Alerts are the moment a viewer becomes visible to everyone watching, and they are the reason people subscribe on stream rather than quietly in a menu. Getting them wrong is mostly a matter of length.
What the Stream Alert Creator does
Creates alert graphics for follows, subscriptions, donations and raids, ready to add to your alert system as an image.
The design constraint is that an alert interrupts. It has to be noticed and then get out of the way, which is a much shorter window than most people design for.
Open the Stream Alert Creator and follow the settings and checks below.
Design guidance
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Covers | Follows, subs, donations, raids |
| Output | Alert graphics for your alert service |
| Recommended duration | 3 to 5 seconds |
| Position | Away from the centre of the action |
| Sound | Short, and quieter than you think |
| Transparency | Preserved |
| Privacy | Generated in your browser |
How to use it
- Design one alert per event type so they are distinguishable at a glance.
- Add them to your alert service.
- Test every type before going live — a broken alert is only discovered in public.
A practical quality check
Three to five seconds, and quieter than feels right. An alert that lingers stops the stream dead every time it fires, and on a good night that is constant. The sound especially: what feels punchy in a quiet room at design time is startling over gameplay audio at viewer volume.
Common questions
How long should an alert stay up?
Three to five seconds. Long enough to read the name, short enough that ten in a row do not derail the stream. If you are ever grateful an alert has finished, it was too long.
Should each event type look different?
Yes. Viewers learn to recognise a sub versus a raid instantly if they look distinct, and that recognition is part of what makes alerts feel meaningful rather than noisy.
Where should alerts appear?
Away from the centre, and away from anything you need to see to play. Upper corners are conventional because they interrupt least while still being noticed.
Why do my alerts feel too loud?
Because you set the level in a quiet room with no game audio. Test them over actual gameplay at the volume viewers use — alert sounds are almost universally mixed too hot.
Useful next tools
- Stream Overlay Creator — Design a transparent webcam overlay for OBS.
- Emote Resizer — Resize to Discord and Twitch emote limits.
- Brb Overlay — A styled page to drop into OBS as a browser source.
- Starting Soon Screen — Make a starting-soon screen with countdown for OBS.
Vootkit provides a browser tool and educational guidance, not a guarantee that every browser, device or third-party platform will accept every file. Platform specifications can change, so verify important publishing requirements with the destination service.
Try the tools from this guide
Keep reading
How to Create a BRB Screen and Countdown Overlay
Creates a \"be right back\" card to switch to during a break — sized for a stream canvas and ready as an OBS source.
How to Style a Stream Chat Overlay With CSS
Creates a styled chat overlay to add as a browser source in OBS, so messages appear on the stream itself.
How to Resize Emotes and Stickers Without Losing Clarity
Resizes a single image into the exact set of sizes a platform requires, in one pass — because you need all of them, not one.