Why the WCA Is Switching to 4-Pad Timers for Speedcubing

Since the SpeedStacks G5 Timer was released in 2021, its extra thumb pads have been largely irrelevant to speedcubers. The G5 has two operating modes: the traditional 2-Pad mode used for speedcubing and 4-Pad mode, which was designed for competitive sport stacking.

For years, speedcubers simply switched their G5 timers into 2-Pad mode and effectively used them in the same way as previous generations. However, a problem that has already caused controversy within the sport stacking community has increasingly affected speedcubing as well.

After around two years of controversy surrounding timer starts and "sliding", the World Cube Association has now decided that 4-Pad mode will become the standard for official speedcubing competitions.

Why does the WCA use SpeedStacks timers?

Historically, the World Cube Association has allowed SpeedStacks G3, G4 and G5 timers to be used for official solves. This means that at some competitions there may be a mixture of timer generations in use, and a competitor could theoretically use one generation for one solve and another for their next.

Meanwhile, several major speedcube manufacturers have developed their own timers.

The QiYi Speedcubing Timer, MoYu Timer V2, FanXin Speedcubing Timer and ShengShou Timer V3 all provide the familiar two-hand timing system at considerably lower prices than the SpeedStacks G5.

There are also more advanced options such as the QiYi Smart Timer, which adds Bluetooth connectivity and automatic solve logging.

These timers are perfectly useful for practising at home, but they have not been approved for official WCA competition solves. As a result, the significantly more expensive SpeedStacks timers have remained the standard for competitions.

You can see the different options available in our speedcubing timers collection.

The speedcubing "sliding" controversy

The problem became particularly prominent in 2024, when speedcubers discovered just how much could potentially be gained by sliding off the timer.

Under a normal start, a competitor places both hands flat on the timer sensors, waits for the green light, then lifts both hands completely away before touching and turning the puzzle.

With a sliding start, however, the competitor moves their hands towards the cube in such a way that contact with the timer sensors can be maintained for slightly longer. This creates the possibility of beginning the solve — potentially even making moves on the puzzle — before the timer has actually started counting.

At full speed, this can be extremely difficult for a judge to notice.

Slow the footage down, however, and it can become obvious.

This became a major controversy surrounding Yiheng Wang, who was found to have used questionable sliding starts on multiple occasions. Several results were subsequently affected, most famously his extraordinary 0.78-second 2×2 average, which initially stood as a world record while the WCA considered how the regulations should be applied.

The situation exposed a major weakness in the existing approach.

Historically, the WCA had been reluctant to retrospectively penalise results based on frame-by-frame analysis of video footage. That principle makes sense in many situations: official results should generally be determined by the delegates and judges present at the competition rather than thousands of people analysing every frame of a solve online afterwards.

But sliding created an uncomfortable situation where video could provide clear evidence that a competitor had started turning the puzzle before the timer had started.

Eventually, the 0.78 average was penalised and the regulations were clarified to allow video evidence to be used when determining whether the timer had actually started before moves were made.

But video review didn't solve the underlying problem

Allowing slow-motion footage to be reviewed helped, but it was never a particularly satisfying long-term solution.

There continued to be controversies surrounding sliding, particularly involving Yiheng Wang. Some members of the community observed a pattern where his starts would become noticeably cleaner following a controversy, before gradually becoming more aggressive again.

More importantly, relying on video footage creates an obvious inconsistency.

A world-class solve recorded from several angles might be analysed frame by frame by thousands of cubers. A 10-second solve at a small local competition may have no video footage whatsoever.

Ideally, the equipment itself should make an illegal start extremely difficult rather than relying on retrospective analysis to detect one.

And the G5 already has a feature designed to do exactly that.

What is 4-Pad mode?

The SpeedStacks G5 has two additional sensors positioned below the normal hand pads.

In 4-Pad mode, the competitor must have both palms on the main sensors and both thumbs on the lower sensors before the timer becomes ready to start.

This makes sliding significantly more difficult.

Instead of simply sweeping your hands inwards towards the cube, you need to remove both your hands and thumbs from four separate sensors. The natural movement required to do this makes it much harder to maintain contact with the timer while simultaneously reaching the puzzle.

On a G5 timer, you can switch between 2-Pad and 4-Pad modes by holding the reset button for around five seconds.

Until now, speedcubers have generally had little reason to use this feature. That is about to change.

Why didn't the WCA introduce 4-Pad mode earlier?

