Avernus

Template:Infobox Level Avernus (formerly The Inferno or The Gates) is a 2.1 Extreme Demon mega-collaboration level hosted by Bo and PockeWindfish, co-hosted by Kyhros, and verified by Zoink on 22 March 2023. It is the 'antagonist' to The Golden, and is known for its intense difficulty with fast-paced waves, mode switches and precise timings.

Avernus placed at #2 on the Demonlist before being shifted to #1, surpassing Acheron and becoming the hardest rated level in Geometry Dash. Despite its popularity, it is heavily disliked within the Geometry Dash community. It is criticised for its poor optimisation, unfair gameplay and fixed hitboxes, earning a negative reputation among top Demons. PockeWindfish's response to criticism of neglect as host was widely seen as immature and unacceptable by the community.

Story

The level's story involves the player searching through a volcanic crater called Avernus, trying to find the gates to the Underworld. This story closely resembles The Golden, where the player goes through a jungle searching for the golden city called El Dorado. The level's decoration seems to show the volcanic crater, with the entrance to the Underworld at the very end cube with the pillars, as well as the end-screen. The plot is inspired by Roman mythology, in which it is said that the gates to the Underworld are somewhere beneath the crater Avernus, a real place. The story also makes more sense because the original name for Avernus was The Gates.

Gameplay

• 0-7% (Bo): The level begins with a ship segment where the player must navigate through narrow spike gaps, some with fixed hitboxes. Next is a brief UFO section and a wave segment that briefly becomes dual.
• 7-16% (TriplasH): The player briefly returns to a cube at double-speed before jumping into a ship portal into the next segment. The player must switch gravity midway through this brief ship segment before entering a ball portal with a pink orb inside, followed by another ship segment containing fixed hitboxes. The player becomes a mini-cube at normal speed and then a UFO and returns to normal size midway before entering a wave segment, which is extremely tight and speeds up to double-speed midway. This part ends with a brief cube and ship segments.
• 16-25% (Zipixbox): The player must traverse through a tight yet brief dual segment, with double-speed and size portals thrown in. Soon, both icons switch game-modes, one being a ship and the other a wave. The player briefly returns to a cube before entering a UFO segment, which changes gravity multiple times and turns the player back to normal size midway. The player enters a ship segment that briefly becomes dual before entering a ball section, which turns them back to mini. The part ends with a brief wave segment, where the player returns to normal size.
• 25-36% (Kyhros + Woom + Zentraa): A brief UFO segment leads into a mini-ship that switches gravity mid-way, followed by a brief ball that briefly becomes mini in between. This segment is followed by a ship and a cube, after which the screen briefly turns black. After this, two jumps as a cube must be performed, followed by the level's name flashing in the background, leading to the drop.
• 36-48% (El3cTr0): Similar to The Golden, Avernus' drop starts with a very difficult triple speed wave where the player must navigate through tight gaps with size and gravity changes in between. At 42-43%, the player becomes a dual wave.
• 48-59% (SyQual): After the wave segment is a UFO with some size changes that constantly change gravity, requiring quick precision as the player maintains a fast speed. After this is a ball and then another wave with some auto-cube transitions between. This part ends with three cube jumps on pink orbs.
• 59-67% (Nidro + Deadlox): The gameplay slows as the player must navigate through a ship section with some teleportation portals and a mini size change from 61-62%. At 63%, the player becomes a UFO and must go through some gravity portals before briefly becoming dual, followed by a ship section.
• 67-76% (Iris): The gameplay speeds up to double speed as the player must pass a mini-cube section before briefly returning to normal size and having to pass a quick but precise section. Next is a ship that changes size and gravity mid-way, followed by a single mini-UFO timing and some timings as a normal size UFO.
• 76-87% (RealVet): With the gameplay speeding up to triple speed once again, the player must pass through a tight wave with the usual size and gravity changes. Between this, the player must also pass two cube sections with timings, the first being completely mini and the second being both sizes.
• 87-96% (Loolycat): This part is a tight ship with size and gravity changes, some orbs the player must hit, and a dual lasting only at 92%.
• 96-98% (Kyhros + Bo): The final part is an auto cube with a single precise jump at the end.
• 98-100% (Bo, End-Screen): The level's end-screen features a fiery landscape consisting of a castle, a collapsed bridge, a lava lake, and some bone remains on the ground. On the upper left, the level's name can be seen, and below it are Kyhros and Bo's names.

