Waiting

Waiting is the act of getting to the end of a level in Multiplayer Versus, but not immediately finishing so that other players in the lobby have a chance to reach the end as well. A player who reaches the end of the level under the effect of someone waiting for them is said to have gotten a safety. The origins of waiting are not entirely known.

Waiting is only effective in levels that have a flagpole at the end. Levels in the game styles Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World and in any castle level besides those in the game style Super Mario 3D World are not ideal for waiting, since the match ends immediately when someone hits the end card, goal tape, or axe, depending on the level style, giving the other players no chance to finish themselves.

Explanation
Once the first player finishes the level by touching the flag, the other players have about five seconds of active gameplay to touch the flag as well. Should a player touch the flagpole during this five-second timeframe, although the "YOU LOSE" screen will be shown, less points will be lost than if they had not touched the flagpole. These are unofficially known as safety points, as opposed to a hard loss, where an affected player would lose the normal amount of points for failing to reach a level's goal.

There is no effect between waiting and not waiting on the winning player's points gained. To clarify, there are only three types of point effects upon completing a match: Since the version 1.1 update to Super Mario Maker 2, waiting is not effective in friend rooms, because rating systems are not used.
 * For a win
 * For a safety
 * For a hard loss

Waiting is mostly dependent on the leading player of the lobby.

An advanced version of waiting is called the 4-man wait, where no matter how long it takes for the players to reach the end of the level, they will all still make it because of mutual agreement by every player involved.

Ideas, risks, and weaknesses
There are a few ideas behind waiting: There are, however, some risks and weaknesses to waiting:
 * It helps a player's fellow peers rank up with decreased difficulty
 * If a player waits for another, they might possibly do the same
 * It develops friendships and trust within the community
 * It allows players to having a strong feeling about "always finishing what you start"
 * Players may become too dependent on other players waiting to the point where the only way they have a chance to rank up is via being waited for. Not all players are obligated to wait.
 * A safe waiting environment has to be used. A safe waiting environment has open space by the flag, while something such as a pipe or door directly dropping a player on the flag does not.
 * Players who either have not heard of waiting or do not care or agree to wait may rush the flagpole faster than the leading player can react. This is known as stealing the flag. This has led to many subtle outbreaks within the community about certain players falling under this category.
 * Waiting while holding a clear condition is different, since only that player can touch the flag.
 * Since the version 1.1 update to Super Mario Maker 2, dodging, a tactic related to waiting, is no longer effectively used.

Trivia

 * The name of one of iiPK's four prominent accounts, WaitAtFlag, is a command for players to wait.