How to Block Players in VALORANT

What is Blocking in VALORANT?

VALORANT is a game dedicated to preserving the integrity of the gaming experience. Riot Games has rules and regulations for the community and can punish players with mutes and bans for using voice or text chat improperly. Additionally, the report system allows players to report any improper behavior for further examination.

However, while these measures are effective, they do not completely eradicate the occurrence of bad experiences. If you want to ban certain players completely, the bad news is that VALORANT does not have a block feature at the moment. However, Riot has expressed its desire to implement such functionality in the future.

Can You Block Players in VALORANT?

Currently, there is no option to block players in VALORANT as of the year 2023. Despite the game’s report system doing a fairly good job dealing with toxic players, there are some behaviors or situations that can be easily overlooked.

For now, your best bet is to report the players, which is a feature that enables you to report players for various offenses including toxic behavior, cheating, or use of abusive language. These reports help in Riot’s fight to maintain fair gameplay for all players.

Is a Block System Coming to VALORANT?

The good news is that Riot has recognized the need for a block system in the community. On October 12, 2023, Riot developer Sara Dadafshar commented on Reddit and confirmed that a block list is being discussed.

“We are still trying to find out how we can enable players to play with people that are a little more in their league, but let me give you some information on why a block list is actually a more complex feature than it may seem to be.

There has been other competitive games that have attempted to include this feature, but at high elo, people used the block list as a way of avoiding playing against certain people they wouldn’t have a good time playing against. This block would be thrown left and right against good players, and they would be on a mass ignore list, tanking the queues that they’d join.

…We are very down to implement some safe version of it that won’t be abused, but at the same time, players will be protected. Updates to come.”

This shows the challenges associated with implementing the block system in a competitive environment. Blocking could potentially interfere with the matchmaking process, especially in higher ranks where the number of players is considerably less.

Challenges and Expectations

The concept of a block list is debatable. In games with small high-ranked communities, the blocking of even several players can lead to a dramatic increase in matchmaking time. However, many games have implemented block systems, and players believe that Riot will also find a balance.

Until we get more information, it is safe to say that Riot’s main concern is to safeguard its players and maintain fair competition. In an ideal world, a future block system in VALORANT will not be abused but will maintain the efficiency of matchmaking queues.