It turns off on its own and you turn it on whenever you want

Your Cloud OBS isn’t on 24 hours a day. It turns off when you’re not using it and you turn it back on when you need it.

When it turns off

After about 30 minutes without being used. The status then goes to Stopped and the notice appears: “Your server is turned off to save resources.”

Any of these counts as using it, and while it lasts the server doesn’t turn off:

• Being Live.
• Having the server open in the dashboard and in view: its page (with the web control connected, whichever tab you’re on) in a browser tab that’s visible and that you’ve touched in the last half hour.
• Having the remote desktop open, on the plans that include it.

The “in view” part is deliberate: a tab hidden behind others, or open on another screen with nobody touching it for half an hour, doesn’t count as use. That way a forgotten server doesn’t stay on forever holding a spot someone else needs.

You don’t have to turn it off yourself: there’s no button for that, it does it on its own. When you’re done, just leave it: it switches off by itself.

We warn you before turning it off

It doesn’t go off behind your back. About 5 minutes before, we warn you:

• In the dashboard bell: “Your Cloud OBS is about to switch off”, with the Keep it on button.
• On the server’s page, if you have it open: a countdown with the same Keep it on button.

Press Keep it on and the countdown is cancelled: the server stays on and the clock starts again from zero. It works on every plan, including OBS Basic, which has no desktop. Coming back to the server’s tab and moving around in it, starting to broadcast or opening the desktop also cancel it.

If it does switch off anyway, a second notice arrives, “We switched off your Cloud OBS (inactivity)”. While it stays off, the notice has Turn on, so you can turn it back on from the bell itself, and always Go to my server.

Note

The warning goes through the dashboard only (the bell and the server’s page): we don’t email you every time a server turns off. If you miss it, nothing breaks: turning it on is one button and nothing is lost.

If it goes a long time unused, we release it

Switching off isn’t the same as being released. Switched off, the server is still yours and still reserved for you. But if it goes a long time without being used we release it and free it up for someone else. How long depends on whether you ever used it:

• If you never switched it on, after 5 days. We warn you on day 3.
• If you have used it, after 14 days. We warn you on day 11.

The difference is deliberate: a server that was created and never switched on isn’t doing anyone any good, and someone who streams once a week can’t find it released between shows.

Either way we warn you first, by email and in the bell, where you’ll see “We will release your Cloud OBS in a few days”. The server’s page says so too: “We’ll release this server soon”. To stop the countdown, just turn it on. That’s all it takes.

If it does get released, we tell you the same way, by email and in the bell, where you’ll see “We released your Cloud OBS (unused)”, and the status goes to Released.

You lose nothing: your scenes, sources, files, overlays and settings are kept exactly as with a normal switch-off, and your subscription and your keys are untouched. The only difference is that the first start takes a few minutes longer than usual, because we have to give it room again.

How to get a released server back

It’s still yours and you bring it back yourself, with one button: nothing to re-contract, no permission to ask for. Any of these places works:

• OBS Servers: the released server has Turn on, just like a stopped one.
• The server’s page: the notice “We released this server (unused)” has Turn it back on.
• The bell: the release notice has Turn on while the server is still released, and Go to my server to open its page.
• Your dashboard, if that server is on its card: “We released your Cloud OBS”, with Turn on.

From there it starts like any other time (Turning on… and then Online), it just takes a few minutes longer.

If there’s no room in its region

When it was released, its spot went to someone else. If there’s no free spot in its region right when you turn it on, it doesn’t start and we tell you straight away:

“There’s no room to turn your server back on right now. Your scenes and files are still saved: try again in a few minutes.”

Nothing changes: the server stays Released, with everything saved. Hit Turn on again after a few minutes. If it keeps happening, open a ticket from Support.

If you never got to use it

If the server has never been switched on, there are no scenes to keep: what you’re missing is getting started. That’s why its release notices, in the bell and by email, come with Your first broadcast, step by step, which opens the Your first stream guide. Turn it on and follow it: it takes about 10 minutes.

Note

This is a beta thing: more people are asking for servers than we have servers. A switched-off server nobody uses for two weeks is room somebody else is missing.

Why it’s a good thing

A Cloud OBS that’s on takes up GPU even if it’s showing a black screen. Turning it off when you’re not using it is what lets the plan cost what it costs and what keeps servers free when you ask for one. And it costs you nothing: turning it on is one button.

What you do NOT lose when it turns off

Nothing of yours. When you turn it on, everything is where you left it:

• Your scenes and the sources you’ve built.
• The OBS settings.
• Your overlays, enabled or not, with your URLs.
• The files you’ve uploaded.
• Your automatic scene switching setup.
• Your streaming channel.

The only thing that doesn’t survive is the session in progress, and by definition there wasn’t one: if you’d been broadcasting, it wouldn’t have turned off.

Note

Turning off on its own is not the same as regenerating. Regenerating does wipe scenes, settings and assets.

How to turn it on

1. Go into OBS Servers, open your server’s detail or go to the notice in the bell.
2. Hit Turn on.
3. The status goes to Turning on… and then to Online.

It takes a few minutes. That’s the time it needs to start up and load your scenes.

If the notice is no longer in view in the bell, See all opens Notifications: all your notices, in full and with their buttons.

Don’t be left waiting right before a stream

It’s the classic mistake: you open the dashboard at start time, the server is off, and you eat the wait with people already watching.

1. Turn it on before start time, not at start time.
2. While it boots, get your phone or your encoder ready (Your first stream).
3. When it says Online, go to OBS control, set the Starting scene and check the feed is reaching you before you hit Start stream.

The useful-wait trick

Turn the server on and leave its page open and in view while you get ready. As well as having everything set, that way it won’t turn off on you again.

Not starting?

• If the status stays on Turning on… for much longer than a few minutes, see The Cloud OBS won’t start.
• If it says Released, it went a long time unused and we released it: hit Turn on (or Turn it back on on its page) and give it a few minutes more than usual. If it tells you there’s no room, see If there’s no room in its region, above.
• If it says Suspended, it’s not this: your subscription isn’t active. Check it under Billing (Cancelling and reactivating).

Next step

• Restart or regenerate — what to do when it starts but behaves oddly.
• The web control panel — the first thing you open once it’s Online.