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To keep SteamVR’s boundary visible in your headset, leave Chaperone enabled and, if you need persistent bounds rather than the normal proximity warning, use OpenVR Advanced Settings’ Force Bounds control. Whether the boundary also appears in your stream depends on the capture path; test a local recording with the exact mirror or game capture you plan to use.
Choose the boundary behavior you need
SteamVR’s default Chaperone behavior displays a grid as you approach the configured play-area boundary. Valve describes Chaperone as visible boundaries inside VR intended to help prevent collisions, not as a continuously visible wall. See the SteamVR Chaperone FAQ and Valve’s OpenVR Driver API Documentation.
- If the normal warning near the boundary is enough, check SteamVR’s play-area or Chaperone settings and make sure the boundary is active.
- If you want the bounds visible continuously in the headset, use OpenVR Advanced Settings and enable Force Bounds.
Keep the bounds visible in the headset
- Check SteamVR first. Open SteamVR’s play-area or Chaperone controls and confirm the boundary has not been disabled. The standard grid appears as you approach the configured boundary.
- For persistent bounds, open OpenVR Advanced Settings. Go to its Chaperone page and enable Force Bounds. The project documentation describes this option as keeping Chaperone bounds always on.
- Tune the appearance. Adjust Visibility and Fade Distance until the bounds are easy to see in your headset and play area. OpenVR Advanced Settings documents visibility from 30% to 100% opacity; fade distance controls when the bounds appear, and zero makes them completely invisible. Its controls are described in the project documentation.
Do not choose Disable Chaperone if your aim is to keep the boundary visible: the project documentation says that option sets fade distance to zero.
Verify what the stream captures
Seeing Chaperone in the headset does not establish that viewers will see it in the recording. The SteamVR FAQ, Valve’s OpenVR documentation, and OpenVR Advanced Settings documentation do not specify whether OBS, SteamVR’s mirror, or a game’s own mirror will include the bounds, or document a universal way to hide them from the stream while retaining them in-headset.
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- Start a short local recording using the same capture source, mirror, and layout intended for your live stream.
- Check the recording and the headset view separately: confirm the bounds remain visible to you, then see whether they appear in the captured image.
- If you change from a SteamVR mirror to a game’s mirror or another capture source, record and check again. Do not assume the different paths behave identically.
SteamVR settings and behavior can change over time; consult the SteamVR release notes if a setting or control differs from what you see.
Keep the play area safe
A visible boundary is an aid, not a substitute for a clear play space. Valve warns that Chaperone may not appear soon enough during fast movement. Remove hazards from the area and use a spotter when appropriate; do not disable the boundary just to improve the footage.
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Which configuration path fits?
| Path | What it does | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| SteamVR play-area / Chaperone settings | Checks and customizes the normal boundary behavior; SteamVR’s FAQ describes the grid appearing as you approach the boundary. | The FAQ does not document an explicit always-on control or a separate stream-capture control. Steam Support. |
| OpenVR Advanced Settings | Documents Force Bounds, visibility/opacity, fade distance, and proximity-warning settings. | It is an additional software overlay; its availability and exact UI may change, and its documentation does not establish independent capture visibility. Project documentation. |
Use SteamVR’s controls for the normal proximity warning. Choose Force Bounds when you need persistent in-headset lines, then validate the stream separately with a local recording.
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