An Event List shows recent activity on your stream, such as follows, tips or subscriptions, when the provider supports those events for your connected account. You can add Streamlabs’ list in Streamlabs Desktop, through its OBS plugin, or in OBS as a Browser source using the widget URL.
The routes differ in where you configure the list and how you add it to scenes. This guide takes you through each method and the checks that help you confirm the list is visible and readable before you go live.
Configure the Event List in Streamlabs
Start by choosing which activity you want viewers to see. An Event List is a running display of recent events, rather than a notification that appears once and disappears. That makes it useful when someone joins after an event occurred, but it also means the list needs to occupy screen space while the stream is running.
Open Streamlabs’ Event List settings and connect or select the relevant account. The events available depend on the platform and what Streamlabs supports for that account. Its Event List product page names Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Kick and Streamlabs events, and describes support for more than 30 interaction types. Treat that as a vendor-stated feature list, not a guarantee that every event type applies to every platform or account. Check the available options in your own settings.
Select only event types that make sense for the channel. A gaming stream might show follows and subscriptions; a community stream may prefer tips or other supported interactions. If your channel has little activity, a long list of event types can leave the display empty most of the time. A shorter, relevant selection is easier to understand at a glance.
Next, decide how many recent entries to show and whether older entries should remain visible. Streamlabs’ controls include event selection, minimums, maximum event count, history behaviour, style, theme colour, font, text colour, font size, animation, animation speed and fade time. The available controls may vary with the account or current product interface, so use the labels shown in your settings rather than relying on an old screenshot.
The minimum setting can help filter out events that do not meet a threshold, where that control applies. A maximum count limits how many entries appear together. History behaviour determines whether earlier entries remain in the visible list; a persistent history can provide context, while a shorter list keeps the overlay less busy. Set these choices in relation to the role of the display, not simply to show every control at its largest value.
Choose a style and test the text against the background of the scene where it will appear. A theme that looks clear on a plain preview can become hard to read over a moving game or a detailed video. If you adjust the font or colour, check the smallest text at the viewing size you expect, not only while the editor is zoomed in.
Fade time is another choice: Streamlabs’ setup guidance says setting it to zero keeps the list visible. That does not mean zero is always best. A persistent list helps viewers catch activity after it happens, but it remains on screen and may compete with the main content. A fading list takes up less attention over time, though a viewer who looks away may miss an entry.
For a channel that plays a fixed video loop while you are away from the computer, keep in mind that an Event List is a separate overlay with its own configuration and scene placement. It does not turn the video itself into an event display. If the wider production includes a repeating playlist, this guide to looping a YouTube live stream without a black screen covers a different part of the setup.
Add an Event List source in Streamlabs Desktop
If you use Streamlabs Desktop, the direct route is to add an Event List source from the source picker. Open the scene you want to edit, select the option to add a source, choose Event List and create or select the source as prompted. This path does not require you to copy a widget URL into a Browser source.
The precise wording and layout of menus can change, but the key distinction is straightforward: choose Streamlabs’ Event List source within Streamlabs Desktop. If the list is not in the source picker, check that you are using the intended Streamlabs application and that you are signed into the account whose widget you configured. Do not choose an unrelated alert source just because it also displays events.
Once added, confirm the source is enabled and visible in the scene’s source list. A source can exist in a scene and still be hidden, placed under an opaque layer, or positioned outside the canvas. Bring it into view and inspect the preview. You may need to adjust the bounds or transform to fit the list into the layout.
Then check the event and appearance settings you chose earlier. Confirm the displayed list corresponds to the connected platform and event types you intend to show. If the preview is empty, that is not by itself proof the source is broken: there may simply be no recent matching events. Check the configuration first, and use the provider’s current guidance if you need to test behaviour beyond what your account can show.
Streamlabs’ Event List setup instructions describe separate workflows for Streamlabs Desktop, the OBS plugin and Browser sources. Follow the part that matches your software rather than mixing steps from different routes.
