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November 6, 2022
Want to know the full list of Twitch mod commands? Here's a complete guide answering who can use, when to use, and how to use.
Creating great stream content is hard enough when you’re live on Twitch, and it can be even more challenging as your channel grows. While some viewers will always be respectful and follow the rules, you may have a few viewers who come to your channel wanting to cause trouble. This is why it is important to have Twitch mods that fully understand how to use twitch mod commands.
Twitch mod commands are for streamers and their channel moderators (which the streamer can appoint) to use. They are commands and features that allow them to moderate chat and keep viewers in line with the rules set for the channel. Twitch commands range from timing out a viewer for a specific amount of time to slowing chat.
Some of the Twitch commands can be used by anyone in the channel while some are limited to the broadcaster or the channel’s moderators. In this article, I’ll list the popular Twitch commands, what they do, and how to use them.
To use any of the Twitch commands or chat features that I list below you’ll need to be on a Twitch channel, type the command into the chat box and hit “Enter.” These commands can be used from a desktop computer and from the Twitch mobile app too.
The following Twitch commands can be used by anyone in a Twitch channel regardless of whether they are following, subscribing, a moderator, or the broadcaster. Anyone can use the following commands.
/mods
This twitch command will show a list of all the chat moderators for the specific channel. See an example below.
Why this command could be useful: This command can be helpful as a new viewer to know exactly who the moderators are, and message them if you have a specific question or inquiry about the channel. I have personally used this command before to figure out who was a mod so they could know about another viewer who was causing trouble.
/vips
This twitch command will show a list of all the VIPs for the specific channel. VIPs are special members of the specific channel’s community who are appointed by the streamer and have a diamond badge next to their name.
What’s the benefit of being a Twitch VIP? Twitch VIP’s aren’t affected by the slow chat feature, can post links in a channel, and won’t be affected by chat message rates. But most importantly, the badge denotes that this user is special to the streamer.
Streamers have a limited number of VIP roles that they can appoint to users, and they choose these individuals in a variety of ways. Sometimes they’re given at random, other times it’s long term friends of the stream, and sometimes streamers have a channel point reward to hand the VIP to someone.
For non-Turbo viewers: /color COLORNAME
For Turbo viewers: /color HEX VALUE, or /color COLORNAME
What’s Turbo? Turbo is a monthly Twitch subscription that gives viewers additional features (such as changing name color). Learn more here.
These twitch commands will allow viewers to change the color of their Twitch username. Regular viewers have the option to choose between the following colors.
Subscribers to Twitch Turbo have the option to use any Hex Value (example: #000000). You can use this free Hex Value color picker if you need help deciding which color you’d like to change to.
/block USERNAME
This command will block all of a specific Twitch user's messages in the channel and will also prevent them from sending you a direct message through Twitch.
This Twitch command is perfect for blocking viewers who are spamming channels or sending you unwanted DM’s on Twitch. A perfect command to ignore someone that you dislike. The block will remain for as long as you want, but don’t worry there is a way to unblock someone.
/unblock USERNAME
This command will remove a user that was previously on your blocked list. Sometimes things change and we decide that we want to hear from someone. Taking some off the block list will allow you to see their chat messages and receive direct messages from them on Twitch.
/me YourText
This command takes away the colon that usually is next to your chat name and italicizes the message text. It’s often used to write a message in the third person.
For example, if your username was PizzaMan2021…
/me eats a large pepperoni pizza.
Would show as: PizzaMan2021 eats a large pepperoni pizza.
/disconnect
This will disconnect you from the chat and you won’t be able to send or see any messages. If you’d like to join chat again you’ll need to refresh the browser.
/w USERNAME MESSAGE
This command will privately whisper (direct message) another user. No one else will be able to see this message besides you and the individual that you messaged.
@USERNAME
This is the right command to use to target (or reply directly) to another user in the Twitch channel’s chat.
This command will allow you to target your message at a user, or reply directly to a specific message they’ve posted in the chat.
For example:
@Tony how are you doing?
or
That’s hilarious! @tony did you remember to unlock the door?
Side story: I wish I knew this command in my early streaming days. A new viewer came in and used this command to say something like “MadMax24 has donated $100.00 to your channel.”
I saw the message and yelled for joy. I thanked MadMax24 and couldn’t believe that someone had donated $100 to my channel. It was the first large donation I had ever received, and was beyond excited. That is until I realized what had really happened. I had been pranked.
Use @USERNAME, then press ALT (Windows)/OPTION (MAC) + ENTER to go into reply mode.
