One crucial part of setting up your Twitch stream is to add a chat or stream bot. These little programs can be incredibly useful for running your stream as you can delegate several automations to them. One way is through Twitch chat commands.
With these little pieces of text, you and your viewers can instruct your bots to say or do something while you keep up the good work.
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What are Twitch Chat Commands?
Twitch Chat Commands are special inputs you set up for your stream that execute quick actions. Your viewers simply need to type them into their chat box and the commands do the things you’ve programmed them to do. While it may sound daunting, chat commands are easy to set up.
You first need a chatbot for your stream. Once you’ve got one added as a mod to your channel on Twitch, you’re ready to add commands.
How to set up Twitch Chat Commands?
Most chatbots designed for Twitch have a dashboard you can access at any time from your browser. There, you can activate pre-made chat commands or create your own custom ones. Some bots may even let you have some commands run periodically without the need for them to be typed. This can be particularly useful when you want to advertise your socials or encourage viewers to subscribe – be careful with spam here, though!
Top Twitch Chat Commands to use
There’s a lot you can do with chat commands and it’s likely your stream will have some unique points you can enhance by adding some of your own ideas. However, there are some common commands most streamers use that are quite handy.
!commands
While this looks redundant, it’s actually important to understand that your newcomer viewers won’t know which commands you’ve set up. So, having this command can help them figure out what options they have available.
Most chatbots have this pre-made so there isn’t much you need to do on your end. It’s also often the same command for all bots so most viewers will know it right off the bat.
!rules
Obviously, as a streamer, you’ve got rules for your Twitch stream. Those rules need to be easily seen by all of your viewers so having this command is practically vital. You’ll have to set it up as a bespoke on your chatbot since each content creator has their own rules.
You might argue that you’ve got a panel set up with your rules but a lot of viewers don’t see those. So, giving them a quick way to check on the fly is helpful. You can also turn this into a rules command for special streams, such as giving viewers guidelines on how to join your game.
!socials
As you grow as a streamer, your audience will want to connect with you outside of Twitch. Therefore, you’ll want to have a chat command that gives them quick links to all your socials, like Twitter and YouTube. Again, you’ll need to set this up as a custom command in your bot’s dashboard.
It might also be worth making this a command that your bot runs a couple of times while you’re live. Just don’t make it too often so you don’t put off your fans.
!schedule
As a live streamer, you live and die by your schedule. If you don’t have one, then your viewers won’t know when to tune in. Therefore, you need to have your schedule in a chat command so they can quickly check when you’re live again. As with much of the above, you’ll need to make this a custom command but it’s worth the trouble.
This is also a good candidate for an automatically run command maybe once or twice during each stream.
!queue
When you run streams where you play with viewers, this command is a godsend. Depending on your size, you’ll likely struggle to figure out who is next in line to join you in your game. Therefore, having a chat command to manage your queue will save your bacon and your sanity.
Some chatbots have this already set up as a pre-made command. However, putting one together when not readily available is quite easy as well.
Final words
Ultimately, which chatbot you use and the commands you create are going to be based on a need or desire to improve access and engagement. And while you don’t want to overload your channel for the sake of glitter and dazzle, Twitch Chat Commands are a clean and robust way to communicate what interaction and community mean on your channel.
Related: Yes, You Should Use A Twitch Closed Captions Extension in 2023