How to appear offline on Valorant when there is no official option: what Riot offers itself, how the open-source tool Deceive works, how to set it up safely – and what Riot’s Terms of Service mean for the ban risk.
Last updated: October 10, 2026
There is no official way to appear offline on Valorant: as of our check on October 10, 2026, consistent reports say neither Valorant nor the Riot Client offers an “appear offline” status. Officially you only get the Away status, removing or blocking individual friends and turning off your Discord activity. To become fully invisible, players use the popular open-source tool Deceive – an unofficial third-party program that Riot has not authorized and that sits in a grey area under Riot’s Terms of Service. Use it at your own risk.
Want to grind a few rounds of Deathmatch in peace without five party invites popping up? Or duo with one specific friend without the rest of your friends list asking why they weren’t invited? Then you’re looking for a way to appear offline on Valorant – play online, but look offline to your friends. That feature still doesn’t exist in Valorant, which is why so many people search for “Deceive Valorant”. This guide covers the official options you do have, how the community tool Deceive works under the hood, how to set it up step by step and – most importantly – what Riot’s Terms of Service actually say, how real the ban risk is and how to avoid fake downloads. We checked everything against the original sources on October 10, 2026: Deceive’s source code and project page, Riot’s Terms of Service and the official Riot and Discord support articles.
Short answer: no – at least not as of October 10, 2026. Several recent guides (including Dot Esports in December 2025 and LoL Theory in August 2026) agree that Riot hasn’t added an appear-offline feature and hasn’t announced one either. We didn’t find an offline status in Riot’s own Riot Client FAQ or support articles. One site claims otherwise, but it gives no date and no source and contradicts every other report.
Riot changes the client regularly, so it’s worth a quick check: in the Riot Client friends list, click your own name or the coloured status dot. If Riot has added an offline option since our check, that’s where you’ll find it – and you won’t need any extra tool.
According to several guides, you can manually switch to Away via the status dot next to your name in the Riot Client, and the client also sets you to Away automatically after a period of inactivity. Riot itself lists “away” as one of the Riot statuses in its support article on Discord linking. The catch: Away doesn’t mean invisible. Friends can still see you’re around and can invite or message you. It’s a polite “not right now” signal – nothing more.
The only official way to be truly hidden from a specific person is to remove them from your friends list or block them. Blocked players can’t message or invite you. It’s a blunt tool, though: the other person will notice sooner or later, and you’ll have to add them again afterwards. For “I just want a quiet evening” it’s not a great solution.
Some guides suggest blocking Riot’s chat server with Windows Firewall. That does make you invisible, but it kills the entire chat – in Valorant that includes lobby and team chat, because they run over the same chat system. On top of that, server addresses can change. We don’t recommend it and deliberately don’t include instructions for it here.
Deceive is a free, open-source Windows program that lets you appear offline in Valorant, League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra while still being able to play and chat; according to the release notes it now also supports Teamfight Tactics and 2XKO. It’s developed by the GitHub user molenzwiebel (Thijs Molendijk from the Netherlands). It’s an independent community project with no connection to Riot Games.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer | molenzwiebel (Thijs Molendijk), community developer |
| License | GPL-3.0 (open source, public code) |
| Public since | April 2017 |
| Version (at time of writing) | v1.18.0, released September 1, 2026 |
| Games | Valorant, League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, plus TFT and 2XKO according to the release notes |
| Platform | Windows PC (a single EXE file, no installation required) |
| Status options | Online, offline, mobile |
| Code signing | None (which is why Windows warnings can appear) |
The release history shows the project is still maintained after all these years: in April 2026, changes on Riot’s side briefly broke the tool, and fixes followed within days in v1.17.0 and v1.17.1. May brought v1.17.2 with tweaks to reduce Windows Defender false positives, and September brought v1.18.0 with support for the new TFT client. The version number in this article is a snapshot – check the releases page for anything newer.