Once in reply mode, press ALT (Windows)/OPTION (MAC) + UP or DOWN arrow keys to choose the specific message you’d like to reply to.
The following Twitch commands can only be used by the streamer or the channel’s moderators. Regular viewers, followers, VIPs, and subscribers do not have permission to use these commands.
/user USERNAME or click on the user’s name in chat
This command is one of the most important twitch mod commands and vital to keeping your community healthy and spam free. This command will bring up a Twitch user’s profile and allows your channel moderators & the streamer to a number of important details such as:
These tools are great for not only moderating, but getting a picture of what type of viewer they are. Sometimes you can tell based on the account date (created today) or their messages that they’re a bot or perhaps a troll who should be removed.
/timeout USERNAME SECONDS
/timeout USERNAME 300 (5 Minute Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 600 (10 Minute Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 1800 (30 Minute Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 3600 (1 Hour Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 10800 (3 Hour Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 21600 (6 Hour Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 43200 (12 Hour Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 86400 (24 Hour Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 259200 (3 Day Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 604800 (1 Week Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 1209600 (2 Week Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 2419200 (4 Week Timeout)
/timeout USERNAME 7257600 (12 Week Timeout)
Sometimes there are viewers who feel extra spicy and want to toe the line on your channel’s rules. The timeout mod command is perfect to give them a warning, allow them to cool down, and hopefully come back ready to mind their manners.
The timeout command will allow them to continue watching the channel and view the chat, but they will not be able to send any messages into the chat while they’re in timeout.
Another way to perform this action is by clicking on the user’s name and clicking on the clock symbol.
If you decide you want to cancel the time out, you can utilize the /unban USERNAME to remove the time out or type in /timeout USERNAME 1 to give them a one second time out.
/ban USERNAME or click on the user’s name in chat and click the “cancel” icon
This will automatically and permanently ban a user from your channel’s chat. They will no longer be able to send messages in your chat. This is your best tool against individuals who break rules, harass, are inappropriate, or rude. While the banned user can continue to watch their chat, they won’t be able to ever send another message in the channel’s chat again UNLESS the ban is revoked.
/unban USERNAME
Have you decided to unban a user that was previously banned? Use this command to lift the ban and allow the user to once again talk in chat. This command will also work for removing a timeout. Don’t worry you can ban them again if they break the rules again.
/slow SECONDS
This twitch mod command will only allow viewers to send one message in the time allotted. For example, if you use the command /slow 30 viewers can only send a single message every 30 seconds.
This command is used in busy chats to prevent spam, allow the streamer to read more messages, and help moderators view all the incoming messages. Streamers with large viewership are more likely to use this command. It’s not recommended for smaller streamers unless you have previously dealt with a spam issue from random viewers.
/slowoff
This command will turn off slow chat and allow viewers to send in as many messages as they would like in the channel.
/followers
This will only allow viewers who are following the channel to participate and send messages in chat. You can also allow only viewers who have been following the channel for a set time to chat. This can be anywhere from 0 seconds up to 3 months. For example:
Followers only chat can be a great way to protect yourself as a streamer and your community from toxicity, trolls, and individuals looking to cause trouble. By putting “followers only” chat on you are preventing any random viewer to join your channel and instantly causing trouble.
I know some streamers are targeted by hateful viewers and use this feature to help keep themself and their community protected. If you are worried about being targeted by trolls, racists, bigots, etc., then this could be an option to keep protected.
I also know some streamers turn “followers only” on, because they believe it’s a great tactic to force new viewers to follow the channel. While there are plenty of valid reasons to turn “follower only” on - this is not one of them.
New viewers often want to watch and sometimes engage with the streamer BEFORE they follow. This allows them to get to know the streamer before deciding whether they should follow them or not. By gatekeeping chat to followers only you’re going to have many new viewers leave immediately OR follow to chat and unfollow when they realize you’re not the kind of content they enjoy.
/followersoff
This Twitch moderator command will turn off the “followers only” chat and allow anyone to chat in the channel.
/subscribers
This will make it so that only users who are subscribed to your channel will be able to chat.
/subscribersoff
This Twitch mod command will turn off “subscribers only” chat and allow anyone to chat in the channel.
/clear
This command will completely wipe chat clean! Every message will be completely removed. It should be noted that some users with browser add-ons will continue to see the chat due to history saving features, etc.. Viewers without any browser add-ons will have chat completely wiped.
