Twitch has rolled out a brand new Lead Moderator role, giving creators more flexibility and control as their channels continue to grow. The update, confirmed by Twitch Support and Twitch staff, expands what trusted moderators can do, while also introducing a new chat badge and some important changes for third party tools.
📣 Introducing Lead Moderators: a new role that helps streamers manage their growing communities!
Lead Mods can add/remove other mods and update all channel moderation settings (including those previously only available to streamers) 🛡️
🔗 https://t.co/LWGk4p8wka pic.twitter.com/ZVXtTf627f
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) December 17, 2025
What Is the Lead Moderator Role?
The Lead Moderator role is designed for streamers who need extra help managing large or fast moving communities. Lead Mods sit above regular moderators, acting as trusted hands who can manage both people and settings within a channel.
According to Twitch, Lead Moderators can add or remove other moderators and update all channel moderation settings, including options that were previously only available to the streamer. This makes them especially useful for creators who stream frequently or run busy chats.
What Lead Moderators Can Do
Lead Moderators have access to everything a regular moderator can do, plus several additional responsibilities.
Regular moderators are still focused on keeping chat safe and welcoming. Their tools include warning, timing out, or banning users, enabling chat modes like slow mode or subscriber only chat, and managing polls and Predictions.
Lead Moderators go a step further. In addition to standard moderation tools, they can manage the moderator team by adding or removing mods, assign or revoke VIP roles, and access almost all channel moderation settings. The only exception is private blocked terms, which remain visible only to the channel owner.
They can also delete moderator comments, including messages from other Lead Moderators or even the channel owner, giving them significant authority within the chat.
New Lead Moderator Chat Badge
With the new role comes a new chat badge. Users assigned as Lead Moderators will automatically receive the Lead Moderator badge in chat, which is identified as “lead_moderator” in Twitch systems.
However, Twitch has confirmed that Lead Mods can choose to switch back to the regular moderator badge if they prefer. This change can be made on both web and mobile.
It is worth noting that only one chat badge can be displayed at a time. When the Lead Moderator badge is active, it replaces the standard moderator badge in EventSub and IRC messages.
Important Changes for Bots and Moderation Tools
This update also comes with implications for developers and creators who rely on chatbots or third party moderation tools.
Twitch staff have warned that tools which currently check only for the “moderator” badge will need to be updated. From now on, logic should check for either “moderator” or “lead_moderator” to correctly identify all moderators in a channel.
The Get Moderators API endpoint will continue to work as expected, as Lead Moderators are included in the returned list since they are still classified as moderators.
A Step Forward for Larger Channels
The introduction of Lead Moderators reflects Twitch’s ongoing effort to support creators with expanding communities. By allowing trusted moderators to take on more responsibility, streamers can focus more on content while maintaining a safe and organised chat environment.
Creators can learn more about managing channel roles through Twitch’s official help documentation, which outlines how to assign and manage the new role.