---
title: '10 Twitch Settings That Are Killing Your Channel (2026)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=kLGmopBHLGc'
video_id: 'kLGmopBHLGc'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 494
---

# 10 Twitch Settings That Are Killing Your Channel (2026)

> Source: [10 Twitch Settings That Are Killing Your Channel (2026)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=kLGmopBHLGc)

## Summary

This video reveals 10 hidden Twitch settings that can negatively impact a streamer's channel, from chat interaction to discoverability. The host provides step-by-step instructions to fix each setting, emphasizing that default configurations often hinder growth.

### Key Points

- **Latency Mode** [00:18] — Normal latency causes 10-20 second delay, killing chat interaction. Switch to low latency in Creator Dashboard > Settings > Stream.
- **Followers-Only Mode** [01:01] — Turning on followers-only chat deters new viewers. Disable it in chat settings and use AutoMod instead.
- **Store Past Broadcasts** [01:42] — Twitch doesn't save streams by default. Enable 'Store Past Broadcasts' and 'Always Publish VODs' in Settings > Stream.
- **Raids Settings** [02:39] — Restricting raids to friends only can block big opportunities. Allow raids from channels meeting minimum requirements (e.g., 2 viewers).
- **Block Bot Phrases** [03:30] — Add common bot phrases like 'get famous here' to AutoMod's block terms to filter 90% of bots.
- **Correct Game Category** [04:15] — Using wrong category (e.g., 'Just Chatting' for Fortnite) hurts discoverability. Always select the specific game.
- **Pre-Roll Ads** [04:38] — Pre-roll ads drive away new viewers. Run 3 minutes of midroll ads per hour to disable pre-rolls.
- **Disconnect Protection** [05:50] — Enable to keep stream live for 90 seconds during internet drop, giving time to reconnect without losing viewers.
- **Chat Verification** [06:31] — Require verified email or phone for first-time chatters to block bots and trolls.
- **Clip Creation** [07:19] — Enable clips and disable 'followers only' to allow anyone to clip and share, increasing viral potential.

### Conclusion

By adjusting these 10 settings, streamers can improve chat interaction, discoverability, and overall channel growth. The host also offers a free pre-stream cheat sheet for further optimization.

