Emotes explained: 7TV, BTTV, FFZ, and adding your own

If you've ever seen chat spam PauseChamp or widepeepoHappy and wondered why you only see the text, this guide is the answer. Emotes on Twitch come from two completely separate systems, and most of the famous ones aren't Twitch's at all.

System 1: real Twitch emotes

These are hosted by Twitch and everyone sees them, on every device, in the app, forever. There are three kinds:

• Global emotes — the small set built into every account. Kappa, PogChamp, LUL, BibleThump, and so on.
• Channel sub emotes — uploaded by a streamer, unlocked by subscribing to them. Usable in any chat once unlocked.
• Follower emotes — a small set a channel can offer to followers rather than subscribers, usable only in that channel.

The upload specs

• Square image, 112×112 pixels, PNG or GIF. Twitch auto-generates the smaller 56×56 and 28×28 versions for you — you don't need to make three files.
• Under 1 MB in the standard auto-resize upload.
• Design for 28 pixels. That's the size it actually appears at in chat, and it's brutally small. Detailed artwork turns into mush. Bold shapes, high contrast, one clear idea.
• Test it small before you commit. Shrink your image to 28×28 and look at it. Most first attempts fail this.
• Emotes are reviewed against Twitch's guidelines, so anything borderline will be rejected — usually after you've already announced it.

System 2: third-party emotes (7TV, BTTV, FFZ)

These are browser extensions. They don't change anything on Twitch's servers — they layer extra emotes on top of chat inside the viewer's own browser. Which leads directly to the thing every new streamer gets wrong:

• [7TV](https://7tv.app) — the current default. Over a million public emotes, a very generous free allowance of channel emote slots, and it works on Twitch and Kick. Its extension also renders FrankerFaceZ emotes, so 7TV users see most FFZ content without installing FFZ.
• BetterTTV (BTTV) — the long-standing original. Still very widely installed, and many older emotes live here.
• FrankerFaceZ (FFZ) — the least about emotes and the most about chat customisation: hiding UI elements, custom highlights, keyword filters. Worth it for that even if you get your emotes elsewhere.

All three are within Twitch's terms — they modify what your browser displays, not Twitch itself. Install them only from their official sites, which we keep in our verified app list; emote extensions are a well-worn target for lookalike downloads.

So where do the famous emotes come from?

Almost all of them are third-party. 5Head, PauseChamp, monkaS, widepeepoHappy, Sadge, COPIUM — none of these are Twitch emotes. They're BTTV/FFZ/7TV images that became universal through sheer use, which is why they look like they're everywhere and yet appear as text if you're not set up for them. Our streaming glossary covers what each one actually means.

Practical advice for your own channel

• ☐Make one great emote before you make five bad ones. A single recognisable face used constantly does more for your community than a full set nobody uses.
• ☐Emotes are inside jokes made permanent. The best ones come from something that actually happened on your stream, not from a template pack.
• ☐Follower emotes are underrated. They give someone a reason to follow, and they cost you nothing.
• ☐Add a 7TV set too — free, quick, and the extension crowd genuinely appreciates it.
• ☐Name them with a consistent prefix so they're findable in the emote picker.

Emotes are one part of the broader question of what makes a chat feel alive — see getting your first 10 viewers and moderation and chat safety.