment, or delete it. Focus mode hides everything but the scramble and the time.
Scrambles
For the 3x3 and the 2x2, each scramble is random-state: the timer picks a position at random, where every position is equally likely, and then finds moves that lead to it, which is how official WCA scrambles work. The 3x3 uses Herbert Kociemba's two-phase algorithm (the open-source cubejs library), so the first scramble can take a second while its tables are built. The 2x2 scramble is a shortest solution to a random position, and positions closer than 4 moves to solved are skipped, as WCA regulation 4b3b requires. The skewb, pyraminx and square-1 scrambles are random-state too, made by the same engines as our solvers for those puzzles: a random position, written as the moves that undo its solution (the skewb at least 7 moves from solved, the pyraminx at least 6 plus its tips). The 4x4 uses 40 random moves, and the 5x5, 6x6 and 7x7 use 60, 80 and 100 random moves, the lengths of WCA scrambles, with wide turns written Rw (two layers) and 3Rw (three). Megaminx scrambles follow the WCA style (7 lines of R++ D-- turns, each ending in U or U'), and clock scrambles use WCA notation without pin positions, as official scrambles have since 2024. Megaminx and clock have no drawing yet. The drawing under the statistics shows what your puzzle should look like after the scramble, so you can check it before you start.
How the averages are worked out
The statistics follow the World Cube Association rules as closely as a practice timer can:
- Single times are cut to hundredths of a second, and averages are rounded to the nearest hundredth (regulation 9f1).
- Average of 5 (ao5): of your last 5 solves, the best and the worst are removed and the other 3 are averaged (9f8). One DNF counts as the worst time; two DNFs make the average a DNF (9f9).
- Average of 12, 50 and 100: the WCA only defines the average of 5, so these use the common practice of removing the best and worst 5% (rounded up): 1 each side for ao12, 3 for ao50, 5 for ao100. The average is a DNF when there are more DNFs than removed worst times.
- Mean of 3: a plain mean; any DNF makes it a DNF (9f11).
Inspection
Turn on 15-second inspection in Options to practice like a competition. Tap the space bar (or the time) once to start inspecting, look at the cube without turning it, then hold and release to start the solve. Under regulation A4d1, starting at 15 seconds or later adds 2 seconds; at 17 seconds or later the solve is a DNF (A4d2). The timer applies these penalties for you, and can say "8 seconds" and "12 seconds" out loud, as a judge does (A3b3, A3b4).
Your times stay on your device
Sessions are stored in this browser only. Nothing is uploaded, and clearing your browser data deletes them, so use Export CSV to keep a copy. Import CSV or csTimer reads that file back as a new session, reads files from other timers that use the usual No., Time, Comment, Scramble, Date columns, and reads a csTimer export (the .txt file from csTimer's export, or a copied time list): every csTimer session becomes a session here, with its times, +2 and DNF penalties, scrambles, comments and dates, so switching costs you nothing.
On a phone, the scramble and the big time come first on the page, with the puzzle and session choice below them, so you can start timing at once. Nothing to sign up for, here or anywhere on this site.
Sources: WCA Regulations, version of 1 April 2026 (9f, 4b3, 10e, 10f, A3, A4d). Rules checked . Found a problem? Tell us.
Questions
What is a good time on a 3x3 cube?
It depends on your method and how much you practice, so the most useful comparison is with yourself: watch your average of 12 go down over the weeks instead of chasing single lucky solves. The official records are listed on the World Cube Association website.
Why does my average of 5 ignore my best time?
That is how the WCA defines it: the best and the worst of the 5 solves are removed so one lucky or unlucky solve does not decide the result. Your best single is shown on its own line.
What do +2 and DNF mean?
+2 adds two seconds, for example when the cube is one quarter turn from solved when you stop (WCA 10e3, with the misalignment limits in 10f) or when the solve started after 15 seconds of inspection. DNF means Did Not Finish: the solve does not count, and it counts as the worst time in an average.
Are my times saved if I close the page?
Yes, in this browser on this device. They are not uploaded anywhere, so they will not appear on another device, and they are lost if you clear your browser data. Export a CSV file to keep a backup.
Can I use the timer on my phone?
Yes. Touch and hold the big time until it turns green, lift your finger to start, and touch anywhere to stop. Focus mode makes the time fill the screen.
Which way do I hold the cube to apply the scramble?
For cubes: white center on top and green center facing you, as in WCA competitions. For the pyraminx, yellow face on the bottom and green in front; for the skewb, white on top and green on the front-left face. Check your cube against the drawing.