Add it through the Streamlabs plugin in OBS
In OBS Studio, the Streamlabs plugin offers a Widgets panel route. Open the scene where you want the list, open the plugin’s Widgets panel, choose Event List and add it to that scene. The plugin route is useful if you already have the plugin installed and want to add the provider’s widget through its panel rather than manage a URL yourself.
This is not an OBS-native donation or event service. OBS is the scene-composition application; the Streamlabs widget supplies the event display and its account-related settings. OBS’s own tutorial explains the broader distinction between an individual alert and an Events List, and documents third-party overlays as sources you add to an OBS layout. See the OBS Project tutorial on alerts and chat boxes.
After adding the widget, verify it is in the scene’s source list, enabled, and positioned where you expect. If you want the list in another scene, add it there too and check that scene separately. Do not assume that adding a widget to one scene makes it appear everywhere in the OBS project.
If the plugin’s Widgets panel does not show Event List or the widget fails to appear, first confirm that you are editing the intended scene and that the plugin route is available in your OBS installation. Check the Streamlabs account and event settings as well. If the panel route is unavailable or you prefer not to use the plugin, the Browser source method below is a distinct alternative.
Add the widget URL as an OBS Browser source
A Browser source is the other OBS route. In Streamlabs’ Event List settings, copy the widget URL provided for the list. In OBS, select the target scene, add a Browser source and paste that URL into its URL field. The address is the connection between the source and the configured widget, so copy it carefully and avoid substituting the Streamlabs page address or a URL for a different widget.
Set the Browser source width and height to suit your canvas and the shape of the list. There is no single pixel size that works for every layout: a narrow vertical panel and a short horizontal strip need different bounds. OBS Project’s third-party overlay guidance uses a Browser source for provider overlays and recommends setting suitable dimensions. Start with a size that fits the scene, then refine it in the preview.
A Browser source does not require the Streamlabs plugin. That is helpful if you want to use the provider URL directly or are working in compatible streaming software with a browser-overlay source. It does, however, mean you should treat the URL as a widget-specific configuration input. If the list is blank, check that you copied the Event List URL, pasted it into the right field and retained the correct dimensions.
Keep access to the URL within your production workflow. It is not a viewer-facing link; it is the address your streaming application uses to display the widget. If you replace or regenerate it in Streamlabs, update the Browser source accordingly and preview it again.
The Browser source route is also distinct from adding a web page as a normal visible browser window on your desktop. OBS loads the widget inside the scene source. You can resize, crop and position that source in the scene without changing the underlying video or other sources.
Place and size the list in the scene
Once the source exists, placement is a design decision rather than a fixed rule. Put the list where it can be read without obscuring the subject of the stream. For a game, that might mean avoiding score, map or subtitle areas; for a devotional video, it might mean keeping text away from lyrics or the main image. Your own content determines which regions are safe.
In OBS, use the preview to position the source and check its bounding box. If a Browser source has a large width and height but the visible text uses only part of that area, adjust the source bounds and placement until the visible list sits cleanly. In Streamlabs Desktop, use the scene preview and source transform controls for the same practical check. Avoid resizing so far that text becomes cramped or difficult to read.
Look at the scene with its other sources enabled. A list that appears fine on an empty canvas may be hidden beneath a full-screen video, logo, chat panel or another overlay. Source ordering matters: sources higher in the list are generally drawn over sources beneath them. Move the Event List above any layer that should not cover it, while keeping it below elements that should remain in front.
Think about contrast as well as position. If the list crosses both light and dark parts of a moving image, a single text colour may not remain legible. Try the available theme or text styling against a representative part of the footage. Where a background or panel is available, use it sparingly enough that the event names remain readable without dominating the stream.
Preview the list at the output canvas proportions, not just in a cropped editor view. If you stream to a landscape layout, inspect that full canvas; if your layout is vertical or otherwise customised, inspect that exact arrangement. The goal is not a particular corner or size, but a display that viewers can read and that does not cover essential content.