Deceive is not a cheat and doesn’t touch the game. It only works on your chat status. We traced the flow in the public source code:
Deceive launches the Riot Client with the --client-config-url launch argument, pointing it to a small service on your own PC (127.0.0.1).
That service passes Riot’s configuration through but swaps the chat server address for a local one. Your chat now runs, encrypted, through Deceive.
Deceive forwards everything to Riot’s real chat server – it only rewrites your status messages to “offline” or “mobile” first.
Specifically, Deceive strips the status text and the information about which Riot game you’re playing from your outgoing status messages and sets your status to offline or mobile. Everything else – messages, the invites you send, agent select chat – passes through untouched. To keep the local connection encrypted, Deceive uses the domain deceive-localhost.molenzwiebel.xyz, which points to your own PC, and downloads the matching certificate from the developer’s server.
The key point for safety: the source code contains no game memory reading, no code injection and no reference to Vanguard. Deceive only lists running Riot processes and, after asking you, closes them to restart the client. In its Vanguard FAQ for third-party applications, Riot explains that Vanguard blocks programs that read game memory. Based on its source code, Deceive isn’t in that category. That said, the FAQ is mainly about League of Legends and doesn’t mention chat proxies, so it’s not an explicit approval. Riot also states there is no allow list for Vanguard. For more on Vanguard itself, see our guide to Secure Boot, TPM and Vanguard.
Before you start, please read the warning box below. It sums up what you’re signing up for with Deceive.
The original is only available from the official Deceive repository by molenzwiebel on GitHub; the current version is on the project’s GitHub releases page. Under “Assets”, download the file Deceive.exe – you don’t need the source code archives. Download portals and websites with “Deceive” in their name are not official sources.
Deceive.exe from the GitHub releases page and save it, for example, in its own folder. Optionally verify the checksum (see “Is Deceive safe?”).Deceive.exe. If Windows SmartScreen shows a warning, check the source and checksum first before continuing via “More info” → “Run anyway”.valorant (target: …\Deceive.exe valorant).You can tell Deceive is running when a new “friend” called Deceive Active! shows up in your friends list (in a “Deceive” group). Use the Deceive icon in the system tray to switch between online, offline and mobile at any time. You can also control Deceive by sending chat messages to that fake friend. Since v1.17.0, the tray menu also lets you choose which status Deceive starts with (default: the last one you used).
In practice: if you want to play with someone, you invite them – not the other way round. Looking for new teammates instead? Check out our German Valorant Discord for finding teammates.
Deceive hides your status in Riot chat. But there are other ways to give yourself away – Discord above all.
If your Riot account is linked to Discord, Riot’s support article says linked friends can see your Riot status (such as online or away) and activity details like game, platform and region. Whether Deceive reliably hides this as well is not documented. If you want to be sure, unlink the accounts. Riot lists two ways:
Separately, Discord detects running games on its own and shows “Playing VALORANT”. According to Discord support, you turn this off on desktop like this: User Settings (cog next to your name) → Activity Sharing → switch off “Share my activity”. Discord also lets you do this per server (right-click the server → Privacy Settings) and per game (User Settings → Games & Apps → Registered Games).
This deserves a closer look, because most guides simply say “Riot confirmed you won’t get banned” – without a source. What counts is Riot’s Terms of Service (last modified December 1, 2024, checked on October 10, 2026). Section 7.1, item 11 lists as prohibited conduct the use of unauthorized third-party programs “that intercept, emulate, or redirect any communication relating to the Riot Services”.
Deceive reroutes the Riot Client’s chat connection through itself and modifies your status messages along the way. Read literally, that falls under this clause unless Riot authorizes the tool – and there is no public authorization from Riot. On the other hand, Riot’s support article on third-party applications focuses on programs that give you a gameplay advantage: showing hidden information, botting or scripting, real-time analysis, changing your view or unlocking skins. Deceive does none of that and isn’t mentioned there. Our assessment: technically not allowed, tolerated in practice for years – a grey area.
