Guide · Valorant
Valorant streamer mode vs stream delay: what each one hides
Streamer mode hides who you are inside the game. A stream delay hides what you are doing right now. Snipers use the second one.
Updated
What streamer mode does
In Valorant, open Settings, then the General tab, then the Privacy section. You can hide your Riot ID from players outside your party, and show generic names for everyone else. Inside the match, nobody can read your name off the scoreboard.
That is useful. It is also all it does.
What your stream still shows
A sniper doesn't need your name. They have your stream open. They see you press queue, so they press queue too. When the match loads, they see your map, your agent and your team. If it matches theirs, they found you. From then on, your stream tells them where you are standing.
Streamer mode changes none of that, because none of it comes from the game's name list. It comes from your stream.
Side by side
| What a sniper wants | Streamer mode | Stream delay |
|---|---|---|
| Your Riot ID in the match | Hidden | Shown, but late |
| When you start queueing | On stream, live | On stream, late |
| Map, agents and score | On stream, live | On stream, late |
| Where you are standing | On stream, live | On stream, late |
| Talking with chat | No change | Behind by the delay |
Why a delay works
A delay doesn't hide anything. It makes it late. With 30 seconds on, the moment you press queue airs 30 seconds after it happened, and by then the sniper's timing is useless. A position you held during a round airs after the round is over.
The delay length guidehas a starting number for each situation. A platform's low latency mode is not the same thing; the low latency guide explains why.
The cost, and how to keep it small
Chat lives one delay behind you. That is fine during a ranked match, and annoying in the lobby or between games. So the best setup is a delay that is on while you play and off while you talk.
OBS can't do that: its Stream Delay is locked once you are live. InstantClone is a free, open-source app that sits between OBS and Twitch and lets you add, change or remove the delay while you are live, without the stream reconnecting. A hotkey turns it on before you queue and off after the match.
The Valorant stream sniping guide walks through that routine step by step. New to InstantClone? Set it up in a few minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Does Valorant streamer mode stop stream snipers?
Not on its own. It hides your Riot ID from players outside your party, but your stream still shows the map, the agents, the score and when you queue, live. A sniper who watches your stream can find your match from that. A stream delay is what makes that information late.
How do I turn on streamer mode in Valorant?
Open Settings, go to the General tab and find the Privacy section. There you can hide your Riot ID from players outside your party, and show generic names for other players.
How much delay do I need for Valorant?
Start with 30 seconds for ranked: longer than most queues, so a sniper can't time theirs to yours. Raise it if you still get found. For a delay that also hides rounds, use more than one round's length.
Can I use the delay only during matches?
Yes, with InstantClone. It is free and sits between OBS and Twitch, so you can turn the delay on before you queue and off after the match without restarting the stream. OBS's own Stream Delay is locked while you are live.