# Run a viewer queue

Let viewers join a line to play with you using !join, pull the next ones from chat or the Queue page, and show the line on your overlay.

Updated 27 September 2026

## What you can do

A viewer queue is a line of viewers waiting to play with you — the next lobby, the next match, the next co-op run. Viewers type `!join` to get in line, `!leave` to drop out and `!waitlist` to see who is waiting. When you are ready for the next players, a moderator types `!next 4`, or you press **Next** on the Queue page, and chat hears who is up.

Your channel has one queue. It can be open or closed, hold as many viewers as you allow, put subscribers first, and ask every viewer for a note when they join, such as their gamertag. It lasts across streams until you clear it, and a **Viewer queue** layer shows it on your overlay.

## Before you start

- Chat commands come from flows. The **Viewer queue** pack has all five; step 2 adds it.
- To show the queue on stream you need an overlay in OBS. [Add an overlay to OBS](https://bloopbot.com/docs/widgets-in-obs) shows how to add one as a Browser Source.

## 1. Set up the queue

1. In the dashboard sidebar, open **Run → Queue**.
2. Under **Settings**, set **Most viewers in line**: the most who can wait at once. Leave it blank for no limit.
3. Tick **Subscribers go first** to serve subscribers before viewers who are not, even ones who joined earlier.
4. Under **Ask for a note**, type a prompt such as `Your gamertag` if you want one. Every viewer must then type it after `!join`, and it is shown beside their name. Leave it blank to ask for nothing.
5. Press **Save settings**.
6. Press **Open queue**. The badge beside it turns to **Open**. Press **Close queue** when you want no more joins; viewers already in line stay in it.

![The Queue page: the queue marked Open with a Close queue button, two viewers in line with their gamertags, Move to top and Remove on each, Pull 1 and Next above the line, and the settings for the most viewers in line, subscribers first and the note prompt.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/viewer-queue-page.jpg)

_The Queue page: the queue is open, two viewers wait with their gamertags, and the settings are on the right._

## 2. Add the chat commands

The Queue page offers the commands when nothing lets viewers join yet: a **Queue commands** row under the page title says _Viewers can’t join your queue from chat yet._ Press **Add** on it to open the Viewer queue pack’s review on the right, then press its button to add the five flows, paused. The row then offers **Switch on**, or **Open flow** to look first, and it goes away once they are on. You can also open **Flows**, press **Add**, and add **Viewer queue**.

| Command | Who | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `!join` or `!join Ada#1234` | Everyone | Puts the viewer in line and replies with their place, _You are #3 in the queue._ Anything after `!join` is their note. |
| `!leave` | Everyone | Takes them out of line. |
| `!waitlist` | Everyone | Says how many are waiting and who, in order: _In the queue (3): PixelPal, LoyalLlama, BitsBandit_. |
| `!next` or `!next 4` | Moderators and you | Pulls the next viewer, or the next four, out of the line. Anyone else is ignored without a word. |
| — | — | **Say who is up next**: whenever viewers are pulled, chat hears _Up next from the queue: PixelPal, LoyalLlama!_ |

When a `!join` is refused, the viewer is told why in a reply: _The queue is closed right now._, _The queue is full._, _You are already in the queue at #2._, or _Add your gamertag after the command._ when your queue asks for a note and they gave none.

## 3. Run the line

The Queue page lists everyone waiting, in the order you will pull them, and refreshes on its own every few seconds while viewers join from chat.

- **Next** pulls the number of viewers in **Pull** (1 to 25) off the top. It is announced in chat the same way `!next` is, by **Say who is up next**.
- **Move to top** puts one viewer first, ahead of everyone else, including viewers who skipped the line.
- **Remove** takes one viewer out without announcing anything.
- **Clear…** takes everyone out. The queue stays open or closed as it was.

The order is: viewers who skipped the line first, then — with **Subscribers go first** on — subscribers, then everyone else in the order they joined.

## 4. Show the queue on your overlay

1. Open **Overlays** and open the overlay the queue should appear on.
2. Press **Add** on the left and choose **Viewer queue** under **Goals & games**.
3. Select the layer and set **Viewers to show**, from 1 to 20. The layer lists that many from the top of the line and says how many more are waiting.
4. Size and place it like any other layer — [Arrange your overlay](https://bloopbot.com/docs/arrange-your-overlay) covers placement — and press **Publish**.

The layer shows **Queue**, whether it is open and how many are waiting, then each viewer's place, name and note. It takes your overlay theme, and its panel, rows, names and notes can each be styled from the theme's parts. To see it with made-up viewers before anyone joins, open **Simulate** in the top bar and press **Test queue**; after a few seconds it returns to your real line.

