How to Raid on Twitch

A Twitch raid sends everyone watching your stream over to another channel in one move. It takes one command and about ten seconds. Here is the command itself, the settings that can block a raid, and how to make the handoff land well for both channels.

What a Twitch raid actually does

When you raid, Twitch moves everyone connected to your chat over to the channel you picked. They arrive on that stream together, and a message in chat tells the other streamer who sent them and how many people came along.

Raids are open to every Twitch creator. You do not need Affiliate or Partner status to send one or to receive one.

Raiding does not end your broadcast. Your stream keeps running, and anyone who opens your page afterwards still sees you rather than the channel you raided. That is why most streamers raid as the last thing they do before going offline.

How to raid another channel

The whole thing takes under a minute once you know where the target is.

1. Pick a channel that is live: You can only raid someone who is streaming right now. If you have nobody in mind, type /raidbrowser or use the Raid Channel quick action in your Creator Dashboard to browse live channels, filtered by category, channels you follow, similar size, or people who have raided you in the last 30 days.
2. Type the raid command in your own chat: Enter /raid followed by the channel name, for example /raid r3dlabsofficial. Use the plain channel name, with no @ symbol and no full URL.
3. Tell your chat where they are going: A banner appears at the top of chat with a countdown and a running count of raiders. Use those seconds to say who you are raiding and why. Viewers can opt out, and a reason keeps far more of them on board.
4. Send it: After ten seconds you can click Raid Now to go immediately. If you click nothing, the raid fires on its own once the countdown bar empties. Click Cancel, or type /unraid, if you change your mind before then.
5. Follow the raid in: Hop into the other channel's chat and say hello. A raid where the sender turns up reads as a real endorsement instead of a drive-by, and it is the part most people skip.

Twitch raid commands

Type these in your own chat while you are live.

When to send the raid

• At the end of your stream, so your viewers have somewhere to go instead of closing the tab
• Before a long break, if you are handing the audience to a co-streamer
• When you are on a raid train and your slot has run out
• Not in the middle of your own stream, unless you are happy to carry on with an empty chat

Why a raid gets refused

Every channel can set rules for incoming raids. If Twitch stops you, one of these is usually the reason.

• Their settings exclude you: A channel can require raiders to fall inside a viewer count range, to have an account older than a set number of days, or to be a subscriber, someone they follow, or a teammate. You only need to match one of the group options, but the viewer count and account age thresholds always apply.
• They have raids switched off: Some channels deny all incoming raids. Others use the Stop Raids for 1 Hour quick action partway through a stream.
• They are not live: The target channel has to be broadcasting at the moment you send the raid.
• One of you has blocked the other: A channel that has blocked yours cannot be raided by you, and Twitch shows a notice rather than failing quietly.

Setting up your own incoming raids

Your incoming raid settings sit in the Creator Dashboard under Stream, then Raid. Only the channel owner can see or change them.

• Set a viewer count range to filter out channels far larger or smaller than yours
• Set a minimum account age to keep brand new accounts out
• Limit raids to subscribers, channels you follow, or your main team if you want a tighter circle
• Leave it all open, meaning a minimum of one viewer, no maximum, zero account age, and no group boxes ticked, to accept any raid
• Add the Stop Raids for 1 Hour quick action to your Stream Manager for nights when you want quiet

What to do when a raid lands on you

• Thank the streamer by name while the raid message is still on screen
• Give a short introduction, because most of the people arriving have never seen your channel
• Turn on followers-only or slow mode before a large raid if you are worried about chat volume
• Remember that raid viewers do not get a pre-roll ad when they arrive, so you have their attention straight away
• Open Settings, then Tasks, then Review Recent Raids if a raid brings trouble, where you can report or ban the channel
• Raid them back another day. The Raid Browser has a filter for channels that raided you

Turning raids into a raid train

One raid is a single handoff. A raid train chains them together: you raid the next streamer in the lineup, they raid the one after, and the audience travels through a whole roster on a shared schedule.

The raiding is the easy part. The hard part is everyone knowing their slot time and their target, which is what R3dLabs publishes as a single event page your whole lineup can read.

Keep reading

• What is a Twitch raid train?: The format that chains raids into a scheduled event.
• Raid vs raid train: When a single raid is enough and when you want a lineup.
• Raid train rules and etiquette: The handoff conventions people expect you to follow.

Browse open raid trains or see what R3dLabs can do.