# Put a countdown on stream

Show a Be right back or Starting soon countdown, or a stopwatch, and start it from the editor or with !brb in chat.

Updated 25 September 2026

## Before you start

You need an overlay in OBS. [Add a widget to OBS](https://bloopbot.com/docs/widgets-in-obs) takes you from **New overlay** to a Browser Source; a countdown is one more layer on it.

A Countdown layer counts in one of three ways:

- **For a length of time** — five minutes of Be right back, say.
- **To a time of day** — Starting soon, down to 20:00.
- **Count up** — a stopwatch: how long you have been live, or on this boss.

The clock runs on Bloopbot, not in OBS. Every overlay that shows a Countdown layer of the same name shows the same time, and refreshing a Browser Source, or closing OBS and opening it again, keeps the time it had.

## 1. Add a Countdown layer

1. Open **Widgets** and open the overlay you use for your break or starting scene, or press **New overlay** and choose one of the **Countdown** starting points under **Start with**: **Be right back**, **Starting soon** or **Stopwatch**.
2. On an existing overlay, choose **Add** on the left and drag the **Countdown** card from **Chat & info** onto the canvas, or click it to drop it in the middle.
3. The layer is called **BRB**. Its name is what chat commands and flows use to reach it, so keep it, or give it a name of its own under **Layer name** — **Starting soon**, **Intermission**. Rename a layer while its countdown runs and the layer lets go of it: it shows its idle look under the new name, and the running countdown carries on under the old one until it ends or you reset it.
4. Under **Settings**, choose what it **Counts**: **For a length of time** with its **Length** in minutes, **To a time of day** with the time it **Counts to**, or **Count up**.
5. Choose what it shows **At zero**: **Show a message** (the **Message** field, such as _Back any second_), **Stay at 0:00**, or **Hide the layer**.
6. Give it a **Heading** if you want one, such as _BE RIGHT BACK_, and set its **Alignment** and **Clock size**. It is drawn in your overlay’s theme, like every other layer.
7. Press **Publish** to put the layer on stream.

![The overlay editor with a Countdown layer called BRB selected: the canvas shows the clock at 5:00, and the right panel shows what it does at zero, its alignment and size, and Start, Pause and Reset under On stream, with the line BRB is running: 4:58.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/countdown-layer.jpg)

_A Countdown layer called BRB selected in the editor: what it shows at zero, its size and panel on the right, with Start, Pause and Reset under On stream._

Until it is started, a layer counting a length of time shows that whole length; the others show 0:00.

## 2. Start, pause and reset it from the editor

Select the layer and use the buttons under **On stream**:

1. **Start** starts the countdown on every overlay that shows a layer with this name. On a paused countdown, it carries on from where it stopped.
2. **Pause** stops it where it is. A paused countdown stays paused until you start or reset it, even across a restart of OBS.
3. **Reset** takes it back to how the layer looks before it is started.

The line under the buttons says what happened: _BRB is running: 5:00._ These buttons act on stream straight away — there is nothing to publish, and they work on a layer you have not published yet, which then shows the running countdown once you do.

## 3. Start it from chat with !brb

The **Mod commands** pack holds **Be right back: !brb**. Open **Flows → Explore packs**, choose **Mod commands** and install that flow — see [Use templates and flow packs](https://bloopbot.com/docs/templates-and-packs#install) — then turn it on.

A mod, or you, types `!brb 5` in chat. The Countdown layer called **BRB** starts at five minutes and the bot says _Be right back! Back in 5:00._ `!brb` on its own starts the layer’s own length, and `!brb 10` while it is running starts it again at ten minutes.

`!brb` is made for a layer that counts **For a length of time**. A number after it always counts down that many minutes, whatever the layer is set to count; `!brb` on its own starts the layer the way it is set, so on a **Count up** layer the reply reads _Back in 0:00_ — change the reply to suit, or point the command at a layer that counts a length of time.

