Mastering AFK in Valorant: Tips for Avoiding Bans
Are you an avid Valorant player who has wondered about the meaning of AFK and why some players go AFK during matches?
In this article, we will explore the consequences of going AFK in Valorant and the penalties that come with it.
We will also provide you with tips on how to go AFK in Valorant without getting banned, as well as strategies to avoid going AFK in the first place.
Stay tuned to learn more about this important aspect of the game!
Contents
Key Takeaways:
What Does AFK Mean in Valorant?
AFK away from the keyboard is a term which in Valorant and other tactical team-based games generally means a player has abandoned their team and has neglected the game for an extended period of time. While non-banned AFK occasionally occurs due to circumstances such as internet equipment problems and real-world emergencies, it is more often the result of intentionally leaving the game or a toxic environment.
Why Do Players Go AFK in Valorant?
Players go AFK in Valorant because they are losing, experiencing network problems, called away or distracted by real-life activities, or inconsiderate people who don’t respect teammates.
In games with set endpoints, quitters are said to have rationally stopped trying. Players who are behind in a Last Man Standing format still try to win the game. Even though they are likely to lose, continuing to do so results in the possibility of winning. Early quitting players are not trying to win, so they have rationalized their quitting.
Beyond rational quitters, there are angry quitters and helpless quitters. Angry quitters are players who have lost their cool. Becoming hostile or overly upset can occur in many situations. Helpless quitters are players who feel to take any winning actions when everything seems so bad and hard. They may decide to quit rather than going on trying.
There are numerous valid reasons that players go AFK in Valorant. It may be that users are experiencing network connectivity issues, that they have been called away or become engrossed with other tasks in real life, or even that they have simply lost interest in the game and have decided to be inconsiderable teammates to their fellow players.
What Are the Consequences of Going AFK in Valorant?
The consequences of going AFK in Valorant are that the server will try to reconnect you while continuing the match. This helps minimize the advantage given to the other team due to lacking a player and being able to report against you. If someone else started the match and they leave, their character will be replaced by an AI to ease the disadvantage of not having the appropriate full number of agents against either team.
As such, if the server repeatedly notices the player is trying to reconnect, then the rejoining restrictions will temporarily be applicable in order to manage. The restrictions involve automatically canceling the comms, voice chat, and text chat restrictions. Single match win bonuses get reduced by 8 Tango rewards (Tango reward system). These penalties increase more and more frequently after repeated occurrences of leaving before 1 match.
What Are the Penalties for Going AFK in Valorant?
Penalties for going afk in Valorant include decreasing elo points, restrictions on queueing up and having to play a number of games in lower priority with one’s own afk team mate. If players leave a match, after 6 minutes without being present or intentionally current without rejoining the match, they will see the message below and will be unable to leave the chat. This is a 1-minute time in time out from the game to the chatroom. Players will then be allowed to leave to the game after the chatroom time out to prevent spam about the afk penalty. The player’s past penalties for leaving games can be found by pressing on their profile or accessing the Career tab in the inventory metadata display. They can see how many points have been lost for going afk and are now in the increased priority lower cap option. Players might become flustered or frustrated by a game if you think it is hopeless to win and there is no point in play. They might decide to go afk and wait until the end of the game to give it up.
There are also other reasons why participants might be afk, including excessive commitments, problems they must prioritize before anything else, or they may not play even in times of the outes imposed flagged restrictions. People who frequently exit fights make it extremely challenging to win games, and the game is not as fun if success is unattainable. Specialists recommend that players do not give up even in difficult circumstances, so they should try their best to win and to prevent going afk. It is advisable to leave games completely or shut the game with in 6 minutes instead of going afk for extended durations. Afk may be advantageous in some ways, yet when the player intentionally goes afk it may throw the game into disarray.
What Happens to Your Teammates When You Go AFK in Valorant?
When your teammate goes AFK in Valorant, you add an additional disadvantage to your team beyond the expected drop in efficacy due to removing the player from the game. The theory behind first-person shooter (FPS) online games like Valorant is that both teams are balanced by having the same number of players. When a player from Team A goes AFK and abandons the team, a key statistic is no longer balanced and the team playing with a one-person deficit has a statistically significant disadvantage. According to gg2u.org, an 11.5% disadvantage. This resonates with statistics monitored by websites such as Blitz.gg which average a win likelihood of just 10.8% when 4 players are matched against 5.
How to Go AFK in Valorant Without Getting Banned?
Going AFK in Valorant without getting banned requires you to have a team that is successful without needing help in fights, get a positive AFK score showing you are offsetting your lack of participation by increasing other stats, or utilize the AFK system where you return quickly to avoid going AFK for long periods.
