AFKs and toxic players are among the biggest problems in any multiplayer online games, even in 2021. Even though companies suspend these kinds of behaviors, they can’t solve their problems completely. Riot Games took another step forward and unveiled its new behaviour detection and penalty systems for VALORANT.

Riot published a brand new blog post on its website and explained the new features. Before “digging in,” Riot necrotix and Riot aeneia emphasized that they’ve taken all of our feedback to heart and are at a point where they can confidently share what they’ve been up to.
In previous patches, players discovered a bug which allowed them to dodge the game during the agent pick screen without facing any suspension. Even though Riot fixed it recently, people can still stay AFK and avoid punishment. And now, “We’re implementing improved detection of AFK-type behavior,” the developers said.
On top of AFKs, we’re working hard to improve your experience communicating with other players in-game. For both AFKs and chat offenses, you’ll see new penalties to crack down on disruptive player behavior. pic.twitter.com/LrbUtS4C3G
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) February 15, 2021
With the adjusted system, penalties will increase gradually. If you’re a decent player who doesn’t stay AFK often, you won’t be punished harshly when your internet goes off. On the other hand, players who frequently leave the game will face heavy punishments. A renewed system will be brought into VALORANT with 2.04 Patch, and penalties will include:
- Warnings
- XP denial for the games in which you were AFK’d
- Small deductions from your ranked rating for pre-game dodges
- Deductions from your ranked rating for in-game AFKing (Patch 2.03)
- Increased queue restrictions
- Barred entry from ranked games
- VALORANT game bans
Chat offenders will also be affected by the upcoming alterations. “We’ve released text moderation for over 11 languages, and we’ve revamped our penalty system for text-based offenses. We’ve introduced more nuance to the system, and penalties escalate with both the frequency and severity of the offense,” Riot said. New penalties will include:
- Warnings
- Comms bans
- Extended comms bans
- Ranked queue bans
- Game bans
- Extended game bans
Sometimes it’s not enough to know the rules exist. You want to see the long arms of the VALORANT law grab someone, shake them, and say, “Stop ruining my game.”
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) February 15, 2021
We’ll also be rolling out feedback on your reports so you’re notified when your reports have been addressed. pic.twitter.com/YNMS0hH62P
Reporter Feedback is another feature which Riot plans to bring to life. Within the feature, players will receive feedback from Riot about the user they reported. Unlike other new systems, Reporter Feedback is aimed to be active with 2.05 Patch. We’ll just have to wait and see what kind of effects this new system will have on gameplay. I’ve got my hopes up.