This command can come in handy if a group of trolls come into your chat to spam hateful words. You can quickly protect the rest of your community from their toxicity by clearing chat, and quickly removing all the filth. I’d recommend a quick ban after the chat clear.
/uniquechat
This mod command will not allow users from sending non-unique chat messages from the channel. What’s a non-unique chat message? Basically messages must have at least 9 characters that are not symbols, and it will remove any messages with repetitive text.
This twitch mod command is great to use to prevent chat from being filled with spammy comments. Viewers will not be able to continuously copy and paste messages over and over again the channel’s chat.
/uniquechatoff
This command will turn Twitch’s Unique Chat feature off it was previously turned on.
/emoteonly
By using this command chat will only be allowed to send in emotes. No words allowed, only emotes! This can be a really fun feature to turn on occasionally to spice it up in your chat. Some streamers even have a channel point reward that will turn this feature on.
There are some channels that use this feature to avoid toxicity or let the streamer focus on their content rather than chat. While I can see using this command as a way to avoid being spammed or trolled could be useful, I would not recommend using this feature all the time.
Part of growing a stream is building a community in which you get to know your viewers. As I am sure you’re aware - you can’t get to really know your viewers when the only way they can communicate is through emotes.
/emoteonlyoff
When a Twitch moderator or the streamer uses this command they will turn emote only chat off, and chat will resume back to normal.
The following Twitch mod commands can only be used by the streamer (broadcaster) or users with the channel editor roles. Basic moderators cannot use these commands.
/commercial
This command can only be used by Twitch affiliates or Twitch Partners and will run a 30 second commercial. There’s also the option for some streamers to choose between commercial lengths.
You can run commercials of different lengths if you see the option in your channel’s dashboard. If you have an option to do so the commands are:
/commercial 30 Run a commercial that is 30 seconds long.
/commercial 60 Run a commercial that is 60 seconds long.
/commercial 90 Run a commercial that is 90 seconds long.
/commercial 120 Run a commercial that is 120 seconds long.
/commercial 150 Run a commercial that is 150 seconds long.
/commercial 180 Run a commercial that is 180 seconds long.
/host CHANNEL-NAME
Type in this command to host another Twitch streamer’s channel on your channel when you’re not live.
/unhost
Type in this Twitch command your channel will no longer be hosting any Twitch channels.
/raid CHANNEL-NAME
This command will send all the viewers in your channel to the channel that you raid out to.
Pro Twitch Tip: Always raid out. Doesn’t matter if you’re the only one there. ALWAYS. RAID. OUT. It shows other streamers that you care about their content, and want to see them succeed on Twitch. As a bonus - sometimes (and there’s no guarantee) streamers that you raid will return the favor.
As a new streamer it can be easy to forget about streaming. I know that my first streams I kept ending the stream and immediately feeling like an idiot, because I had forgotten to raid out. What got me into the habit of always raiding at the end of a stream was a post-it note on my monitor. That simple reminder helped get me into the habit.
One more raiding tip: Before you send your viewers over to another channel, go over really quick (or send a mod) to ensure that the streamer is going to continue to stream for a little bit. Too many times have I raided into a channel that either just ended their stream OR ended their stream within a matter of moments of me raiding over.
/unraid
The moment you enter this command it will cancel the raid that was in progress.
/marker DESCRIPTION
This command will place a stream marker at the current timestamp of the stream. If you add a description (140 characters max) it will make it easier for you to know what the marker is for later when you review.
If you plan on later going through the VOD to edit it into a YouTube video or create social media content from, then this Stream marker command is a gamechanger. It’s also possible to bind this command to a key on your keyboard or a stream deck to make it even easier.
These mod commands can only be used by the streamer. No one else, not even your moderators can use these commands. There’s very few commands that are for the streamer only, but they’re very powerful (hence why they’re broadcaster only).
/mod USERNAME
This command that can only be used by the streamer will promote a viewer to moderator. That user will then have all the power, permissions, and responsibility of a mod.
Who should be a moderator? You’ll need to use your own discernment to choose your mod team. Moderators should be people who understand the culture of your channel and be individuals that they trust. Moderators wield the power to help cultivate a healthy streaming channel, but also can cause mass destruction if abused.
Do not randomly give this power to anyone, but only to people who are trustworthy and can enforce not only rules that generally apply to all Twitch channels, but also the specific rules for your channel.
/unmod USERNAME
This command will strip a mod of all their power and demote them back to a regular follower of the channel. Unfortunately sometimes this must be done as the power gets to their head or they’re no longer able to spend time in the channel like they used to.