## Transcript

It's 2026. If you're streaming on your
channel with default settings, then
you're streaming with the handbreak on.
Today, I'm showing you 10 different
hidden toggles on Twitch and some are
off by default. And some of them you may
have turned on by mistake. And one of
these is the main reason that your
Twitch chat is dead. So, let's fix it.
First up, let's take a look at the
setting that absolutely destroys your
chat interaction. If your Twitch chat
feels empty, it might be because you're
broadcasting from the past. Go to your
Twitch channel, go to the top right
corner, click your icon, and go to
creator dashboard. Then look on the
lefth hand side, click on settings, and
then click stream. Then you're going to
want to find latency mode. Twitch tries
to set this latency mode to low latency
by default. However, updates to OBS
Studio or account resets. [music]
Can actually flip this back to normal
latency without you knowing. And if
you're on normal, then you'll have about
10 to 20 seconds of delay, which means
you'll tell a joke, then sit in silence
for 20 seconds, and then chat will
finally laugh. But that's not a stream.
That's a voicemail. So, go in your
settings and double check that low
latency is selected and don't trust the
default. Now, while we're on the topic
of fixing chat interaction, if you're a
new streamer, then you got to stop using
followers only mode. You're absolutely
destroying your growth. I see people
turn this on because they're scared of
the box. But if I find your stream and
want to say hi and a popup that says
follow for 10 minutes comes up, I'm
leaving out the door. You're essentially
putting a locked door on an empty store.
So, go to your Twitch chat. Go down to
the very bottom where you hit the cog
wheel chat settings next to the chat
button. Then you'll scroll down and
you'll see followers only chat. Make
sure this is turned off. Use automod to
catch the trolls or bots. And don't
punish real humans for saying hello.
Just go to the top right corner, click
your icon, creator dashboard, moderation
on the left hand side and settings, and
you can customize all your automod stuff
here. Now, this next one is actually
really dangerous for your content. If
you're a new streamer, Twitch actually
doesn't save your streams when you press
end by default. That means if you had a
really good stream yesterday, but you
didn't toggle this setting on, then it's
going to be gone forever. We fixed this
by going to your Twitch channel, going
to the top right corner, clicking the
icon creator dashboard settings on the
left hand side, click it, and then go to
stream. And then we're going to scroll
down to where you see store pass
broadcast. Make sure this is turned on.
And while you're here, you might as well
enable always publish VODs on because if
you don't, then your little past
broadcast, aka your streams that you've
done, will be hidden by default for all
your viewers, which ultimately hurts
your discovery, and we don't want that.
Now, those settings are all sort of set
and forget. But there's a whole other
set of settings that you need to check
every single time you go live. I'm
talking about your bit rate, your mute
button, your game audio, and that's why
I created the pre-stream cheat sheet.
It's the exact Pilots checklist that I
use before every single stream, and it's
free. The link is in the description
down below in the pinned comment. So,
grab it, save your stream, and thank me
later. Now, let's go back to the
dashboard. But this one's a little
controversial. We got to talk about
raids because you might be blocking your
big break on Twitch without knowing. Go
to your Twitch channel, go to the top
right corner, click your icon, creator
dashboard, go to the left hand side,
click settings, and then stream. Scroll
all the way down until you see raids
because sometimes the Twitch safety
onboarding you fill out encourages you
to lock this down to getting raids from
friends only. So, make sure that you
don't have any of these checked because
if a bigger streamer than you wants to
dump their 500 plus viewers to your
channel and you have your door locked,
then you just cost yourself a
career-changing moment. Just make sure
to allow raids from channels that meet
the following requirements. And you can
set these to what you want. I have it
set to two because I don't like getting
spammed with one person raids cuz that
means literally anyone can raid you. But
other than that, I like to keep
everything pretty clear. You could
theoretically change this from 30 to
one. So, if you want to do that, you can
too. But speaking of bots, if you turned
off the follower only mode like we did
earlier, then you're going to need a
bouncer to make sure that you don't get
hit. Here's how to stop those art
scammer bots on Twitch without lifting a
finger. Go to your Twitch channel, top
right corner, click the icon creator
dashboard. Look on the left hand side
where it says moderation and then hit
settings. Then we'll go to automod and
message filtering and we're going to
click on view advanced settings. Then
scroll all the way down until you see
block terms and phrases. And this is
where you're going to click in this box
and you're going to type in all the
common phrases that these stupid bots
use all the time. Start with things like
get famous here, get big follows, buy
followers, get cheap viewers, and that
filters out about 90% of the bots you're
ever going to get. That way, your chat
stays clean. You don't have to ban
people manually, and you're not
distracted from those epic gameplay
moments you're getting. Now, the next
setting isn't a toggle, but it is a bad
habit. Stop using the retro category on
Twitch. When you're updating your stream
information like this, are you tagging
your game correctly? If you're playing
Fortnite like this, but your category
says just chatting, nobody looking for
Fortnite can find you. And if you're
playing an older game, don't use the
retro category. It's honestly too
crowded. You're better off using that
specific game in order to get found cuz
there's less competition. So, that was
an easy one. But for my Twitch
affiliates and Twitch partners, this is
how you save your attention. Pre-roll
ads on Twitch are destroying your
discovery. Here's how to fix it. If I
click on your stream and I instantly get
hit with a 30-se secondond ad, then I'm
gone. In order to fix this, go to the
top right corner of Twitch, click your
icon, go to creator dashboard, then go
to monetization on the left and hit ads
and go to the ads per hour and change
this to exactly 3 minutes. That way, you
fully disable those pre-roll ads for
incoming viewers whenever people click
on your stream. Because interrupting
your loyal viewers for a quick 30 or 60
seconds every now and then is a lot
better than instantly blocking your face
to any new viewers that might click on
your stream. Now, I know what you're
probably thinking. Cody, won't my
viewers hate me for running midroll ads?
Here's the secret, though. You control
the narrative. When you see the ad
incoming text appear above your chat
room, don't let it upset you. Simply
pause the game or do whatever you're
doing and tell the chat, "Hey, there's
an ad break coming up, so let's use this
as a time as a health break instead. We
can go grab some water, grab a snack,
stretch your legs." Because when you
reframe it as a health break instead of
just an ad break, nobody complains. You
get the revenue, even if it's pennies,
the chat stays hydrated, and you don't
have to piss your pants, which is half
the reason I'm filming on a toilet
today, and not because my power's been
out for 2 weeks. But this next setting
I'm going to show you is the only reason
that saved my stream when my internet
crashed last time because Twitch has a
secret setting that instantly saves your
stream when your internet dies. It's
[music] called disconnect protection. Go
to Twitch, go to the top right corner,
click your icon, creator dashboard, then
go to the lefth hand side, hit settings,
and then stream. And right here at the
top, you'll see disconnect protection.
Make sure this is enabled. If your
internet drops for a second or OBS
crashes, instead of ending your stream
and kicking out all the viewers you've
gotten over the hour or so you've been
streaming, Twitch will keep your channel
live for about 90 seconds, showing a
technical difficulty screen, which gives
you time to reboot your router and
computer, or restart OBS without losing
your viewers. It's literally a
lifesaver. So, make sure this is turned
on. Now, we need to make sure that the
people in your chat are actual real
people. Stop letting anonymous accounts
on Twitch ruin your stream. Go to
Twitch. Click your icon in the top
right. Hit creator dashboard. Go to
moderation on the left and hit settings.
Then go to chatter permissions and then
go to view advanced settings. This is
where you can set your chat
verification. Like if you want to do
some chatters must have a verified
email. You do it just for the first time
chatters in my channel because that's
going to be a good firewall for trolls
in box which is going to prevent them
from spamming in your chat. Could also
do phone verification for firsttime
chatters for that same reason. But
whatever you think is going to be best
for your channel, you should at least
have some sort of chat verification to
prevent the bots and trolls because most
bots and trolls will not burn a real
phone number just to troll you. That one
setting blocks 99% of hate raids before
they actually happen. And setting number
10 is the one that's going to make you
go viral. You're making it too hard for
your viewers to make you famous. Go to
your Twitch channel, hit the icon in
that top right corner, hit creator
dashboard, go to settings on the left,
and then hit stream. Scroll down until
you find clips. Make sure that enable
clips is enabled. But the secret is
making sure followers only is off.
Because if a random person's watching
your stream and finds a funny moment,
you want them to clip and share it.
That's all the work done for you. If you
force them to follow first, then they're
not going to bother to share the clip
right away. So, let the strangers make
you go viral and remove the friction.
So, go change those 10 settings. Don't
assume they're already set up correctly.
And seriously, stop guessing with your
tech. Download the free pre-stream cheat
sheet right below this video. It's
completely free and has stuff we didn't
talk about in this video as well. So,
grab it in the description below. And if
you want to know what streaming gear you
should buy, watch this playlist to the
side of me. I have so many
recommendations in this playlist. So, go
give it a watch. My name's Cody and I
will see you in the next