On the project page, the developer writes that Riot has confirmed you won’t get banned for using Deceive, adding that it may break at any time. The only evidence is a screenshot we couldn’t access. In an older GitHub issue, the developer also says Riot knows about the tool and doesn’t currently ban for it. Both statements come from the developer himself – we found no public statement from Riot. Treat this “confirmation” as an unverified claim.
We’re not aware of any documented ban for using Deceive (as of October 10, 2026). The best-known GitHub report (“Banned in less than a few hours”) was retracted by the person who posted it, and the newer 2026 GitHub issues we reviewed contained no ban reports. That’s a good sign, but not proof: Riot can change its stance at any time. Also note section 7.3 of the Terms: violations in one Riot game can lead to penalties in other Riot services, in extreme cases up to account-wide bans. A risk to your Valorant account is therefore also a risk to League of Legends and co. If you ever run into trouble, our guide to Valorant support and submitting a ticket will help.
We’re not aware of any law that prohibits using convenience tools like this – what matters are Riot’s Terms of Service, i.e. the contract between you and Riot. For players in the European Economic Area, those terms specify Irish law; mandatory consumer protection rights in your home country remain unaffected, according to Riot. This is a factual summary, not legal advice.
“Safe” has two sides here: is the program itself trustworthy, and are you actually getting the original? We can’t guarantee any software – but you can keep the risk low.
Deceive is open source and its full source code is public. The EXE isn’t digitally signed, though, so Windows shows no publisher and is often suspicious of it. After its release in September 2026, Windows Defender flagged v1.18.0 as malicious for some users; the developer submitted the file to Microsoft and says it should no longer be falsely detected (issue #317). We couldn’t verify that independently. Before that, Smart App Control blocked v1.17.2 for one user (issue #300). The release notes themselves mention possible Defender false positives. Our advice: don’t click warnings away blindly – only continue if the file demonstrably came from the GitHub releases page and the checksum matches.
The developer explicitly warns on the project page that the website deceive.app is unrelated to the project and that its download contains malware. According to the project page, anyone who downloaded something there should reinstall their PC. We didn’t find an independent malware analysis – but the developer’s warning is reason enough to stay away. Download portals aren’t official sources either. If you suspect you’ve caught something, change your password after reinstalling and protect your account with two-factor authentication – see our guide to your Riot account and its security.
For every release, GitHub shows a SHA-256 checksum for each file. Here’s how to compare it with your download:
cd $env:USERPROFILE\Downloads (or wherever you saved the file).Get-FileHash .\Deceive.exe -Algorithm SHA256Deceive.exe on the releases page. If it doesn’t: delete the file and don’t run it.We deliberately don’t print a fixed checksum here, because it changes with every new version – the value on GitHub is always the one that counts.
Your chat traffic runs locally on your PC through Deceive before it goes to Riot, encrypted. In spring 2026, an external security report (issue #297) criticised, among other things, that sensitive data ended up in the log file. The developer toned down the logging in v1.17.2 but rejected the other points. Our advice: never post Deceive’s debug.log file publicly, not even when asking for help.
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| You still show as online | Valorant was launched directly from the Riot Client | Close everything and relaunch through Deceive |
| “Version Mismatch” in chat | Known display issue, less frequent since v1.15.0 according to the release notes | Get the latest version, relaunch the game through Deceive |
| Chat or friends list broken | Riot changed something in the client (most recently April 2026) | Wait for a Deceive update, check the releases page |
| Message about the “deceive-localhost” domain | Your network doesn’t resolve the local domain | Since v1.17.1 Deceive offers a fix; otherwise the project page suggests a public DNS or a hosts entry (admin rights required) |
| Chat disconnected even though everything is set up | A Riot-side outage | Check the Valorant server status |
After big Valorant patches, it’s always worth a quick look at the releases page: if Riot changed something in chat or the client, Deceive sometimes needs an update. What changes with each patch is in our Valorant patch notes.
