How to Use Host Mode

Host mode is a channel feature available to all users across the site. Host mode gives all broadcasters the ability to host another channel’s live broadcast on his or her own channel page without changing your chat, allowing for your viewers to be exposed to content you choose while interacting with you in your chat room! Any broadcaster can host another channel, and any channel can be hosted. It works just like using an embedded player on another website, except it works directly on Twitch.

Host mode currently works on web browser, Xbox One, and mobile! That means your host choice is effective to many potential viewers from your community!

On this page:

How Hosting Can Help You Grow

How to Use Host Mode

Hosting on Mobile

How to Use Auto Host

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW HOSTING CAN HELP YOU GROW

Getting your peers to auto host you pays off big. We expect you to see roughly 10% growth in minutes watched if you get 10 of your peers to auto host you. As you would expect, each additional channel auto hosting you helps, and bigger channels help more than smaller channels.

When you begin hosting another channel, your player and panels drop down and are replaced by a new player showing the selected broadcaster’s channel. A banner across the top of the channel page notifies all viewers that they are watching hosted content - and a button under the video player allows them to return to your offline video screen and info area should they so choose.

When you are hosted by someone else you will see a notification in your chat and on your dashboard telling you who just started hosting you and how many viewers they connected you to, so you can feel free to thank them for the extra exposure from sharing their community:

Viewers can follow, subscribe (if promoted channel is a Twitch Partner), and navigate to the hosted channel from the hosting channel’s page. Viewers continue to be able to use their subscription features to the chat room of the channel in host mode, however.

THERE ARE MANY BENEFITS TO HOSTING:

Keep your community together and grow it stronger even when you are offline.

Promote content you enjoy and share fresh angles of your personality with your audience.

Support other broadcasters and build relationships with them - a new aspect of networking.

Watch your favorite broadcasters and events with your friends on your own channel.

Remain listed in the following directory page, moving from the live channels section to the live hosts section, gaining you more exposure, as well as the channel you are hosting.

SUGGESTED USES FOR HOST MODE:

Your chat room does not change at all while you are in host mode. The same moderators and chat will be on your channel page. So while your audio and video will be offline while in host mode, you can continue to interact with your community via chat. This makes sharing stream-watching experiences with your community easy! Here are a few cool ways to use host mode:

Hosting game conferences or convention content such as E3 or PAX, and discussing game news and first impressions with your community.

Hosting esports tournaments such as EVO or SGDQ and sharing the hype and viewing experience with your community.

Hosting other broadcasters whom you enjoy watching to build a rapport with them.

Hosting unique events showcased on Twitch and experiencing it alongside your community, such as /bobross, /dnc2016, or /gopconvention.

Hosting your Twitch Team members to foster a closer team connection.

Hosting live music events like /steveaoki or /ultra and emote-grooving in chat with your viewers.

Hosting a newly discovered small channel that creates such entertaining content that you just have to share it with the world (some Twitch partners have had their big break by being hosted in this manner).

Hosting your friends who are new to broadcasting, showing how you support them.

And any other use you can think of!

Chat settings are not affected in any way while in host mode, so if you have subscriber or slow mode enabled, none of these settings will change when hosting someone.

Treat your fellow broadcasters with respect. If you use host mode for the purposes of harassing other broadcasters, there will be consequences up to and including the indefinite suspension of your account.

HOW TO USE HOST MODE

In your chat, type:

/host CHANNELNAME

For example, to share the Twitch Weekly show, you would type: /host twitch

You can transition to another channel using the /host command up to three times in a given 30 minute period, so if the channel you are hosting goes offline, you can switch to hosting a different channel.

To exit host mode, type into your chat (host mode will remain enabled until this command is executed):

/unhost

You will receive a notification in chat saying you have exited host mode.

Your editors can also begin and end host sessions for you (moderators cannot). A great use of this ability is to create a shortlist of channels you approve for hosting whenever you are offline, such as members of your Twitch Team or broadcaster friends you wish to support, and allow your trusted editors to help promote content that you have pre-approved.

HOSTING ON MOBILE

You can also host all of your favorite streamers from anywhere with the Mobile Host Mode option. To enable Host Mode on the go by tapping the gear icon, scroll the menu, and select the Host option.

This is available right now for all iOS users and will be slowly rolling out for Android users as well.

If you have enabled auto hosting you can still manually host other channels by typing into your chat:

/host CHANNELNAME

Auto hosting will not begin until your manually hosted channel goes offline.

