Twitch is the go-to place for live-streaming games and other content and as the site grows users will notice more features being added.
Something that you may have noticed is the variety of different badges present next to user names in the chat of your favorite streams. There are a ton of these and it isn’t always instantly clear what they all mean.
To help you out, here is a look at the badges currently used on Twitch and what each of them says about that user.
All Twitch badges and what they mean
Many Twitch users will know that when you subscribe to a channel you’ll receive a subscriber badge for your profile, but outside of these, there are a ton of other badges that you may notice show up in all streams on the platform.
Here is a look at the various user and chat badges on Twitch.
Twitch Staff
If you ever encounter a Twitch staff member while watching or broadcasting on the platform you will know as they boast their own unique spanner chat badge.
While this badge should provide you enough certainty that the person in your chat is a staff member at Twitch you should still never reveal personal information to them. Furthermore, you can see a list of Twitch staff members here.
Admins
Admins are paid Twitch moderators who venture the platform chasing up reports on different channels. These viewers enforce the terms of service on Twitch taking action against streams or individuals who breach.
As mentioned above, you should never reveal private information to admins on Twitch as they will never ask for your log-in information or anything similar.
Broadcasters
This icon represents the profile that is currently broadcasting the stream that you are watching. If you see this icon show up in a chat then this is the person responsible for that stream.
Broadcasters have all the control over their streams that you’d expect with the ability to start, stop, and pause their broadcast. Ban and time out viewers, and plenty of other perks. If you see this badge in a stream then you probably want to remain on that users good side.
Chat Moderator
A chat moderator can be identified with their sword-shaped badge and has the power to moderate the stream that you are currently watching. Things that they may do include banning users, changing the stream title, and other moderation-related tasks.
Moderators in Twitch chats have been given that role by the broadcaster and are often people that the streamer trusts with making decisions regarding the viewers in their streams.
Verified
The verified badge on Twitch right now is only available to those creators who are partnered with the website. This means that if you see someone in the chat that has this badge they are a creator who has achieved partner status on Twitch.
While having a Verified badge is a prestigious achievement and something that will make you stand out amongst the rest of the viewers it does not provide any bonuses when outside of your own chat.
VIP
The VIP badge is given out to viewers who are recognized as loyal members of a creator’s community and mean that they are excluded from some of the channel’s moderation settings. This being the case, the broadcaster can always enforce these moderations if they choose.
Unlike moderators, VIP users do not have the ability to time out or ban other viewers nor do they have any way to change aspects of the stream like its title or category.
Artist
While Twitch is the go-to place for live streaming, it also caters to tons of artists who create the stunning artwork and graphics used by creators on the platform. To recognize these artistic contributions, creators can give out the Artist badge to members of their community.
Having this tag can help artists promote their work and connect with other members of the art community but it doesn’t offer any other bonuses within a stream.
Watching without Audio
As the name suggests, this badge is for those who are only watching the video of a stream without sound so that they may indicate that to the creator. You can turn this badge on or off as required. Head to your chat identity pop-out to activate this from the global badge menu.
Watching without Video
Similarly, viewers can elect to use this badge to share that they are only listening to the stream and not actively watching the video. This can be toggled on or off as needed. You’ll find this option in the global badge menu within the chat identity pop-out.
Prime Gaming User
Prime Gaming subscribers get a ton of loot and goodies on Twitch and one of these is the Prime Gaming chat badge which shows other users in chat that they are a member of Amazon’s subscription service.
Once you subscription to Amazon Prime Gaming ends you will lose this badge so if you want to keep it showing you are required to have an active subscription to the service.
Turbo User
The Turbo user badge has been added to showcase those users that currently have a Twitch Turbo subscription. This subscription allows users to avoid ads when watching streams, get access to more emotes, and a ton of custom features.
You will also need to have an active Twitch Turbo subscription if you want to keep this badge and should that end it will be removed from your profile.
Chat Cheer
When you’re watching a stream you may see chat cheer emotes come up with a variety of different values. As you’d expect, these indicate how many bits a user has donated to the streamer they are currently watching.
There are a variety of different colors for different values and streamers can showcase these in a leaderboard on their channel if they choose to.
Sub Gifter
If you’re gifting subscriptions to other viewers you’ll net yourself a sub-gifter badge showcasing the number of subscriptions that you have gifted.
Streamers can highlight the users who gift the most subscribers to their channel by adding a leaderboard to the panels section below their stream.