Welcome¶
Simple Chat displays Twitch messages over your stream. The space around the message cards stays transparent, so your scene remains visible. Choose one of four ready-made looks, then adjust fonts, sizes, and avatars. Select Custom to set your own colors.
Simple Chat shows chat only. Follows, subscriptions, donations, and other alerts do not appear.
Get Set Up¶
What You'll Need¶
- A Twitch channel
- A StreamElements account connected to that channel
- OBS Studio or another streaming app that supports browser sources
Quick Setup Steps¶
Install the widget from the Simple Chat page, then customise it in StreamElements:
- Select Install Simple Chat on the Simple Chat page.
- Open the new overlay in StreamElements, select the Simple Chat widget, and open Settings.
- Choose a Look, position and size the widget box, then select Save.
- Copy the StreamElements overlay URL into a browser source in OBS.
- Send a message in your Twitch chat to check the result.
A good starting point
Leave Look on Soft, Max Visible Messages on 20, and Message Lifetime on 25 seconds. You can change these after you see chat in your scene.
StreamElements Setup (Step-by-Step)¶
Configure the Widget¶
- Sign in to StreamElements with the Twitch channel you want to show.
- Open Overlays and edit the overlay containing Simple Chat.
- Select the Simple Chat layer and open its Settings panel.
- Choose a Look. Adjust fonts, sizes, and avatars under Appearance; select Custom (use colors below) to change colors.
- Move and resize the widget box in the overlay editor. Its width controls when long messages wrap; it does not shrink the text.
- Select Save after changing settings.
If you need smaller text, reduce Message Font Size under Appearance. Give the widget box enough height for the number of messages you want visible.
Add the Overlay to OBS¶
- Copy the overlay URL from StreamElements.
- In OBS, add a Browser Source and paste that URL.
- Set the browser source width and height to match your StreamElements overlay, usually 1920 × 1080.
- Place the browser source above your game or camera sources so chat can be seen.
- Send a Twitch message or use Test Chat Message to check its position and size.
What Viewers Will See¶
Each message appears in a card sized to its content. Short messages stay compact; longer messages wrap. New messages enter smoothly and move the existing stack. Older messages fade slightly before they leave.
Twitch emotes scale with your message font size. With Jumbo Emote-Only Messages on, a message containing only Twitch emotes shows them larger. Emote rows wrap to fit the card. Avatars and Twitch badges can each be hidden without hiding the username or message. If a Twitch profile picture is unavailable, the avatar falls back to the viewer's initial.
The streamer, moderators, subscribers, and regular viewers have different accent colors. In Custom, you can change each role's color. Deleted or moderated messages are removed from the feed.
Testing Before You Go Live¶
- In the StreamElements widget settings, select Test Chat Message several times. The examples cycle through streamer, moderator, subscriber, and regular viewer messages.
- Select Test Emotes to check emote size and wrapping.
- Send a real Twitch message to check live profile pictures and badges.
- Check the overlay in OBS at the size you plan to stream. Select Save in StreamElements after your final change.
Test messages obey the same visible-message limit and lifetime as live messages.
Settings Reference¶
These are all the controls in the StreamElements settings panel, in the same groups and order. The values shown are the defaults.
Font, text sizes, message weight, avatar size, badges, and jumbo emotes work with every look. Custom Colors takes effect only when Look is Custom. Your color values remain saved when you switch to a ready-made look.
🧪 Testing¶
| Setting | Type | Default | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test Chat Message | Button | — | Adds a sample chat message. Repeated clicks cycle through the four viewer roles. |
| Test Emotes | Button | — | Adds an emote-only sample message to check jumbo emotes and wrapping. |
🎨 Appearance¶
| Setting | Type | Default | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Look | Dropdown | Soft | Chooses Clean, Soft, Dark, Light, or Custom. Select Custom to use your saved color settings. Fonts, sizes, avatars, and badges work with every look. |
| Font | Google Font picker | Inter | Chooses the font for usernames and messages. |
| Message Font Size (px) | Slider | 12 px | Sets message text size from 8–42 px. |
| Username Font Size (px) | Slider | 12 px | Sets username size from 8–26 px. |
| Message Weight | Dropdown | Medium | Chooses Regular, Medium, or Bold message text. |
| Show Avatars | Checkbox | On | Shows Twitch profile pictures beside messages. Uses a viewer initial if a picture is unavailable. |
| Avatar Size (px) | Slider | 32 px | Sets avatar size from 24–48 px when avatars are shown. |
| Show Twitch Badges | Checkbox | On | Shows available Twitch badges beside usernames. |
| Jumbo Emote-Only Messages | Checkbox | On | Enlarges Twitch emotes when a message contains only emotes. Mixed text and emotes stay inline. |
🎨 Custom Colors¶
These settings apply only when Look is Custom. The area outside message cards always remains transparent.
