How to make custom lobbies in Deadlock

Getting into an online match in Deadlock is easy, but making a custom lobby is a bit complex, so here’s how you can make your own.

Since Deadlock is still in early access, there are a lot of kinks Valve is ironing out, which is why the game has been regularly getting massive updates that shake up the entire experience.

Be it the plethora of hero and item balances, map and gameplay changes, or the addition of a new reporting system, the devs are constantly touching it up.

For a while, Deadlock was missing a custom lobby option, only accessible through console commands, and was quite bare. However, in the September 26 update, the devs added fully-fledged custom lobbies.

So here is how you can make your own private lobbies in Deadlock and what you can do in it.

How to create a custom match in Deadlock

To create a private lobby in Deadlock is simple:

1. Press play
2. Click on the custom lobby
3. Press create new custom lobby

Press play

Once you click play on the main menu, you’ll be brought into the play menu. To create a private lobby you’ll need to press ‘Custom Match’.

Click on Custom Lobby and press ‘create Custom Lobby’

Once you’ve clicked on ‘Custom Lobby’, you’ll be brought into this small menu window. You’ll have the choice of either entering an existing lobby via code or creating your own lobby.

Since we’re making our own, click on ‘Create new Custom Lobby’ and you’ll be put into the private match menu.

How to start a custom lobby?

Below you can find how to start a custom lobby:

1. All players press ready up
2. Pick your hero
3. Start the match

Everybody ready up

When a player fills one of the team slots, they will have a ‘ready up’ button right next to their name. Once all team players presses ready up, you’ll be brought into the hero selection menu.

Select your hero

Once all players have readied up, you’ll be brought into the hero selection menu. Unlike normal online matches, you only need to pick one hero to play as. So communicate with your team which heroes you’re going to play.

It’s time to start the match

Once all players are readied up with heroes picked, you’ll just need to press ‘Start Match’ to kick off the game.

What you can do in a custom lobby

Once you’re in a private lobby, you’ll have a plethora of options to let you customize it however you want. Below we’ll explain what each one does.

In the lobby, there are a total of 12 slots, six for each team. By default it will split the six slots by the lanes, however, you can choose to turn off specific lanes.

For a player to join a team, they will just need to click on an empty slot in one of the teams, either on The Amber Hand or The Sapphire Flame.

If all the team slots are filled, players can either join as a Spectator or Unassigned. There are only two Spectator slots.

On the top left of the lobby, you’ll have various settings. We’ll explain what each one does.

You can invite friends directly or choose to let them in through a code. For them to enter the lobby with the code, they’ll need to input it after you press custom lobby.

You can choose which region server the lobby will play in, but you can choose to let the game auto-select for you. You’ll have the choice of any country from all continents. It’s best to choose the server which is closest for all players.

You’ll also have the option of bots or no bots. If you do want bots, you have the choice between easy, medium, and hard bots.

You’ll also have the option of if you have to specify each lane (essentially splitting the teams by the 1-2-2-1 lanes), or by default which will randomize which lanes players go to.

You have the option to make the lobby publicly visible to all other players to private, which will make it only visible to those inside the lobby.

Lastly, you can disable or enable cheats. If you’re organizing a competitive lobby, it’s probably best to disable it.

And that’s all you need to know about creating private lobbies in Deadlock! If you’re a beginner, you can check out out our guide here.