Rubik's Cube Timer
This free Rubik's cube timer runs online in your browser: it shows a random-state scramble for the 3x3 or 2x2, starts when you release the space bar or lift your finger, and keeps Ao5, Ao12 and your best time.
Scramble
Generating scramble…
How to use the Rubik's cube timer
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Choose the puzzle
Pick 3x3 or 2x2 at the top of the timer. A random scramble appears within a moment, together with a flat net showing how your cube should look once you have applied it.
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Scramble your real cube
Hold a solved cube with white on top and green in front and turn it exactly as the scramble says. If you would rather have a different one, press New scramble.
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Hold, release, solve
Hold the space bar, or press and hold the timer area, until the time turns green, then let go and start solving. With 15-second inspection ticked, your first press starts the countdown instead.
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Stop and check your averages
Press any key or tap the timer area the moment the cube is solved. The time is saved with its scramble, Best, Ao5 and Ao12 update, and the next scramble is ready.
A scrambler for the 3x3 and the 2x2
Every attempt starts with a scramble above the clock, and a fresh one appears the moment you stop it. These are random-state scrambles: the timer first picks one of the cube’s positions at random, every position equally likely, and then writes down a sequence that leads there from solved. A string of random turns cannot promise that, which is why official competitions scramble the same way.
For the 3x3, the sequence comes from the same two-phase search as the Rubik’s cube solver, so it is never longer than 21 moves. For the 2x2, it is the reverse of an optimal solution: 11 moves at most, built only from R, U and F turns, which is why 2x2 scrambles here are so short. Press New scramble to skip one, or use the page purely as a scrambler without ever starting the clock.
Applying a scramble to your real cube
Start from a solved cube held with white on top and green in front, and keep that grip for the whole sequence. Each letter turns one face as you look straight at it: R is the right face clockwise, R′ counter-clockwise and R2 a half turn. If the letters are new to you, the cube notation guide shows every one of them in 3D.
When you have finished, compare your cube with the flat net under the scramble text, which shows the scrambled cube unfolded. A mismatch usually means one move went the wrong way; fix it before you start, because a mis-scrambled cube is no longer a fair random position.
Starting, stopping and the 15-second inspection
Like the timing pads used at competitions, the clock starts on release, not on press. Hold the space bar, or press and hold the timer area, until the digits turn green after about a third of a second, then let go. Press any key or tap the timer area the moment the cube is solved. Keys are ignored while a button has the focus, so click an empty part of the page after pressing New scramble.
Tick 15-second inspection to practise the competition routine. Your first press starts a countdown from 15 while you plan the opening, usually the cross. The penalties follow the WCA rules and are applied automatically: start more than 15 seconds after inspection began and the time gets +2; go past 17 seconds and the solve counts as DNF. There are no spoken warnings at 8 and 12 seconds like a judge would give, so watch the digits.
What Ao5 and Ao12 mean, and how they are worked out
Single times jump around, so cubers judge their speed by trimmed averages. After every solve, the Statistics panel updates: Best, your fastest single; Ao5, your last five solves without the fastest and the slowest, averaged over the middle three; Ao12, the same for your last twelve over the middle ten; Mean, every solve except DNFs; and the number of solves.
For example, the times 14.20, 16.80, 13.90, 21.50 and 15.10 give an Ao5 of 15.37: the 13.90 and the 21.50 are dropped and the other three are averaged. A DNF counts as the slowest result, so a single DNF is simply dropped, but two or more in the same window make the whole average DNF. A chart plots up to your last 50 times with a flat line at your best, which makes a plateau easy to spot.
+2, DNF, edits and notes
The Times list shows every solve, newest first, with the scramble it was done on. The OK, +2 and DNF buttons beside each one change a penalty afterward, for instance when you notice the cube was one turn short of solved, and every change feeds straight into the averages. The Note field takes a few words, such as “lost the cross”, which helps you see later where the time went. Delete removes a single solve.
The 3x3 and the 2x2 keep separate lists and statistics. Times are stored in this browser only: another device starts with an empty list, and clearing this site’s data erases it.
What counts as a good time, from first solve to sub-20
Whether a time is good depends on the method you use. Rough benchmarks for the 3x3:
| Time | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| 3 to 5 minutes | A first solve with the beginner method, still checking each step |
| About 2 minutes | The beginner method from memory, with pauses between stages |
| Under 1 minute | The beginner method done smoothly, or the first steps of a faster method |
| Under 30 seconds | A speedcubing method such as CFOP, with a few dozen algorithms |
| Under 20 seconds | Advanced: efficient first layers and full last-layer algorithms |
Judge progress by Ao12 rather than by your best single, which is often luck. If you cannot finish a cube yet, learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube first and start timing from your first complete solve.
Cube timer questions and answers
How does a cube timer work?
A cube timer measures a solve from the moment you release the start control until you stop it. This one arms when you hold the space bar or the timer area for about a third of a second, starts when you let go and stops on any key or tap, counting in hundredths of a second. Each result is stored with its scramble, and the averages update on their own.
Is 1 minute a good time for Rubik's cube?
Yes, for most people it is. A 3x3 solve under one minute means you know a method well enough to work through it without long pauses. With the beginner layer-by-layer method, getting there takes steady practice. Going much lower usually means moving on to a faster method such as CFOP, which needs more algorithms but far fewer moves.
Which cube timer is best?
The best one is the one you will use every day, and the essentials are few: fair random-state scrambles, a hold-and-release start, optional 15-second inspection and trimmed averages such as Ao5 and Ao12. This browser timer covers those for the 3x3 and the 2x2. If you need other puzzles or long-term statistics, look for a more specialized timer.
Is there a stopwatch that can be used to time Rubik's Cubes?
Any stopwatch works, including the one on your phone, but it is clumsy: you start it with one hand while the other reaches for the cube, and you have to write down every result yourself. A cube timer such as this page starts when you let go, stops on any key, saves each time with its scramble and works out the averages for you.
Do professional cubers use special timers?
Yes. Official competitions use Speed Stacks StackMat timers: two touch pads that start when both hands leave them and stop when both hands return. At home, most cubers practise with a browser timer like this one, which copies the same hold-and-release start with the space bar or a finger.
Can I use this timer with a Bluetooth smart cube?
No. This timer does not connect to smart cubes or StackMat timers; it starts and stops only from the keyboard, the mouse or a touch on the timer area. A smart cube still works as an ordinary cube here: scramble it by hand from the sequence shown and time it like any other.