How do you set up a stream countdown?
- Open the Stream Countdown setup page.
- Under What is it for?, pick Starting, Break or Ending. That sets the wording and the icon, and each one is its own Browser Source, so you can add all three.
- Under Count Down To, pick A length and set the minutes, or pick A time of day and type a 24-hour time like 21:00.
- Pick a preset, and under At Zero choose what stays on screen when the time runs out: a message, the clock at 00:00, or nothing at all.
- Copy the URL and add it to the scene in OBS as a Browser Source, 1920 × 1080, so the clock lands in the middle of your scene.
The preview on the setup page runs fast so you see the whole countdown in a few seconds. On stream it counts down in real time.
Which countdown goes on which scene?
Starting goes on the scene you sit on before you go live, with a length like 10 minutes, or the time of day you announced. Break goes on your BRB scene with a shorter length, usually 5 or 10 minutes. Ending goes on the last scene, so chat can see how long is left before you sign off.
If you switch scenes from chat with OBS Bridge, your mods can send you to the BRB scene and the countdown starts with it.
Why does my countdown not start over?
The countdown starts when the browser source loads. If the source loaded when OBS opened, it has been counting down ever since, so by the time you switch to your BRB scene it's already at zero.
Open the Browser Source properties and tick "Refresh browser when scene becomes active". OBS reloads the page every time you switch to that scene, so the countdown starts from the top each break.
With a channel filled in you can also type !countdown reset in chat, which starts it over without touching OBS. That's the quickest fix when you're already away from the keyboard.
How do you count down to a time of day?
Pick A time of day and type the time you announced, e.g. 21:00. The countdown reads the clock on the computer running OBS, so it doesn't matter when the source loads: at 18:30 it shows 2:30:00, and at 20:55 it shows 05:00.
If the time has already passed today, it aims at the same time tomorrow. So a source you leave open overnight is ready for the next stream, and !countdown reset re-aims it at the next one.
Viewers in other countries see your countdown, not their own clock, which is the point: everyone sees the same number of minutes left.
Can mods change the countdown from chat?
Yes, once you fill in your Twitch or Kick channel on the setup page. Then you and your mods can run these in either chat:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| !countdown break 5m Lunch | Back soon | Switches to that scene for 5 minutes (10m when left out); !countdown break 5m Lunch | Back soon also sets the headline and the note |
| !countdown add 5m | Adds 5 minutes; 90s and 1h30m work too |
| !countdown remove 2m | Takes 2 minutes off |
| !countdown set 10m | Sets the time left to 10 minutes |
| !countdown pause | Pauses the clock where it is |
| !countdown start | Runs it again after a pause |
| !countdown reset | Starts the countdown over from the top |
| !countdown cancel | Stops the countdown and hides the overlay until the next command |
| !countdown title Lunch break | Replaces the headline until the next scene command; !countdown title with nothing clears it |
| !countdown note Back in 5 | Replaces the note under the clock until the next scene command; !countdown note with nothing clears it |
Only you and your mods can run them, on both platforms, and a reply in chat never runs a command. The countdown reads your public chat the same way the other widgets do, with no login.