An event list is only one layer in a live layout. If your channel also uses slides, this guide to using Apple Keynote in a live stream can help you think through how presentation material fits into a scene. Keep the list’s position consistent with the purpose of each layout rather than placing it wherever there happens to be room in the editor.
Repeat and check setup in each needed scene
A scene-based application lets you build different layouts for different parts of a broadcast. The list may belong on a starting scene and a gameplay scene, but not on a full-screen break or a clean video scene. Decide where it should appear before adding sources so you can check each relevant scene in turn.
For the Streamlabs plugin route, add the Event List to each OBS scene where you want it, as Streamlabs’ setup instructions specify. A source added to one scene should not be treated as if it automatically appears in the others. For the Browser source route, add or reuse the configured source in each scene according to your OBS workflow, then verify visibility and position in every target scene. The same principle applies in Streamlabs Desktop: inspect the scenes in which you intend the source to show.
If you reuse a source across scenes, confirm the software’s source-sharing behaviour and the consequences of changing its transform. A shared source may retain the same configuration while needing a different placement in a scene with another composition. A separate source may allow scene-specific placement but can be more work to maintain. Choose the approach that fits your layout, then test it rather than assuming the scenes behave identically.
Make a short scene-by-scene check before going live:
- Is the Event List source present and enabled in this scene?
- Is it above or below the other sources in the intended order?
- Is its position clear of text, faces, controls and other important content?
- Does it use the expected widget, platform and event settings?
- Can you read the text at the scene’s intended output size?
You do not need to show the list in every scene. For a long-running channel that mainly plays pre-made material, showing recent activity only during a welcome or community scene may be less distracting than keeping it over every frame. A separate guide on managing Super Chat messages on a nonstop YouTube livestream addresses a related but different task: handling live messages rather than displaying a recent-event list.
Troubleshoot with a short checklist
When the list does not appear, work from the simplest checks outward. Confirm that you are looking at the scene where you added the source and that the source is enabled. Check that another layer is not covering it or that it has not been moved beyond the canvas. These checks apply whichever setup route you used.
For a Browser source, check the widget URL and the width and height. If you pasted a URL from another widget, the source will not show the Event List you configured. For the plugin or Streamlabs Desktop route, check that the source was added using the intended Event List control, and verify the account and event selections in Streamlabs.
If the source is visible but no entries appear, distinguish an empty list from a rendering issue. The configured event types may not have recent activity, the selected platform may not match the events you expect, or the history settings may limit what remains on screen. Avoid manufacturing test events in a live broadcast if that would confuse viewers; use the provider’s current documentation and preview options to understand what your account can display.
If the widget appears but is difficult to read, adjust its position, dimensions, text size or theme. Then inspect the complete scene again, since making the list larger may cause it to overlap something else. Make one change at a time so you can identify which setting addressed the problem.
A stable setup is one you have checked in the actual scenes you plan to use, not merely one that looks correct in the widget editor. For an always-on broadcast, remember that the scene layout and the underlying stream workflow are separate concerns. StreamNeo removes the need to leave your own computer running just to keep an uploaded video streaming, while this Event List setup still needs to be configured in the scenes where you want viewers to see activity.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
Is an Event List built into OBS?
OBS provides scene and source tools, but the event list content comes from a provider such as Streamlabs. You can add that provider’s widget through its OBS plugin or as a Browser source; OBS itself is not the donation or event service.
Does adding it to one scene make it appear in every scene?
No. Check each scene where you want the list, and add or include the source there according to the route you are using. Verify its position and visibility separately in each layout.
Do I need the Streamlabs plugin to use an Event List in OBS?
No. You can add the Streamlabs widget URL as a Browser source without using the plugin. If you already use the plugin, its Widgets panel is another route; choose one workflow and follow its matching setup steps.
Why is my Event List blank?
Check the selected scene, source visibility, URL if you use a Browser source, and the platform and event settings in Streamlabs. A blank list can also mean there are no recent matching events or that your history and display settings are limiting what appears.