In VALORANT, the outcome of a match often depends on the team composition. Sometimes, even during the agent selection stage, it becomes clear that winning with the current team will be difficult — due to unserious behavior or toxic players. In such cases, dodging becomes an option. In this article, we explain how to dodge, VALORANT queue dodge penalty time, and how to avoid it.

What is Queue Dodging in VALORANT?

A dodge is when a player deliberately avoids the start of a match so that it doesn’t count. The reasons can vary: an undesirable map (as of June 2025, map selection is still unavailable), an unpleasant teammate, or personal circumstances.

Penalty for Avoiding Queue To prevent abuse of this option, Riot Games introduced a penalty system. It increases in severity based on the frequency of violations:

• First offense: If you haven’t dodged a match for a long time and are doing so for the first time, you’ll likely receive no punishment or a minor penalty of a few minutes (up to 5) of matchmaking delay.
• Repeated offenses: Increased lockout time and loss of Ranked Rating (RR). For example, repeated dodging can result in a loss of 4–12 RR.
• Systematic violations: Long-term bans, restrictions on competitive mode access, or even temporary bans.

As you can see from the list above, the answer to “Do you lose RR for dodging VALORANT?” is yes. With each consecutive dodge, more rating points will be deducted.

How to Dodge a Match in VALORANT

There are several ways to avoid starting a match:

• Don’t pick an agent: During agent selection, do not choose anyone until the time runs out. Note: don’t even click on an agent’s icon, because if you do, that agent will be automatically selected when time expires.
• Use ALT+F4: Forcefully close the game using ALT+F4 during agent selection.
• Risky method: Leave the match before the first round, and your team can call for a remake to avoid playing shorthanded. However, there is a chance that a teammate votes against it, and the match continues.

All of these methods work, but remember: frequent dodging results in increasingly severe penalties, including rating loss and temporary bans from ranked mode. If you're wondering “How many times can you dodge in VALORANT?” — not many. After 1–2 dodges, you’ll receive a warning and a short matchmaking delay. Further dodging will result in RR deductions and longer delays.

How to Avoid Penalties

There aren’t many ways to avoid penalties for queue dodging in VALORANT:

• Avoid frequent dodges, as each consecutive dodge will come with harsher punishment, while the first few only lock matchmaking for a few minutes. If you’re wondering how often VALORANT dodge penalty reset, there’s no official data, but it likely depends on both time and number of games played.
• If you’re playing with a friend or encounter an unpleasant player, ask your teammate or others in the lobby to dodge instead, explaining that you would be punished for doing it yourself.
• Call a remake, though this is risky since someone might vote against it, and the match will continue.

If you are looking for other answers to the question “How to queue dodge in VALORANT without penalty?”, there are none, in all other cases you will receive some kind of penalty.

Dodging a match in VALORANT can sometimes save your mood and rating, so use it wisely and in a way that avoids serious penalties. Sometimes it’s worth losing 4–10 RR knowing someone on your team is going to troll the game. We’ve already listed how to dodge a match and what the penalties are above. You can also find more useful VALORANT content and more on bo3.gg.