Feature Request: Add "Pause" and "Resume" stream buttons without disconnecting

[Alessio Milli]

Hello OBS team, first of all, thank you for developing this fantastic software.



As a solo streamer, I'd like to suggest a new feature: a "Pause Streaming" button next to the stop button, along with a "Resume" button to restart the broadcast.



When I stream alone, there are times (like during my lunch break) when I need to unplug. Currently, clicking "Stop Streaming" ends the broadcast completely and the connection to platforms like YouTube is closed.



It would be extremely helpful if clicking a "Pause" button could temporarily block the video/audio stream and pause the streaming duration timer and bitrate/connection status counter (like those shown in the lower right corner of OBS), without completely disconnecting the live stream from the server. Then, once I resume, a simple "Resume" button should immediately unlock the flow, restart the timers, and allow me to continue the broadcast without interruptions, without having to start a new live event.



Thank you for your time and for considering this improvement! Kind regards Alessio Milli

 

[MikeDeM]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but this doesn't really make sense, like on a technical level.

The Broadcasting part of OBS is literally sending a broadcast and the platform(s) you're sending to are receiving that broadcast which by design is one thing, one video. To pause a broadcast effectively means to end it. Even television channels that 'pause' their broadcasts would either go offair with colorbars and static or have filler like infomercials until they pick their programming back up later.

That said, the "broadcast" isn't really the same thing as the "show" you're putting out. If what you need is a pause in your show, what you're talking about is a 'BRB', a very common thing in streaming. In which case, OBS itself doesn't do any specific 'Pause', your actual broadcast continues on, but you need to build a segment of your stream (as big or small as you need) for your break. Something as simple as a scene with some "Be Right Back" text on it or as fancy as showing other content (old stream clips, music with a live Now Playing graphic, etc), or go completely minimal and just step away from and/or turn off your camera/mic; it all comes down to the show you are trying to produce.

TLDR: This isn't really OBS's or anybody's job beyond yours, the streamer. If you need a Break in your stream, you make the Break. If that means ending then starting a new stream, do that. If it means stepping away from the computer for a time, then do that, in whatever form you see fit.