There has been significant support within the cubing community for mandatory 4-Pad starts for some time, but there are disadvantages.

One of the biggest is equipment.

If competitions require 4-Pad timers, they effectively require the SpeedStacks G5 rather than allowing organisers to continue using older G3 and G4 timers.

There has also been discussion surrounding SpeedStacks' patents. With other manufacturers producing inexpensive 2-Pad timers, some cubers hoped that future changes to the patent situation could eventually make it possible for the WCA to approve timers from companies such as QiYi, MoYu or ShengShou.

That could be particularly important in countries where buying dozens of SpeedStacks timers represents a substantial cost for competition organisers.

Another proposed solution has been to abandon physical timers entirely and use smart cubes. A smart cube can detect the exact moment the first turn is made, meaning the solve could theoretically start automatically as soon as the puzzle moves.

That would eliminate the timer-start problem almost completely.

However, requiring smart cubes for official solves would be an enormous change to competitive speedcubing. It would affect the puzzles competitors can use, introduce batteries and electronics into every official solve and require a complete overhaul of competition equipment and procedures.

4-Pad mode is a much simpler solution.

The WCA has made its decision

The WCA has now decided to require 4-Pad mode for official competition solves from next year.

This means competitions will need access to sufficient numbers of G5 timers, rather than continuing to rely on older generations. To help with this transition, the WCA has said that G5 timers will be supplied to regions that currently do not have enough of them, funded through the WCA dues organisers pay as part of competition registration fees.

For competitors, the practical consequence is simple:

If you regularly compete, it is worth starting to practise in 4-Pad mode now.

The change is small, but the movement is noticeably different.

With a traditional 2-Pad start, your hands can move directly from the two sensors towards the cube. With four pads, your thumbs also need to disengage from the lower sensors.

For most events, the difference will be negligible.

But what about 2×2?

Could 4-Pad mode make the 0.39 2×2 world record unbeatable?

This is where things get interesting.

For a 10-second 3×3 solve, adding even a few hundredths of a second to the start makes almost no meaningful difference.

For an elite 2×2 solve lasting less than half a second, it absolutely does.

The current 0.39-second 2×2 world record single was achieved using a conventional 2-Pad start. Under 4-Pad mode, competitors will have to remove their thumbs as well as their palms before reaching the puzzle.

Even if the difference is tiny, it becomes significant when the entire solve lasts only a few tenths of a second.

So will 0.39 ever be beaten under 4-Pad rules?

It certainly isn't impossible, but the change makes an already extraordinary record even more difficult to break.

Previous records will not be reset

This is another major difference between the approaches taken by competitive speedcubing and sport stacking.

Unlike the World Sport Stacking Association, the World Cube Association has not chosen to reset the existing record tables.

Legitimate results achieved using 2-Pad timers will remain on competitors' WCA profiles, and existing world, continental and national records will continue to stand until somebody beats them — even if the new result has to be achieved using 4-Pad mode.

The WCA has, however, said that it intends to introduce the ability to distinguish between results achieved under the two timer modes for 2×2, Pyraminx and Skewb, the events where the additional start time is likely to have the greatest impact.

Is 4-Pad mode the right decision?

Overall, I think it is.

Slow-motion video review was a useful response to the sliding controversy, but it treats the symptom rather than the underlying problem. If the timer allows competitors to exploit the starting procedure in a way that is extremely difficult for judges to detect, improving the starting procedure is a much cleaner solution.

There are disadvantages.

Competition organisers will need G5 timers, and competitors who want to replicate competition conditions at home may also want to buy one. At £32.95, the SpeedStacks G5 is considerably more expensive than something like the £11.95 QiYi Speedcubing Timer or £9.95 MoYu Timer V2.

But you don't need a G5 simply to time your solves at home. Cheaper 2-Pad timers will continue to work perfectly well for everyday speedcubing practice.

The main reason to buy a G5 is now much stronger: it allows you to practise the exact starting procedure that will be required at official WCA competitions.

Considering how much competitive cubers spend on flagship speedcubes, travel and competition entry fees, a timer that can last for years is still a relatively modest expense compared with many other competitive hobbies.

More importantly, 4-Pad mode gives speedcubing a much clearer and more enforceable starting procedure.

After two years of arguments about sliding, slow-motion footage and whether a competitor's fingers moved a fraction of a second before their timer started, hopefully we can finally go back to arguing about the solves themselves.