Getting a negative AFK rating in Valorant from their AFK detection system puts the player under the risk of facing unforeseen consequences including getting a temporary ban if they do not correct their behavior within a certain time. In the ideal scenario, players should not go AFK as the game will match their abilities with teammates and opponents. Once someone of around the same skill level as you joins the game and finds out that you are AFK, your team will be disadvantaged, and your opponent’s victory will be meaningless.
Use the Bathroom or Get a Drink During Agent Selection
Each Valorant match in normal games has an approximately two-minute agent selection phase prior to the game starting where players can leave their keyboards and even the phone. This is a good opportunity for players who do not want to wait at their mouse during a match and do not want to get penalized for being AFK.
During agent selection when you decide to go AFK, just remain over your character’s pick. If you are not there for your team, at least someone will have picked an agent instead of the spike being planted near the starting point, especially in competitive games. This is just a small courtesy for your four teammates. They will appreciate it more than if you were overall less communicative, according to the Wheel of PFAB discord chat group.
Communicate with Your Teammates
Inform your teammates beforehand so they understand that if you are AFK it is temporary and out of your control. Let them know if you are working on a connection issue, if you are experiencing a fire alarm or power issue, or if you need to provide assistance to a family member. Decipher which player in your team is the most consistent and ask them to take control of your character if they can or if there is a need. In order for them to accurately play as your agent, make sure to convey whether you are leaving your character in an attacking, supportive, or defensive role.
Once you have successfully reconnected or finished working your real-world issue, make sure to contact them to get your character back. Apologizing and verbally appreciating their help can lessen the chances of them becoming upset or performing sub-optimally as your agent.
Use the ‘Surrender’ Option
In a Valorant match, the surrender option allows your whole team to signal to the opposite team that they would like to leave the match without facing a penalty or ban after the required five minutes of non-participation in the case of solo queues, or three minutes of non-participation, if in a team.
To indicate a surrender option, approximately four-fifths of the team must submit a vote, and the option will be granted once the required number of votes has been submitted. Under this scenario, no surrender penalty (AFK penalty) will be imposed on the team. It is important to note that even if there is a surrender option, players mark themselves as absent or AFK leaning out, because if the team does play and a player changes his/her vote after a successful vote, the team is subject to the AFK penalty.
Play in a Party with Trusted Friends
Playing with trusted friends could help ensure they do not report you for going AFK from your match on purpose, which is another way to lower the penalty count you might face if you do indeed leave the game.
If you have control over your trusted friend’s actions, it further reduces penalties they might receive if they know you need to leave and get permission from the party leader or group to continue. This way, given the game’s 1-week and 2-week penalties, you can ask your friends to help keep the penalties you might face low by playing fewer matches or leaving once you are absolutely certain you need to go AFK.
Avoid Going AFK Repeatedly
Going AFK rarely is not a major issue, as a limited number of AFK instances are usually not punished. Repeatedly going AFK in different rounds, games, or play sessions is a problem, with penalties going up in such a case. Valve corporation, the CS:GO and Dota 2 publishers, had an afk system where a player that is AFK for a substantial period of time would have a flickering yellow ring around their icon that teammates can report.
In Riot’s Valorant, there is no indicator that a player is AFK aside from asking in team chat. Only the penalties, in the end, are affected by not distinguishing between going AFK rarely or repeatedly. Avoiding AFK gameplay altogether is the best way to avoid bans. Penalized players may only avoid bans in situations where constructive explanations can be given in a support ticket.
What Are Some Tips to Avoid Going AFK in Valorant?
Practice good sleep hygiene to avoid going AFK in Valorant. One of the key ways to avoid going AFK in a Valorant game is to maintain an adequate amount of rest and sleep before starting the game. Sleep deprivation can have a quick and negative effect on attention, concentration, the ability to solve problems (fluid reasoning), situational awareness, short-term memory, speech, mathematical capacity, and accuracy of monitoring, all of which are among the vital skills for having a good Valorant game. An adequate amount of sleep ensures good brain function, memory, and focus which can boost situational awareness and other key aspects of training, as well as enable you to stay alert and avoid going AFK due to distractions in the real world which can lead to a ban of the player’s game account.
Make Sure Your Internet Connection is Stable
Before leaving AFK on Valorant, implement these Stability Tips.
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Minimize buffering times. It means that at the time you must go AFK, perform no tasks on the Internet which may require a lot of bandwidth and system resources for a long period of time. This includes playing Valorant while being AFK and leaving unnecessary tabs open in the background.
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Leave your mobile data on. If your Wi-Fi goes out, at least mobile data can help maintain the connection.