The flow is four steps you can change: the **Chat command** trigger, a check that only mods run it, **Control a countdown**, which names the layer to control and the minutes to use, and the **Chat message** that answers. Point it at another layer by changing its **Countdown layer** field, or copy it for a `!starting` command. If no Countdown layer has that name, the flow says so in chat instead.

**Control a countdown** can also **Pause**, **Reset** or **Add time** — a number of minutes, or a negative number to take time off, such as a `!more 2` command that adds two minutes.

## 4. Do something when it ends

A flow that starts with the **Countdown ends** trigger runs once when a countdown reaches zero. Leave **Only this countdown** blank to run for any of them, or name one, such as **BRB**. The trigger offers `$(name)`, the countdown that ended.

For example, to say you are back:

1. Open **Flows**, press **+ New flow**, and choose the **Countdown ends** trigger. Set **Only this countdown** to _BRB_.
2. Add a **Chat message** step: _We're back — thanks for waiting!_
3. Save the flow and turn it on.

The widgets reach zero on their own clock, exactly on time; the flow follows within a few seconds. A countdown you pause or reset before zero never ends, so the flow does not run for it, and a count-up never ends at all.

The flow runs at most once for each time a countdown ends — never twice, even if the moment is handled twice. On a rare hiccup at that exact moment it can be missed, so a countdown that ends on screen without your flow running is not something to fix in the flow.

## Counting to a time of day

**To a time of day** counts to the next time the clock reads the time you set — later today, or tomorrow if that time has passed.

It uses the time zone of your Schedule, the one you pick when you add a stream on the **Schedule** page. If you have never added a stream there, the editor’s **Start** uses the time zone of the computer you press it on, and a flow uses UTC. Once started, a countdown is fixed to that moment: changing a time zone later does not move it.

## Style it with custom CSS

A Countdown layer draws a panel, a heading and the clock, which your overlay’s custom CSS can style by these names:

| Selector | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| `.w-countdown` | The layer’s panel. |
| `.w-countdown .w-caption` | The heading above the clock. |
| `.w-countdown-time` | The clock, or the message at zero. |
| `.w-countdown[data-state="running"]` | The panel while it counts. The other states are `idle`, `paused` and `ended`. |

For example, `.w-countdown[data-state="paused"] .w-countdown-time { opacity: 0.5; }` dims the clock while it is paused. [Style parts with custom CSS](https://bloopbot.com/docs/arrange-your-overlay#custom-css) shows where to put it.

## What you should see

- Before it starts: the layer’s length, such as **5:00**, or **0:00** for the other two ways of counting.
- Once started: the clock counting down, or up, on every overlay with a layer of that name, all showing the same time.
- At zero: your message, **0:00**, or nothing, as the layer says, and any **Countdown ends** flow running a few seconds later.

![A countdown panel as OBS shows it: a dark rounded panel with the heading BE RIGHT BACK above a large clock reading 1:00.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/countdown-overlay.jpg)

_The BRB countdown as OBS shows it, just after !brb 1._

## If something looks wrong

- **!brb** answers _No Countdown layer is called "BRB"_: no published overlay has a Countdown layer with that name. Check the layer’s name under **Layer name** and press **Publish**, or change the flow’s **Countdown layer** field to match.
- The countdown does not move in OBS: check that the Browser Source uses the overlay’s current URL and its scene is visible. A countdown that was paused stays paused — press **Start**.
- Two overlays show different times: they are showing layers with different names. Give them the same name to share one countdown.
- The countdown shows the wrong time of day: see [Counting to a time of day](https://bloopbot.com/docs/countdown-timer#clock) for which time zone it uses.
- The **Countdown ends** flow did not run: check it is turned on and that **Only this countdown** matches the layer’s name. A countdown paused or reset before zero does not end.
- The buttons under **On stream** say countdowns are not available: a Countdown layer may not be available on your channel yet.
- A button, or **!brb**, answers _Countdowns are busy or unreachable right now_: nothing changed. Try again in a moment.