Avoid these behaviors or get banned in VALORANT.
Losing your cool in a highly competitive game such as VALORANT is easy. However, you’ll want to make sure you don’t overdo it, or you could potentially face penalties that could cause you to become unable to play Competitive Matches, lose your Rank Rating, or at the very worst, lose access to your VALORANT account forever.
In this guide, we will walk you through some of the most common Penalties in VALORANT and how to avoid getting these penalties.
What is considered bad behavior in VALORANT?
Riot Games leaves little wiggle room for unwarranted behavior in VALORANT, especially text chat abuse. Other negative behaviors, such as throwing or causing player damage to teammates through abilities (friendly fire), are also considered bannable offenses.
Below is some unsportsmanlike behavior you’ll want to avoid in VALORANT:
- Using offensive language
- Discrimination (Racial, Ethnic, Religious, Gender, etc.)
- Engaging in behavior that’s detrimental to the team’s success. (Throwing games, revealing teammate positions on the map, dying intentionally.)
- Using the chat function to start arguments
- Use of inappropriate game names covered by points 1 and 2
There are many ways to display negative behavior in VALORANT, but most in-game interactions occur through the in-game chat or the voice chat function. Riot Games immediately slaps offending players with a Chat Mute whenever they use the chat function to engage in disruptive behavior, such as typing in racial slurs, curse words, and other inappropriate language.
Penalties for AFK, Queue Dodging, and Friendly Fire
Players that engage in AFK, Queue Dodging, and Friendly Fire behavior have more clean-cut Penalties in VALORANT. Players that display these types of behavior will receive bans that range from a few minutes to fourteen days.
You can even get banned indefinitely from the game if the offense is done frequently or if the offense is serious enough as well. Check the table below to get a more detailed breakdown.
Types of Bans and Durations
| Penalty | Description | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Warning | A simple warning tells players they have triggered the AFK/Queue Dodge system. Subsequent offenses after this warning will result in more serious penalties. | n/a |
| The player will not gain any XP for the match that triggered the Penalty. | The player will not gain any XP for the match that triggered the Penalty. | 1 match |
| Rank Rating Reduction | AFK or Dodge Queuing a competitive match will result in an 8-12 RR point penalty. It can go as high as -30 RR. | 1 match |
| Queue timer | The player will not gain any XP for the match that triggered the Penalty. | Players cannot join any game mode except for custom games until the Queue Restriction Timer runs out. |
| Ranked Restriction | Players cannot queue competitive matches until the timer runs out. | 7-14 days |
| Game Ban | You cannot access VALORANT and all its features until the date and time shown. | 7 days – permanent |
It is worth noting that the severity of the penalty you incur from committing offenses in VALORANT will also depend on your offense history. Riot Games keeps track of player behavior in VALORANT, and their systems can tell whether you’ve committed repeat offenses and how often you’ve committed them in-game. You can even receive multiple penalties at the same time.
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The penalties you receive will also depend on the severity of the offense, where more serious offenses are given a more direct and immediate punishment.
What will happen to Cheaters in VALORANT?
Cheaters won’t get a second chance in VALORANT – Cheating is considered a serious offense in VALORANT, and offenders will be punished with steep penalties when caught cheating by Riot Games’ proprietary anti-cheat system.
Any cheater caught by Riot Vanguard will be permanently banned when the anti-cheat software determines that a player uses third-party software for an unfair advantage.
The same penalties can also apply to players who borrow their friends’ lower-ranked accounts to ‘boost’ their ranks in Competitive mode. Boosting is also closely tied to Smurfing, something Riot Games is working extra hard to extinguish from VALORANT.
Fair and Square
Riot Games always works hard to give players a safe and fair gaming environment in VALORANT. Players that exhibit negative behavior through any means in-game will incur the appropriate Bans and Penalties to deter them from engaging in the same behavior in the future.
Try to display your best behavior while playing VALORANT, or you risk incurring penalties that could keep you from playing Riot Games’ tactical shooter for extended periods.