HOW TO USE AUTO HOST

With the auto hosting feature you can set your channel to automatically host a list of pre-approved channels or your Twitch Team members when you are not live. Auto hosting is a great way to support your fellow broadcasters and help grow your community.

Autohosting is enabled by default for Partners, and can be enabled by all broadcasters. The system will select a channel to host whenever your channel is offline or whenever your channel is not actively hosting another user. Auto Hosting will never interfere with your live channel or active host. It will only take effect once your channel is offline. Auto hosting will wait for three minutes of inactivity before hosting a channel, so choosing someone to host is still ideal when going offline. This delay is because we do not want broadcasters to be surprised by unintended hosting if they are broadcasting but are having technical difficulties. Auto hosting will also immediately un-host when your channel goes live.

TO ENABLE AUTO HOSTING:

If you ever toggle this off, your existing auto hosting settings will be saved.

Go to your Channel Settings and scroll down to the Auto Hosting section at the bottom.

Click the switch to ON.

To host your Twitch team, click the switch for the Team Hosting setting to ON. This will prioritize hosting members of your Twitch Team over any specific channels that you have included in your host list.

If you want to host specific channels, click the + sign in the top right of the Host List section and type the name of the channel that you want to add to your list. In the Host Priority section below, you can choose to host channels randomly from the list or host channels in order they appear on your list. There is no limit to how many channels you can add. We recommend at least 10 channels, which adds an additional 40 hours of uptime to your channel a week, on average.

Decide if you want to auto host similar channels (your host list will always be prioritized over this option). Our system uses an algorithm to host channels that have overlapping viewership with your channel. Try out this feature to give your community something new to watch together.

Click Save Changes.

To turn off auto-host notifications, navigate to the Twitch Settings page or unsubscribe directly in the footer of the notification email.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does host mode change what viewers see on my embedded livestreams?

No, activating host mode does not affect what viewers see on any embedded version of your broadcast.

Who gets credit for viewers when I activate host mode?

The hosted channel gets full credit for all viewers while you are in host mode. Your channel will display a button to follow the hosted channel as well.

How does advertising work when in host mode?

Viewers of the hosted channel will see advertising from that channel while you are in host mode, exactly as if they were on that channel’s page directly.

Who gets ad revenue from commercials shown in the hosted channel?

Partners and Affiliates receive advertising revenue. If your channel is hosted and you are a Twitch Partner or Affiliate, you continue to receive 100% of your advertising revenue share under your normal terms. The hosting channel does not receive ad revenue while in host mode.

What if I have ads turned off and I want to host a channel? Will the hosted channel’s ads be shown?

Yes, the hosted channel’s ads will always be shown and the hosted channel will receive their normal share of advertising revenue from commercials.

Will pre-rolls be shown to users during the transition to host mode?

You may see a pre-roll during the transition to host mode.

Can moderators from a hosted channel mod in the hosting channel while they are being hosted?

No. The chat remains as the chat of the host channel. The rules for that chat do not change.

Will I receive notifications every time someone adds me to your auto hosting list?

To prevent you from receiving too many notifications, you will only get an email when the channel auto hosting you has at least 10% of your followers.

Will I receive notifications in chat every time someone begins to auto-host me?

To prevent you from receiving too many notifications, you will only get an notification in chat when the autohoster is delivering more than 1 viewer.

Can I enable auto hosting on mobile?

At launch, we will only have desktop support for auto hosting.

Will auto host data be reflected in my broadcaster stats?

You will still be able to see host mode stats on your dashboard, but auto hosting stats will not be broken out.

I am on multiple Twitch teams. Which one will be selected when I opt-into Team Hosting?

our primary team will be selected. This is the one that shows up on your channel page.

Can I manually stop hosting auto hosting a channel or rotate onto another channel? Will auto host automatically move on to the next person on my list?

It depends on the setting that you have chosen. If you have chosen to host random channels from your host list, into your chat you can type:

/unhost

It will randomly choose a new channel. However, if you have a specific host priority set in your host list, auto hosting will still follow the priority order that you have told it to host. Our recommendation is, if you want to host a different channel, manually choose your new host channel by typing:

/host CHANNELNAME

Can I manually unhost a channel to disable the auto host feature?

No. If you want to stop auto hosting, you will need to turn it off in your channel settings. This can be accessed via Channel Settings.