![A Viewer queue layer on the overlay: Queue, Open · 6 waiting, the next five viewers numbered 1 to 5 with their gamertags, and +1 more.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/viewer-queue-layer.jpg)

_The Viewer queue layer on stream: open with six waiting, the next five with their gamertags, and one more below._

## 5. Build your own queue flows

Six steps in the node library, under **Queue**, do everything the queue does:

- **Join the queue** — puts the viewer in line. **Their note** is what they typed (`$(query)` is everything after the command) and **Skip the line** puts them ahead of everyone who joined normally. It follows **ok** with their place in `$(from.<step>.position)`, or **rejected** with why in `$(from.<step>.message)`.
- **Leave the queue** — follows **ok**, or **none** when they were not in line.
- **Pull from the queue** — **How many** takes 1 to 25, and `$(1)` reads the number after the command. It hands forward `$(from.<step>.users)`, the names as one line, and follows **empty** when nobody is waiting.
- **Open the queue**, **Close the queue** and **Clear the queue**.

And one trigger:

- **Viewers pulled from queue** — runs after every pull, from a flow or from **Next** on the Queue page. Its tokens are `$(users)` (the names, in order), `$(count)` and `$(notes)` (each note with its viewer's name).

Any flow can also read the queue without a step: `$(data.queue.length)` is how many are waiting, `$(data.queue.viewers)` their names in order, and `$(data.queue.open)` is `on` or `off`.

## Only followers, or a price in points

Who may join is decided in the `!join` flow, before **Join the queue** runs.

- **Followers only**: turn on Twitch's **Followers-only** chat while the queue is open, and only followers can type `!join` at all. A flow can do it for you: in a moderator command, add **Chat settings** with **Followers-only** set to **on** after **Open the queue**, and set it back to **off** after **Close the queue**.
- **A price in points**: in the **Join the queue (!join)** flow, put **Read points & watch time** before **Join the queue**, then a **Check a value** step: `$(from.<read step>.balance)` **at least** `100`. After **Join the queue**'s **ok**, add **Set a variable** to **subtract** `100` from `loyalty_balance` for the viewer, so a refused join costs nothing. [Loyalty and regulars](https://bloopbot.com/docs/loyalty-and-regulars) explains the points.
- **Skip the line for channel points**: make a flow that starts from **On a reward redeemed** and adds **Join the queue** with **Skip the line** on. [Reward redemptions](https://bloopbot.com/docs/reward-redemptions) shows how to pick the reward.

A note is text a viewer typed, and it is shown on your overlay. To screen it first, put **AI: text OK to show?** on `$(query)` before **Join the queue**, where your channel has it.

## A worked example: squad night

1. On the Queue page, set **Most viewers in line** to `20`, **Ask for a note** to `Your gamertag`, save, and press **Open queue**.
2. Add the **Viewer queue** pack and switch its five flows on.
3. Add a **Viewer queue** layer to your main overlay, set **Viewers to show** to `5`, and publish.
4. PixelPal types `!join Pixel#2048` and is told _You are #1 in the queue._ Five more join the same way; one types just `!join` and is told _Add your gamertag after the command._
5. Your layer shows _Open · 6 waiting_, the first five with their gamertags, and _+1 more_.
6. For the first match, your moderator types `!next 4`. Chat reads _Up next from the queue: PixelPal, LoyalLlama, BitsBandit, QuietQuokka!_ and the layer drops to two waiting.
7. Between matches you press **Next** on the Queue page, and chat reads _Up next from the queue: NightOwl!_

## What you should see

- The Queue page listing everyone waiting, updating on its own as viewers join and leave.
- A reply in chat for every `!join`: their place, or why not.
- One _Up next_ line in chat for every pull, whether it came from `!next` or from **Next** on the Queue page.
- The Viewer queue layer following along within a moment, and showing the line as it stands when you refresh or re-open the Browser Source.

## Troubleshooting

- `!join` does nothing: the **Viewer queue** flows are paused, or were never added. Switch them on in **Flows**, or add them from the Queue page’s **Queue commands** row.
- Every `!join` says the queue is closed: press **Open queue** on the Queue page.
- `!next` does nothing: it is for moderators and you. [Permissions and cooldowns](https://bloopbot.com/docs/permissions-and-cooldowns#permissions) shows how to change who can use a command.
- Nobody is announced after **Next**: **Say who is up next** is paused, or was deleted. Add it again from the **Viewer queue** pack.
- The layer says **Nobody in line yet** while the Queue page lists viewers: the overlay has not been published since the layer was added. Press **Publish** in the overlay editor.
- Two replies to one command, or the wrong one: another flow of yours uses the same word, such as a `!join` of your own. When you add the pack, the review warns about a command already in use; keep one of the two flows paused or change its command. The Song requests pack's `!queue` lists songs; the viewer queue's list is `!waitlist`.
- Yesterday's viewers are still in line: the queue lasts until you clear it. Press **Clear…** on the Queue page when a new session starts.