Temporary event

Temporary events are special limited-time activities that do not directly impact regular gameplay, though sometimes events reward participants with cosmetic items, membership, or commemorative scenery placed permanently in the game.

Alternate game modes

Special worlds are created for some temporary events and competitions in which any account progress (experience, quests, HiScores, etc.) is entirely separate from the accounts played on regular worlds, or the "main game." Core features of the game are altered, sometimes drastically, during these events.

Leagues

Leagues are seasonal game modes taking place in dedicated worlds. Players start with fresh Ironman accounts and complete tasks to earn points, which are then used to unlock relics that offer powerful benefits. Relics can boost XP rates, increase damage dealt in combat, provide unlimited teleports to a wide variety of locations, and more.

Each League imposes unique restrictions to recontextualize gameplay; in the Twisted League, the first event of this type, players could not venture beyond Great Kourend and the Kebos Lowlands. The Trailblazer League built on this concept, having players unlock regions by completing tasks. It was announced in 2024 that all future Leagues would feature region restrictions as a core mechanic.^[1]

Points earned during each League can be spent on regular worlds at the Leagues Reward Shop after the event concludes. New rewards are developed for each event, but items from each League are permanently available to purchase.

Community Events

Community Events are special, limited-time game modes that operate in dedicated worlds, similarly to Leagues, and allow players to try new types of gameplay. During Community Events, players earn points which can later be spent at the Events Reward Shop on regular worlds. Rewards from all past events may be purchased from this shop.

The first Community Event was Grid Master, released in 2025. Players started with fresh accounts and completed tasks presented in a 7x7 bingo grid to earn benefits similar to the relics from Leagues.

Fresh Start Worlds

Fresh Start Worlds was an event that ran for six months in which players could create fresh accounts on worlds with no established economy or HiScores. Players could earn Achievement Points for participating in various activities (completing quests, killing bosses, etc.), though the points were not redeemable for anything during or after the event.

At the end of the six months, players had the option to convert their Fresh Start account into a regular account, retaining all the progress and items they had acquired.

King of the Skill

King of the Skill was an event in 2017 where players competed on dedicated worlds to gain the most experience in 24 hours of gameplay. Top finishers for each individual skill and for total level won a variety of merchandise and membership.

Beta tests

Special worlds are created on occasion to allow players to beta test game features and provide feedback to the developers. During some tests, like the Run Energy Changes Beta, players are given access to nearly the entire game and tools to set their stats and account progress to any state. In others, like the August 2025 Sailing Stress Test, players are confined to small areas and only able to perform certain tasks. These events may last anywhere from one day to several weeks.

Main game

Holiday events

Real-world holidays and game anniversaries are celebrated through temporary events. They are usually structured like very short quests, and reward players with festive cosmetic items, fun weapons, music, and emotes. After the events conclude, most event rewards can be reobtained for free from Diango's Holiday Item Retrieval.

Some years see more holidays celebrated than others, but the four most consistently celebrated are:

Rare Drops

Goblin Invasions

Group Boss Bash

PvP Competitions

Deadman Mode

Clan Cup

Clan Cups were annual competitions that brought clans together to battle or compete in a series of challenges ("cups"). Clan Cups were first hosted in 2009, and took place in Old School from 2013 to 2015. The winners were commemorated in the Clan Statues and the Clan Cup Trophy on regular worlds, only the latter of which remains in the game today. Today, the Clan Cup portal from 2013 teleports players to a now-empty dungeon, though competitors in the 2015 cup can still use it to play the PvM Arena activity.

Wilderness Wars

Charity

On several occasions, Jagex has added features to the game and pledged to donate a certain amount of money based on players' in-game actions.

Well of Goodwill

The Well of Goodwill was a well located just east of Varrock West Bank where players could donate coins or certain items. The value of in-game donations was converted to US dollars at a rate of $1 per one million coins, and donated to charity. Developers were asked to stop equating in-game items to real-world currency, so the well's third appearance in 2016 would be its last.^[2]

Level Up for Charity

To raise money for mental health awareness, Jagex donated £1 to its charity partners for every 150 levels gained collectively by players throughout the day of 29 April 2020. Together with other events hosted as part of the same initiative, £204,000 was raised.

Big Cats & WWF

In 2015, Jagex partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature to develop the Big Cats & WWF event. In this event, players helped Emem Sharma and the other WWF conservationists build habitats for various big cats. During the event, Jagex donated £2.85 to the WWF for each bond players gave to conservationists.^[3] Players who completed the event could claim the following rewards:

Clue-seeker events

In-person

RuneFest

References

^ "Leagues V: Raging Echoes - Summer Summit 2024". Old School RuneScape News. Jagex. 7 September 2024. Archived from the original. "Area-locking is one of the most interesting things about Leagues, so much so that we've decided to make it a core part of Leagues going forward."
^ Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Mod Ash: "We'd not be able to do the well of goodwill again, since we were asked to stop equating in-game items to real-world value like that."
^ "Big Cats & WWF". Old School RuneScape News. Jagex. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original. "For every Bond given to the Conservationist through July 23rd-August 20th, Jagex will donate at least £2.85 to WWF in support of their global conservation effort."

[1] "Leagues V: Raging Echoes - Summer Summit 2024". Old School RuneScape News. Jagex. 7 September 2024. Archived from the original. "Area-locking is one of the most interesting things about Leagues, so much so that we've decided to make it a core part of Leagues going forward."

[2] Jagex. Mod Ash's Twitter account. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Mod Ash: "We'd not be able to do the well of goodwill again, since we were asked to stop equating in-game items to real-world value like that."

[3] "Big Cats & WWF". Old School RuneScape News. Jagex. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original. "For every Bond given to the Conservationist through July 23rd-August 20th, Jagex will donate at least £2.85 to WWF in support of their global conservation effort."

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