Guide · Valorant
How to stop stream snipers in Valorant with a stream delay
Snipers watch you press queue and queue at the same moment. A delay means the stream they are watching is already out of date.
Updated
A routine for ranked
- In the menu, arm your delay. The stream stays in real time while the buffer fills.
- When it reads ARMED, activate it, then queue.
- Play. Chat is behind you by the delay, so don't count on quick replies.
- When the match ends, press Cut after this airs. Your last reaction reaches viewers first, then the stream jumps back to live.
On Windows, hotkeys fire while the game has focus, or you can use a Stream Deck button. New here? Set InstantClone up first.
How much delay to use
Make it longer than your queue. Start around 30 seconds and raise it live if snipers keep finding you. The app's starting profiles are 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 5 minutes and 15 minutes. A new install's 300 MB buffer holds about 6 and a half minutes at 6 Mbps, and you can make it bigger.
Let your scenes or your mods do it
Scene delay follows your OBS scenes: on the scene you pick it sets a 30-second delay, and on any other it does Cut after this airs. It reacts to OBS, not the game, so agent select only counts if you switch to its own scene.
Mod controls let your mods run !setdelay 30 and !cut on Twitch once you add that preset. If no delay is on, !setdelay arms it and someone still presses Activate, unless Activate as soon as it's ready is on.
What a delay won't hide
It hides your timing, not your name. ValoShell, a free custom menu for Valorant from the same author, has a streamer mode that hides every name on screen and a widget that sets your InstantClone delay from the menu.
Frequently asked questions
How long should my Valorant stream delay be?
Longer than your queue takes, because that is the moment snipers are trying to match. There is no tested figure that works for everyone. Start around 30 seconds and raise it if it keeps happening.
Can I turn the delay off between matches?
Yes. That is the point of changing it live: use it for ranked and drop it to talk to chat. Dropping it skips whatever was still waiting in the delay, and your stream stays up.
Will it hurt my FPS?
It should not. In our test InstantClone used 3.3 MB of RAM in Task Manager and about 0.07% of the whole CPU. Test setup: median of 5 runs, v0.1.18, Ryzen 7 5700X, Windows 11, 1080p60 at 6 Mbps, 15-second delay, one local destination.
Does a delay stop sniping completely?
No. It hides your timing and what is on your screen right now. Someone can still guess, or recognise your name in the lobby, so hide your name as well.