TL;DR: Register for the qualification round at https://midnightcodecup.com
Last year we decided to revive the craziest problem solving format of all — the 24-hour onsite. It turned out amazing, so we are bringing more craziness and problems this year.
We’re supported by incredible sponsors: Recraft, OpenAI, Nebius, Alber Blanc, Revolut, Logical Intelligence, and Pinely. Huge thanks to the teams at these companies for backing problem-solving minds – this is the way.
Join the qualification round here at Codeforces on April 11th at 1 PM UTC.
The best 25 teams + 5 wildcards will travel to Belgrade on July 4–5 for a 24-hour final. We can’t wait to see who makes it this year — and the jury will not be shy about challenging you.
Btw, please give it up for The Jury: Aksenov239, qwerty787788, cdkrot, tourist, nsychev, naagi, Gassa, Arpa, pashka, yulik.daniel, xiaowuc1, isaf27, mnaeraxr , aropan, Solenoid555.
Now go register, follow our newly created X account for updates and..
See you at Midnight!
Auto comment: topic has been updated by MidnightCodeCup (previous revision, new revision, compare).
Do you still need to be at least 18 to participate?
We won't be able to invite people under 18 to the finals, that's pretty much the main restriction.
If a team consists of underage + 18+ members, do only the 18+ members get invited? or does the entire team get excluded
We decide this case by case, but usually allow to change a participant in the team if circumstances prevent them from going to the finals.
nice
good
test
:(
Till when is the registrantion open?
The plan is to close it on 10th of April! [UPD: ignore the rest, it will not close earlier]Although registration is filling up fast, hopefully we don't have to close it earlier than planned.
Is there an upper bound on the qualifier participants?
No
hype!!
how long is the comp on the qualification round?
and joining some comment above can a team of under18 + adults go to the final?
The qualification lasts 4 hours.
By default no, we can't invite people under 18 to the finals, but we received several question about this and will look into whether we can make this possible. No promises at this point though.
Thanks
What if we came on our own to comp site? Will it make life easier?
Ofcourse only if pass the qual round
I know its unrelated but does someone has any idea when can i expect a div 4 contest
have a nice day, everyone
Are participants from all countries eligible to participate?
Yes!
[submission:ff]
How long is the comp on the qualification round?
The qualification tour lasts 4 hours
can we participate solo or is there a fixed team size needed?
Ideally you'd have a team of 3 people. It's ok to have 1 or 2 as well, but you’ll definitely have less of a chance to qualify for the finals.
The prize money for the first and thrid are not divisible by 6, we need to change them a little.
1) $4998 2) $3000 3) $1002
Yeah, now it looks pretty.
MidnightCodeCup
Why 6? :)
lcm(1, 2, 3) = ?
I think he is saying that prize should divisible by 6 so that both 2-person team and 3-person team can divide their prize money equally
can we participate online ??
The qualification round is fully online
Is there an archive for last year's problems, to understand what to expect?
anyone want to team up with me? (beginner)
Hey, I think I wrote the wrong email address when registering (because I did not receive the confirmation email while my teammate did) .
Should I register again? If yes can I use the same team name that I used before?
Hey — just have your teammate email us (if they haven't already), we'll fix your email to a correct one. Or email us yourself at [email protected] — no need to re-register.
I wonder how many people actually start at midnight
Only I didn't get the password? When we will receive login, passwords?
24 hours before the qualification round
oh thanks! I thought that qual will be today
It's 11th of April — see you then!
What are the timings of midnight cup?
Qualification April 11, 2026 13 UTC, 4 hours Codeforces
Finals July 4–5, 2026 24 hours Belgrade, Serbia
how long is the comp on the qualification round?
4 hours
How hard would the average question be? what would be the recommended elo / rank should the average participant be?
Any rank can participate. You can use AI in this competition, so it's not about your coding skills, but more about the problem-solving abilities and desire to experiment and have fun with the problems.
Until when reg is open?
And is it possible to get more info? like level of problems? how many problems will there be? limits on number of computer per team?
Registration is open until April, 10th. Last year we had 3 problems on the qual, this year will be similar. Any level can participate, each person on the team can use a computer and the use of AI is allowed.
Thanks.
Really? AI is allowed? from my experience in IEEEXTREME this year where is was also allowed this ruined the competition, (compared to last year) but hope for the best!
Will the travel expense be covered for teams qualified to the final?
Copying from FAQ, forgive the formal tone =)
We will cover three nights of accommodation at the hotel for all participants. We also aim to cover travel costs as broadly as possible; however, the extent of flight coverage will depend on the final list of finalists. Details regarding travel support will be announced after the qualification round.
I am IOI champiam
when they say any software is allowed, do they mean AI usage allowed? Won't that spoil the fun
Maybe you can,but I don't know.No restrictions on software usage?Maybe not,That's incredibly liberating！BTW,you can't use AI in regular contents.
yeah ik AI isnt allowed in contests and should'nt be, which is why im surprised they are allowing here
So, this competition might not be very fair.
It is a heuristic contest I think, that is the best reason I can think of for AI usage, and last year's finals standings kinda support that theory
That is.I see
hi everyone!
where can we find the last years problems from qualification to practise
It wasn't published, qual problems usually tend to be more optimisation related. The best way is to join and see for youself =)
Is it a Heuristic contest ?
If my team registered but one of our teammates cannot attend is there a way to cancel/swap the regestrition
Yes, email us at [email protected]
I've read your report on the last event, but I noticed the problems leaned more towards computer science, or open-ended questions (similar to AHC), and weren't very closely related to algorithmic contests.
Is it possible there will be a 24-hour algorithmic contest in the future? Something like, the 24 Hours of Le Mans of algorithmic competitions?
I couldn't find the last year's problem set of Qualification round. Where can I find it?
It wasn't published, qual problems usually tend to be more optimisation related. The best way is to join and see for youself =)
I think you can find it here: Link. It can be found in the previous year Qual Wrap Up blog.
We really love the format, but last year setting up a Kotlin environment during the contest was not very fun nor balanced. Just a reminder in case you have something similar this year — it would be very much appreciated to let the contestants know to set up anything like that (reminder of rant + response)
Thanks for the reminder — no huge set ups needed this year, your usual environment should work.
Hey guys!! anyone want to team up??
-