/vip USERNAME
Your channel has a limited number of VIP roles to appoint to the very best in your community. This command will turn a viewer into a very important person which will be denoted by a badge next to their name.
What are the benefits of the VIP role on Twitch?
How do you become a VIP for a stream? It differs for every streamer, but typically you need to be a friend of the streamer. Sometimes streamers send out VIP roles when a channel reward is activated by a viewer.
/unvip USERNAME
Take away the VIP role from a viewer. Perhaps they’re no longer watching your content or maybe they broke some rules. Whatever the case, this command will strip them of their very important person status. Remember that streamers only have a set number of VIP roles, and so unVIPing someone will free up a role for someone else.
/shoutout USERNAME
This will utilize the newest shoutout feature that Twitch implemented in 2022. Every viewer will see a small blurb at the top of their chat that will allow them to follow the viewer that received the shoutout.
To use Twitch commands, go into the chat message box of a Twitch channel, type slash (this / symbol), and then type in the exact command you would like and then press enter. The twitch command will than automatically be enacted
The other option is to go into the channel’s chat and just type in “/” (the slash symbol) and you will be able to see many many of the Twitch commands to choose from. Click on the command you want and click enter.
You can’t see all of the Twitch commands from this view, but you’ll see many of them.
For some of the commands you will need to type out a username with the command. For example, if you want to ban someone from your channel the command is /ban username.
If their username is TurkeyTown, you will need to type out /ban TurkeyTown and click enter. It’s pretty easy to use Twitch commands, but I hope this example makes it even simpler for you.
As a reminder - Twitch commands can be used while on the mobile Twitch application and while on a desktop computer.
It’s important to understand how and when to use mod commands as they can greatly improve the quality, flow, and culture of your stream. Here’s a few of the benefits of these commands:
Twitch mods cannot make new official Twitch commands. The official Twitch mod commands were created by Twitch and cannot be changed, added to, or edited. They are locked in stone. Twitch has the capacity to change, alter, and add new mod commands in the future, but that is solely up to them.
You may be thinking that this can’t be true, because you have been in a stream that had a mod that created a new command. Well, they likely DID create a new command, but not an official Twitch one.
How to make new commands on Twitch? The streamer is using a chat bot in their channel that will allow mods to make new commands. Perhaps it’s Night Bot, MooBot, the StreamLabs bot or another. Most of these chat bots can be configured to allow a channel’s mods to create new commands.
This is how some channels have a unique “shout out” command that acknowledges other streamers when they type out “!so USERNAME”
You can get creative with these chatbots to create commands that even basic followers can utilize. For example, one channel I follow created a command called !UnSub
When the streamer does something ridiculous or against what the viewers want, individual followers can jokingly type !unsub which will bring up a message saying “You have unsubscribed from TunaTim’s channel. He’s an absolute moron and deserves to stream alone by himself.”
It’s a funny command that users can use and was created by the streamer’s mods. As I said, get creative with your mod team and create some commands that make sense for you and your community.
The majority of moderators in Twitch channels do not get paid money. Most moderators are doing the work as a volunteer, and because they enjoy the content from the streamer. In some channels, becoming a moderator is a badge of honor and a great privilege.
With that said, there are some popular full time Twitch partners that do pay their mod team. These streamers understand that their moderators put in a lot of work, time, and effort in keeping their Twitch channel clean from the riff and raff and want to compensate them for their work.
One example of a streamer who has paid his moderators is Ludwig. When Ludwig did a month-long subathon he paid his mods about $170,000 for their work. This is one example of a streamer who understands the necessary work of moderating, and has the financial means to pay his team.
Twitch mod commands are important to the health and success of your stream. While you may not need them all the time, when the time is right they are critical to managing your stream and community.
Some of these commands can only be used by the broadcaster, but many of them can be used by the moderators of your channel. Find yourself mods that you trust and train them to use the commands.
These commands can help shape your community, keep everyone safe, hold viewers to the rules of your channel, and overall facilitate a great stream. I hope this article gave you a better understanding of the Twitch commands and how to use them.
Growing a stream is not easy work, but it’s rewarding. If you are looking for more tips, tricks, strategies to grow your streaming community I would recommend joining my weekly email newsletter. It’s a simple newsletter filled with news, tricks, and advice on growing a stream. If you’re not much of a reader you could also give the Streamer Growth School podcast a listen. Each week there’s an experienced streamer being interviewed about their journey offering tips for the rest of us.
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