As an avid Valorant player and gaming enthusiast with over 5 years of experience, I have learned some tips and tricks for properly disconnecting from matches when needed. Leaving a match that is still in progress can negatively impact your account, so it’s important to understand the proper protocols.
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When You Should and Should Not Leave a Game
There are a few scenarios where leaving a Valorant match already in progress is understandable:
- You have an emergency come up and need to step away immediately
- You are experiencing connectivity issues or technical problems with the game
- You have unexpected guests or visitors that require your attention
However, you should avoid leaving a match for reasons like:
- Your team is losing badly and you want to quit
- You become frustrated, bored or angry with gameplay
- You want to join friends in a different game
Leaving for those reasons is considered poor sportsmanship and can lead to penalties.
How Disconnecting Impacts Your Account
If you disconnect from a match for any reason, it will count as an abandon. Too many abandons can lead to restrictions, penalties, and bans on your account. Here’s an overview:
- Competitive Queue Restrictions: If you abandon a certain percentage of competitive matches, you will be restricted from queuing for competitive for an escalating duration. Additional abandons extend the restriction.
- XP Denial: You lose all XP earned in matches you disconnect from. The XP denial duration increases with more leaves.
- Competitive Bans: Enough leaves in competitive queue can result in being banned from competitive play for the entire Act.
So while disconnecting is sometimes necessary, it should be avoided whenever possible to maintain good standing.
How to Properly Disconnect from a Match
If you do need to disconnect during a match in progress, here are the proper steps to take:
1. Alert Your Team
The first thing you should do is alert your teammates that you need to leave using voice chat and/or text chat. Let them know the reason and apologize for impacting the game. This gives them a chance to prepare for being down a teammate instead of being surprised when you suddenly disconnect.
2. Find Safe Location to Disconnect
Do not disconnect right in the middle of a round where enemies can easily kill your inactive character. This almost guarantees giving the other team an advantage. Instead, if possible:
- Fall back to a safe location away from enemies
- Hide your character out of sight
- Then open the menu and disconnect
This gives your team the best chance to play out the round man-down.
3. Disconnect Through Menu
To properly disconnect, open the menu using the ESC key and select the disconnect button. Do not simply close the game or alt-tab out. Closing the game without disconnecting can sometimes cause a delay in freeing up your character slot for teammates and keeps you in the game server for longer. Disconnecting through the menu is the proper way to leave.
Tips to Avoid Unexpected Disconnects
Here are some tips to reduce the chances you’ll face internet issues or technical problems leading to unwanted disconnects during matches:
- Check internet connection speeds – Use a site like Speedtest.net to test speeds before playing matches. Slow/unstable internet increases disconnect chances.
- Scan and repair game files – Use the scan and repair function in the Valorant launcher to fix potential corrupted files.
- Update network drivers – Make sure network adapter drivers are updated, especially after any operating system updates. Outdated drivers can cause connection drops.
- Restart router/modem – If facing internet instability, restart networking hardware as they can build up memory issues over time.
- Close unused programs – Shut down resource heavy programs before matches to allocate more network/computer resources to Valorant.
Following those steps makes it less likely you’ll have to unexpectedly disconnect from matches and face account restrictions.
What to Do After Disconnecting
Once you properly disconnect from a match, here are some next steps to take:
- Troubleshoot issues – If disconnect was due to technical/internet issues, take time to diagnose and resolve if possible before queuing again.
- Communicate with team – If you’re able, follow up with teammates after match and again apologize for having to leave the game early.
- Review match history – Check your career page match history and keep track of total abandons. Remember penalties escalate after multiple leaves.
- Take a break – Don’t immediately re-queue after disconnecting. Take some time to resolve what caused you to have to leave to avoid it happening again.
Being mindful of properly disconnecting from in-progress matches and avoiding too many abandons is key to maintaining a good account standing. Following this guide will help reduce negative impacts when leaving is necessary.
