xQc hits a new top time in Minecraft, but one record still feels out of reach. All the details and updates are right here!
xQc finally hit a new personal best on January 20, 2026, setting a 16:10 in Minecraft Any%, his fastest run since 2023. For many players, that would be a huge milestone, but in the world of Minecraft speedrunning, it mostly means one thing: the gap to streamer Forsen is still huge.
The Rivalry Still Matters
Fans have followed the rivalry between xQc and Forsen for years. Forsen has held the benchmark time of 15:28 since October 2023, and it still has not been beaten. The 42-second difference might not sound like a lot at first, but in speedrunning, it is massive. Improvements are often measured in fractions of seconds or even frames. A gap of 42 seconds would require a series of perfect decisions and a lot of luck, and that is exactly where xQc keeps falling short.
Still, the new personal best was not without its issues. The run started promising, but RNG quickly turned against him. One major mistake was searching for the stronghold blindly instead of triangulating precisely, which cost him valuable time. In the Nether, bad blaze spawns made collecting blaze rods take much longer than planned. Without enough blaze rods, you cannot craft Eyes of Ender quickly, which is a huge time sink in a speedrun.
The Ender Dragon Fight
The Ender Dragon fight also did not go his way. xQc initially tried to find wool to craft a bed, hoping to use the bed strategy to kill the dragon faster. The search dragged on, though, and he eventually decided to go into the fight without the bed. That put him in a tough spot, because the critical perch phase, when the dragon lands on the central tower and becomes vulnerable, did not come at the right time. That cost him more seconds, and by then the run was out of world-record pace.
The community reacted immediately. Many viewers argued the run was lost much earlier, pointing to the long time spent searching the stronghold and the bad Nether RNG. xQc pushed back on stream, saying the route itself was not the main issue, but the RNG, which is a huge factor in Minecraft speedruns. Even perfect execution can be ruined by unlucky spawns or a faraway stronghold.
After hitting the new personal best, xQc kept running Minecraft for several more hours, hoping to capitalize on the good conditions and push for an even faster time. But none of the following attempts came close to his new 16:10 or Forsen’s 15:28 benchmark. That shows just how much luck matters in Minecraft speedrunning and how difficult it is to close the gap when the RNG does not cooperate.
What do you think: Will xQc ever actually be able to beat his rival or should he just admit defeat? Let us know in the comments.