Place your overlay
The right spot is the one the game leaves empty. Find the free area, size the overlay to be readable on a phone, and check it before you go live.
What are the basic rules?
- Never over the HUD. Minimap, ammo, health, kill feed, score and timers stay fully visible.
- Readable on a phone. Start at 500 × 280 in OBS and scale down. On a 1080p canvas, most layouts end between 300 and 500 pixels wide.
- Leave a margin. Keep 20 to 40 pixels from the edge so the overlay does not look glued to the frame.
- Same place every stream. Viewers learn where to look, and your layout looks deliberate.
Where does it go in each type of game?
HUDs move between games and even between modes, so treat this as a starting point and check your own game.
| Game type | Keep clear | Good starting spot |
|---|---|---|
| Shooters | Minimap, ammo, health, kill feed | Bottom center, just above the edge |
| Rocket League | Boost meter, score | Bottom left |
| Fighting games | Health bars at the top, meters at the bottom | Bottom center, between the meters |
| Racing | Speed, map, position | Top center |
| Speedruns | Timer and splits | In the layout panel, outside the game capture |
Where does it go in popular games?
| Game | Keep clear | Good spot |
|---|---|---|
| Rocket League | Boost meter bottom right, score and clock top center | Bottom left |
| Call of Duty: Warzone | Minimap top left, ammo and equipment bottom right | Bottom center |
| Fortnite | Minimap top right, health bottom left, inventory bottom right | Bottom center |
| Apex Legends | Minimap top left, squad bottom left, weapons bottom right | Bottom center |
| EA Sports FC 25 | Score top left, radar bottom center | Top right |
| Street Fighter 6 | Health and Drive gauges at the top, Super Art gauges in the bottom corners | Bottom center |
| Tekken 8 | Health and Heat gauges at the top | Bottom center |
HUDs move with game updates and with your own HUD settings: use this as a starting point, then check with a recording.
Can I move the game HUD instead?
Sometimes the cleanest fix is on the game side. Fortnite includes a HUD Layout Tool that lets you move or hide elements, and recent Call of Duty games offer HUD presets and minimap settings. Freeing a corner in the game often beats squeezing the overlay into a smaller one.
What changes on TikTok LIVE?
On a vertical stream, comments, gifts and buttons cover the bottom and the right side of the screen. Place the overlay in the upper half, away from the right edge, and make it larger than on Twitch, because viewers watch on a small screen. Check the result on your own phone before your first stream.
How do I check it before going live?
- Record 30 seconds of play and watch it on your phone.
- Include a busy moment: menus, scoreboard, killcam or replay.
- If the overlay covers anything important at any point, move it or shrink it.
Running a facecam as well? Keep them in separate corners, with the overlay the smaller of the two. Details in Overlay vs facecam.
Design a compact overlay for free, then size it in OBS like any other source.
Create my overlay