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Place your Wi-Fi router somewhere where you can get relatively stronger signals even from a distance. The lower the distance to your router, the stronger the signals that reach your end devices or computers.
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Keep the router away from obstacles in the house. Walls, ceilings, floors, electrical equipment, and even people interfere with the signals of a Wi-Fi router. Ensure a clear line of sight about where you think the Wi-Fi router is.
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Regularly turn off and restart the router as it may take the edge off of routers which seem to be working overtime and may improve their stability.
Take Breaks Between Games
Every time you finish a Valorant game, you automatically become AFK. If you are worried about getting banned for stepping away from your computer in this situation, then taking breaks between games is essential. If you normally queue for a new game immediately after finishing one, then simply wait around before queuing for a new match while you are away from the computer. This way, even if you get banned for the slot you vacated during the previous match, you were not even searching for a game in the subsequent slot.
Here’s according to the guidelines on Valorant protocol, VAL-005 only the final step of the AFK detection system will result in penalties. Steps 1 through 3 won’t. For your penalty counter to be squared back to zero, it is necessary to wait for the time specified by the maximum penalty duration. The guidelines spell out time frames up to a week for repeat offenders, but their usual penalty wait time is 3 hours.
If that is too long to wait, another way to go AFK without getting a ban in Valorant is for players to leave the game in the Agent selection Queue.
Have Snacks and Drinks Nearby
Valorant bans for afk if a player stays idle for more than three consecutive rounds. With Valorant games being longer than the average time spent in the restroom, players can stay away from the keyboard and mouse with minimal interactions while getting things like food and drinks.
Added to the inconvenience factor, going afk for food or drinks puts the player at a two-round countdown before he/she is kicked for being afk, which is usually over before the player returns to the game.
Use the Bathroom Before Starting a Game
The simple, but logical answer to the question of how to go AFK in Valorant without getting banned is to set up for it before the match even starts. Throughout the game, Valorant schedules compulsory match introductions of 1 minute and 40 seconds after each preparation phase and during overtimes, respectively. This will give you a general idea of the minimum time you would need to be AFK without risking getting kicked.
At a minimum or during economic rounds, utilize these moments to briefly leave your computer station and return after the match has begun. While making your Agent selection and buying rounds, manage your funds only during economic rounds and purchase as quickly as possible. Frequently check your items in your stash to quickly adjust prices depending on the performance of your team.
Be Prepared for Unexpected Interruptions
Be prepared for unexpected interruptions when you are afk in Valorant by not opening the app at all if you expect interruptions or have tasks or meetings that may arise soon. Try to keep your phone close by even if you are in bed, or make sure to lower the volume so ringer interruptions do not loudly alert others, and have your computer’s volume set to zero when not in use just in case.
Try to run a ping test to ensure a stable connection if you plan to have other data-intensive operations running while afk. A normal connection should have a ping to your nearest data center of between 10 – 40 ms according to a guide from the University of California’s Computer Science department. While you are in bed, you may want to increase this margin to have extra network availability. And when receiving (or at risk of receiving) interruptions, remember that you have pre-arranged commitments to ensure continued progress in order to shorten the time that anyone has to wait for you.
Although these are strategies to help manage unexpected interruptions, remember the safest strategy is to save your teammates, and the strength of your account’s competitive settings by ending your match afk status with an alternative solution to your afk problem called smart Afk brb robotic solution that H-Support will provide instantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AFK in Valorant?
AFK stands for “away from keyboard” and refers to a player who is not actively participating in the game, often due to being idle or not actively playing.
How can I go AFK in Valorant without getting banned?
To go AFK in Valorant without getting banned, you can use the in-game “Surrender” feature or notify your team before leaving the game. It is important to avoid repeatedly going AFK, as this can lead to a temporary ban.
What happens if I go AFK in Valorant?
If you go AFK in Valorant, your character will remain in the game but you will not be actively participating. This can negatively impact your team and may result in a penalty, such as a temporary ban or reduced reputation score.
Can I go AFK in Valorant during a match?
While it is generally not recommended to go AFK in the middle of a match in Valorant, there may be certain circumstances where it is necessary. Just be sure to communicate with your team and use the appropriate in-game features to avoid any penalties.
Will my account get banned if I go AFK in Valorant too often?
Repeatedly going AFK in Valorant can result in a temporary ban, as it violates the game’s code of conduct. It is important to actively participate in matches and only go AFK when necessary to avoid any penalties.
Is there a maximum amount of time I can go AFK in Valorant without getting banned?
There is no specific maximum amount of time for going AFK in Valorant, as it depends on the specific situation and frequency of occurrences. However, it is best to avoid going AFK for extended periods of time to ensure you do not receive any penalties.