Notable completions

• Both Taiago and Abdieldievil have the biggest fluke on Avernus, with their furthest crash being at 84%.
• wPopoff beat the level in 6 days.
• After crashing at 98% on Avernus, Light didn't immediately quit the game, he eventually beat the level despite not uploading his completion onto their YouTube channel, instead he sent it to his friend.
• Zoink, the levels' verifier has the lowest attempt count on Avernus, with 27,732 attempts.
  • On the other hand, Diamond, first victor of the level has the highest attempt count on Avernus, with 233,986 attempts.

First 10 victors

Victor #	Player	Date Completed	Total Attempts	Furthest Fail	Video
Verifier	Zoink	21 March 2023	27,732	91%	YouTube
1	Diamond	5 January 2024	233,986	96%	YouTube
2	Trick	7 January 2024	?	91%	YouTube
3	wPopoff	11 June 2024	~10,000-15,000	85%	YouTube
4	Light	25 August 2024	?	98%	YouTube
5	SerVax	21 December 2024	37,649	88%	YouTube
6	Arshadow	10 January 2025	?	98%	YouTube
7	mo1ik	13 January 2025	76,000	?	YouTube
8	A6	31 January 2025	48,888	98%	YouTube
9	Abdieldevil	5 February 2025	~62,000	84%	YouTube
10	Taiago	10 February 2025	?	84%	YouTube

Trivia

• The level's password is 030607.
• The level was rated on 15 April 2023.
• The level was initially placed at #2 on the Demonlist on 23 April 2023, above Slaughterhouse and below Acheron.
  • This addition pushed Zodiac out of the Top 25, untitled unmastered into the Extended List for the second time and Ddiamond into the Legacy List.
  • On 16 October 2023, Avernus switched positions with Acheron, claiming the #1 spot.
  • On 18 February 2024, Tidal Wave dethroned Avernus, ending its 102 days of reign as a Top 1.
  • On 15 June 2024, the level was moved from #2 to #4, below Acheron and Silent clubstep, marking Avernus as a false Top 1, similar to its antagonist, The Golden.
  • On 23 December 2024, the level was moved back up to #2, reinstating it as a true former Top 1. However, this decision has been made due to mixed opinions about the level's difficulty and acknowledging it harder than the other former Top 1, Acheron.
    • Additionally, the placement of Anathema onto the Demonlist occured on the same day.
    • This is the current hardest hell-themed level.
  • Avernus is the last former Top 1 rated in the 2.1 update remained in the Top 5 before it being pushed by the movement of andromeda on 20 April 2025, among Every End's placement.
• Avernus was the final Top 1 in the 2.1 update.
  • Tidal Wave was verified in 2.1 but did not receive its rate until 18 February 2024, when the 2.2 update had already been released.
• If the player waits at the end-screen for 17 seconds after completing the level, a message appears: 'he congradulates [sic] you.'
• Despite criticism for Avernus' unbalanced gameplay and fixed hitboxes, most of the level's victors have expressed great enjoyment playing it.
• The original hosts were Bo and El3cTr0; however, Woom and Kyhros replaced them due to inactivity. PockeWindfish later took over as the new host.
• Woom and Kyhros held a creator contest for the final part of the level, with Salamander initially winning. However, Loolycat's part replaced it in the final version.
• Avernus was an old name for a volcanic pit near Cumae, Italy, within the area of Campania west of Naples. It is part of the Phlegraean Fields of volcanoes and covers approximately 3.2 kilometres in circumference, containing Lake Avernus.
  • It is also the name of the plane where the five-headed dragon goddess Tiamat lives.
• Strangely, every object except for the fixed hitboxes is on the same layer, making it nearly impossible to make edits or changes to the level.
• The level held the record for the longest time to receive a first victor after verification, taking nine months between Zoink's verification and Diamond's completion, surpassing Bloodbath's seven-month record after more than eight years. It has recently been surpassed by Nullscapes on 20 June 2025, which still has no victors as of 1 August 2025.
• Avernus is the 39th former Top 1 in the game's history.
• On 2 December 2024, PockeWindFish showcased the layout of the official sequel of the level called Tethys. It is set to be the third and final installment of The Golden and Avernus series.

Videos

VerificationShowcase

File:Avernus VERIFIED -- By BoBoBoBoBoBoBo Pocke and more-2

The verification of Avernus. Credits to Zoink.

File:"AVERNUS" Official HDM Showcase -TOP 5-

The full showcase of Avernus. Credits to PockeWindfish.