TikTok Live is a vertical 1080x1920 format, and that's its main trap for new streamers. Unlike a classic horizontal stream, a big part of the screen is constantly covered by TikTok's own interface: the name, like buttons, comments, caption. The streamer sees one thing on their screen, and viewers see something else, with half the elements hidden behind buttons.
In a horizontal stream on Twitch or YouTube almost the whole frame is yours. In vertical TikTok the interface overlays the video and eats the edges. If you place an important widget or text in a zone the interface covers, viewers simply won't see it. It's the most common mistake of TikTok Live beginners.
At the top — the streamer's name and the 'Follow' button. On the right as a vertical strip — likes, comments, share, gifts. At the bottom — the stream caption and system elements. On some layouts a chat feed also appears on the left. As a result, only the central vertical strip stays safe — and that's where everything important must go.
It's an auxiliary layer overlaid on your scene that color-codes the dangerous and safe zones. Red marks the areas the TikTok interface covers, green is the central safe zone. You see an exact map of the screen and place your camera, widgets and text so nothing hides behind the buttons.
Put your camera or face in the central safe zone, slightly above the middle — so the viewer sees you, not buttons. Place important widgets (goal, alerts) in the center, not near the edges. Remember the right strip of buttons is the widest, so put nothing there. Leave the bottom free — that's the stream caption. The closer to the center, the safer.
The worst is placing text or counters at the very edge of the screen: on the viewer's phone they'll be half hidden. Don't put important things under the right button strip. Don't place subtitles or captions at the very bottom — the stream description will cover them. And always check the result on a real phone, not just on a computer in OBS.
The safe zone guide is an HTML file for OBS or TikTok Live Studio (Browser Source, 1080x1920). Add it as the topmost layer over the scene. In setup mode (guideMode on) you see colored zones — place your content by them. Right before going live, either hide this source or set guideMode to false — then only a thin guide frame stays, which doesn't bother viewers.
The safe zone is the foundation of a quality vertical TikTok stream. Without it half your design effort is wasted because viewers don't see elements hidden behind the interface. The guide shows an exact map of the screen and saves you from the most common mistake of mobile streamers. A ready TikTok safe zone guide with OBS and TikTok Live Studio support is in our streamer shop — with a step-by-step setup guide.