Why Your Follow Alerts May Not Be Working
If your follow alerts are not showing up during your stream, don’t worry — it’s usually a simple issue with a quick fix. Follow these steps to identify and resolve the problem:
Step 1: Check If It’s an OBS Rendering Issue
The first thing to do is confirm that OBS (or the streaming software you use) is rendering widgets correctly.
To test this:
- Add a different widget, such as a goal or label, to your scene.
- If no widgets show up, the issue is likely related to OBS itself, not the alert. In this case, you’ll need to fix the rendering issue first before troubleshooting the alert.
Step 2: Refresh the Cache of Your Alert Widget
If other widgets work but only your follow alerts don’t appear, it might be a loading or cache problem.
To fix this:
- Right-click the browser source in OBS that contains your alert.
- Select “Properties.”
- At the bottom, click the button that says “Refresh cache of current page”
This usually resolves any cache-related display issues instantly.
Step 3: Check for Network Interference
If refreshing the cache didn’t help, check if you're using a VPN or any software that could interfere with real-time connections.
Widgets like alerts need a stable, uninterrupted connection to receive events live. Disabling these tools may restore proper functionality.
Step 4: Verify That the Bot Is a Moderator
Some alert types, including follow alerts, require bots to have moderator permissions in your channel to work correctly on most streaming platforms.
To verify:
- Check if the bot has the moderator badge in your chat.
- Type a command like !uptime or any custom command you’ve created.
- If the bot doesn’t respond, it may not be connected properly. Make sure it’s enabled and reassign it as a moderator if needed.
Step 5: Special Considerations for YouTube Users
If you're streaming on YouTube and everything else seems correct, the issue may be related to how YouTube handles follow (subscribe) alerts:
YouTube only sends follow/subscription events to third-party services like BotRix when the subscriber has their subscriptions set to public.
- By default, most users have this set to private, so if you're gaining 1 or 2 subscribers per day and not seeing any alerts, it’s very likely due to that privacy setting.
- However, if you're gaining more than 10 subscribers per day and still not receiving any alerts, it’s less likely that all of them had private subscriptions — though it’s still possible. In that case, we recommend checking your alert setup again or reviewing our YouTube-specific guide for more context.
👉 Understanding How the Bot Works on YouTube