Help

Camera & microphone access

When you first enter a room, your browser will ask for permission to use your camera and microphone. You need to allow both for others to see and hear you.

• If you accidentally denied permission, click the camera or lock icon in your browser's address bar and reset the permission, then reload the page.
• On iOS, camera and microphone access requires Safari. Third-party browsers on iPhone (Chrome, Firefox) cannot access the camera due to Apple restrictions.
• Camera access requires a secure connection (HTTPS). If you're accessing Hubbub over plain HTTP on a non-localhost address, the camera won't be available.

Audio or video not working

If you can't hear others or they can't hear you, try these steps in order:

1. Reload the page. Most connection issues resolve with a fresh load.
2. Check that you're not muted — the 🎤 button in the bottom HUD turns red when muted.
3. Make sure you're close enough to the other person. Audio and video only activate within the near-field radius (shown as a glow around nearby avatars).
4. Check your system's audio output device — your browser may be sending audio to headphones or a device you're not using.
5. If one specific person can't be heard, it may be a peer connection issue. Both parties reloading usually resolves it.

Browser support

Hubbub works best in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on desktop. Safari on macOS works but may occasionally have audio quirks. Mobile browsers have limited support — Safari on iOS is the most reliable mobile option.

No extensions or plugins are required. If something looks broken, disabling browser extensions (especially privacy or ad-blockers that intercept WebRTC) is worth trying.

Moving around

Use keyboard or touch to move your avatar. The help overlay (press ? in the room, or use the ☰ menu) shows a quick reference.

On touch devices, drag the left half of the screen to walk and the right half to turn.

If the room window loses focus (you click elsewhere), click the 3D canvas to re-activate keyboard controls.

Settings menu ☰

The hamburger button at the left of the HUD opens the settings panel. These settings apply to your own experience and are available to everyone, not just hosts.

• Periscope — raises the camera above the crowd so you can see the whole room.
• View — switch between first-person and third-person camera.
• ? Help — shows the movement controls overlay.

Under Advanced:

• Display name — sets the name shown above your avatar. Your name is remembered across sessions.
• Audio dropoff — adjusts how quickly other people's audio fades as they move away. Higher values make the room feel more intimate.
• Audio EQ — three-band equaliser (low / mid / high) applied to all incoming audio. Useful if voices sound muddy or harsh on your setup.
• Chatzone view — changes the style of the video panel that appears when you're close to someone.
• Doom-style controls — enable mouse-look, escape key to exit.

Manage panel ⚙

The gear button opens the room management panel. It's only visible to the host. Changes take effect immediately for everyone in the room.

The panel has six tabs:

Room tab

• Room description — shown on the landing page under the room name. Tell visitors what the room is for.
• Personal space — how many square metres the room allocates per person. Increase this to spread people out more; decrease it for a tighter crowd feel. The room resizes automatically as people join.
• Wall margin — the gap between avatars and the room walls.
• Near-field radius — how close two avatars need to be before their audio and video activates. Increase this to let people hear each other from further away; decrease it for more private conversations.
• Announcer size — scales the billboard shown when a host is announcing to the room.
• Audio decay — server-side audio falloff that applies to all users (complements each user's personal dropoff setting).
• Max video quality — caps the video resolution in SFU mode (Off / Lo / Med / Hi). Reducing quality saves bandwidth in large rooms.
• Theme — sets the room's visual theme: skybox, floor texture, and ambient audio. Themes are configured on the server.

Gating tab

Controls who can enter the room and what they can do.

• Auto-ticket role — the role automatically assigned to new visitors when they arrive without an invite link. Member gets full audio and video; Observer can see the room but cannot transmit.
• Require approval — when checked, visitors who request a ticket upgrade wait in the host's inbox for manual approval before their role changes.
• Who can issue invites — controls whether members (in addition to the host) can generate invite links from the Attendees tab.

Attendees tab

Shows everyone currently in the room with their role (host / member / observer). Click on a person to expand their capabilities and adjust their audio and video permissions individually.

Invite link — generate a one-time-use link to share with guests. Choose whether the link grants member or observer access before generating.

Corkboard tab

Corkboards are 3D objects placed in the room. If your room's theme includes one or more corkboards, they appear here. You can add, move, and delete sticky notes on each board from this tab, and see a preview of the board's current layout.

Notes are visible to everyone in the room in real time. They persist between sessions as long as the room exists.

Logging tab

A live event log for the room. Events are grouped into categories:

• Access — joins, leaves, role changes, and ticket events.
• Corkboard — note additions and removals.
• Settings — room setting changes made via the manage panel.

The log only covers events since the manage panel was opened; it is not persisted.

Metrics tab

Shows stats for this room and the server as a whole. Room-level stats include current users, peak users, and total joins since the server last restarted. For named rooms, you'll also see the room's age and last-visited time.

Server-level stats show global current users, peak, and total sessions across all rooms.

All metrics reset on server restart.