| Setting | Type | Default | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Viewer Color | Color | #77D9C5 |
Sets regular viewers' username and accent color. |
| Streamer Color | Color | #F5A3A3 |
Sets the streamer's username and accent color. |
| Moderator Color | Color | #ADA7F4 |
Sets moderators' username and accent color. |
| Subscriber Color | Color | #E6CB82 |
Sets subscribers' username and accent color. |
| Message Text Color | Color | #FFFFFF |
Sets message text color. |
| Card Background Color | Color | #191F26 |
Sets the color behind each message. |
| Card Background Opacity (%) | Slider | 38% | Sets card fill opacity from 0–100%. At 0%, cards have no fill. |
📐 Feed & Timing¶
| Setting | Type | Default | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed Direction | Dropdown | Bottom Up | Adds new messages at the bottom and moves older ones upward, or reverses that direction with Top Down. |
| Horizontal Alignment | Dropdown | Left | Aligns cards to the left or right edge. Right also moves the avatar, username, badges, and accent to the right, with message text aligned to the right. |
| Max Visible Messages | Slider | 20 | Limits the feed to 1–30 messages. Older messages leave when the limit is reached. |
| Message Lifetime (0 = No Timer) | Slider | 25 seconds | Removes messages after 0–120 seconds. Set to 0 to keep them until newer messages push them out. |
⚙️ Chat Filters¶
| Setting | Type | Default | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ignored Usernames (comma-separated) | Text | Empty | Hides messages from the usernames you enter, separated by commas. |
| Hide ! Commands | Checkbox | On | Hides chat messages that start with !. |
Before Your First Stream¶
- The StreamElements overlay URL is in an OBS browser source.
- The browser source matches the overlay canvas size and sits above your scene sources.
- A real chat message appears at the size and position you want.
- An emote-only message looks right, along with any avatars or badges you have enabled.
- Feed direction, message count, and lifetime suit your layout.
- You selected Save after the last settings change.
Troubleshooting¶
Chat messages are not appearing¶
- Confirm StreamElements is connected to the correct Twitch channel and the widget layer is visible.
- Check the overlay URL in your OBS browser source, then refresh the source.
- Check Ignored Usernames and Hide ! Commands if only some messages are missing.
- Remember that the widget is invisible when no messages are showing. Use Test Chat Message or send a real message.
Colors, font, or avatar size do not change¶
- For color changes, set Look to Custom. Font and size controls work with every look.
- Select Save in StreamElements, then refresh the browser source if it still shows an older version.
- Show Avatars must be on for Avatar Size (px) to have a visible effect.
Messages are too large or wrap too soon¶
- Widen the widget box to give messages more room.
- For smaller text, lower Message Font Size (px) under Appearance. Resizing the box does not scale text.
- Reduce Max Visible Messages if the stack takes up too much of the scene.
Avatars or badges are missing¶
- Turn on Show Avatars and Show Twitch Badges.
- Send a real Twitch message. Test messages are useful for layout, but real messages are the final check for Twitch profile pictures and badges.
- If a profile picture cannot load, Simple Chat shows the viewer's initial instead.
The overlay is not showing in OBS¶
- Re-copy the StreamElements overlay URL into the OBS browser source.
- Make sure the source is visible and placed above your game or camera source.
- Check the widget's position and size in the StreamElements overlay editor, then select Save.
Getting Help¶
If the steps above do not solve the problem, use the Fat Kererū support page. Include what you expected to see, what happened, and a screenshot of your StreamElements settings.