We all hate certain maps in VALORANT, and to avoid them, players often dodge during the agent selection menu. However, it’s no secret that Riot Games condemns this dodging process and penalizes you with a temporary cooldown if you dodge matches multiple times. But how many times exactly can you dodge before you get banned in VALORANT? Let’s find out.
How many times can you dodge in VALORANT?
The simple answer is you can safely dodge a VALORANT match up to 1-2 times per day without getting banned. However, as mentioned earlier, be ready to face temporary cooldowns if you exceed this limit.
Thankfully, the initial bans don’t last very long as they expire after 3-5 minutes. But, let’s suppose you have dodged eight matches in a row, so in this case, VALORANT’s detection system may issue you a temporary cooldown of up to 240 minutes or six hours.
But what happens if you go beyond this point too? Well, we’ve never done that personally but some players have reported that excessive dodging can lead to a massive ban from-ranked match for up to 14 days.
Luckily, if you have a clean (or mostly clean) record, you’re unlikely to face much—if any—punishment. For instance, if you’ve been playing VALORANT for a while without any match dodges, you are more likely to be safe from any severe punishments. In other words, it all depends on your behavior history and offenses. Even small infractions can add up over time to a harsher penalty.Â
Are there any exceptions?
But what happens when you unintentionally dodge matches in VALORANT maybe due to a faulty router or an unreliable connection? Thankfully, Riot Games has designed the system in such a way that prevents occasional tech and connection issues from being severely punished.
And if your disconnections were due to a server issue on their end, they’ll forgive any AFK or queue dodge penalties incurred while the issue was live. The only Agents who will receive harsher penalties, such as game bans, are those who consistently go AFK, queue dodge, or otherwise show a history of bad behavior.
While we don’t encourage you to dodge matches in VALORANT, you can use the following methods in emergencies:
- Don’t select an agent during the pre-match phase and you’ll automatically return to the lobby once the timer runs out.
- Using the ALT+F4 shortcut is another quick way to dodge matches in VALORANT. The game will also warn you about its consequences before you can close the game.