Deceive is a Windows file and can’t be used on PlayStation 5 or Xbox. We also couldn’t find an official offline option for Valorant on console. Whether PlayStation’s or Xbox’s own online status settings also hide you in the Riot friends list is not documented. What reliably works on console, too, is removing or blocking individual friends. Everything else about the console version is in our Valorant console guide.
Deceive has been around since 2017 – longer than Valorant – and it works the same way in League of Legends: launch LoL through Deceive and you appear offline, lobby and champion select chat keep working, and friends can’t invite you. According to the release notes, Legends of Runeterra, TFT and 2XKO are supported too. The same Terms of Service apply to all of these games – and so does the same grey area.
| Method | Invisible? | Chat works? | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Away” status | No, just a hint | Yes | None |
| Remove/block a friend | Yes, for that person only | Yes | None, but socially awkward |
| Turn off Discord activity | On Discord only | Yes | None |
| Deceive | Yes, for all Riot friends | Yes | ToS grey area, no documented ban |
| Firewall block | Yes | No, all chat off | Not recommended |
Duoing with one friend on purpose? Our best agent duos for every map are a good fit for your next game.
Besides Deceive, many players also wonder whether stats sites are allowed – the answer is in our article on Valorant trackers and ban risk.
As of October 10, 2026, Valorant has no official offline status. Without extra tools you’re limited to Away, removing or blocking individual friends and turning off your Discord activity. The only way to be truly invisible is Deceive: the open-source tool works reliably, according to its source code touches neither the game nor Vanguard, and has been maintained since 2017.
But Riot has never authorized it, and going by the wording of the Terms of Service, it isn’t allowed. No ban has been documented so far, but one can’t be ruled out. If you use Deceive, get it only from the original GitHub repository, verify the checksum, accept the risk yourself – and stay away from deceive.app.
Not with an official feature: as of October 10, 2026, consistent reports say neither Valorant nor the Riot Client has an appear-offline status. Officially you can only set yourself to Away or remove or block individual friends. The only way to be truly invisible is the unofficial open-source tool Deceive – at your own risk.
We are not aware of any documented ban for using Deceive (as of October 10, 2026). However, section 7.1 item 11 of Riot’s Terms of Service prohibits unauthorized programs that redirect communication with Riot services, which is what Deceive does with chat. The claim that Riot approved Deceive comes only from the developer. Using it remains a grey area at your own risk.
Deceive is open source; its public code contains no game memory reading and no interaction with Vanguard according to our review. The EXE is not signed, so Windows Defender or SmartScreen may warn you. Only download it from the original GitHub repository and compare the SHA-256 checksum with the value on the releases page.
No. According to the project page, deceive.app is unrelated to Deceive and the developer says its download contains malware. The original is only available from molenzwiebel’s GitHub repository.
Without extra tools you can set yourself to Away in the Riot Client, remove or block individual friends and turn off Activity Sharing in Discord. To appear fully offline you need Deceive. If your Riot and Discord accounts are linked, unlink them to be safe so friends can’t see your Riot status there.
No, friends can’t invite you, not even by typing your name. You can still invite them as normal. Lobby chat, agent select chat and in-match chat keep working.
Deceive is a Windows program and only works on PC, so it can’t be used on PS5 or Xbox. We couldn’t find an official offline option for Valorant on console either; removing or blocking individual friends is the only reliable option there.
We could not find a manually selectable Do Not Disturb status for Valorant (as of October 10, 2026); Riot only lists “busy” in general terms as a possible Riot status. The closest option is the Away status, which signals to friends that you are not available. You can still receive invites while Away.
Yes. Deceive also works in League of Legends and, according to the project page and release notes, in Legends of Runeterra, TFT and 2XKO. The same limitations and the same grey area under Riot’s Terms of Service apply.
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