Beetleball Custom Lobbies
2v2, 3v3, and 6v6 rooms with force start, queue-join, lab maps, and proximity voice.
Custom lobbies are Beetleball’s gym. Ranked 3v3 is the exam. Unranked matchmaking is the pickup game with strangers and no hidden number that ruins your evening. Custom is the room you host or join when you want a map, a format, and the time to miss a grab without donating MMR. Steam Early Access is live (3 September 2026, app 2776270, Bugfight Studio) on Windows, macOS, and Linux. You always play BLUE versus the RED net. You only score with a golden dungball — five dung levels. That rule does not relax because the lobby is private.
If the tutorial is still ahead of you, start on Getting Started. Then open a custom before you touch the ranked button. This page is the lobby manual: how the browser works, why 75% ready and force start exist, how queue-join stays separate from dedicated rooms, and how to use 2v2 / 3v3 / 6v6 as practice instead of chaos. Ranked Matchmaking is the ladder write-up.
Custom versus ranked and unranked
Ranked is live 3v3 on the competitive map pool. It tracks a hidden rating. Demo notes added a 1.5x currency bump because queue time is the tax. It is a terrible classroom. Queue it when you can grab, merge, and not throw gold into a planted keeper.
Unranked is the same sport without the number. Use it when you want random teammates and a map you did not pick.
Custom is player-hosted. You pick 2v2, 3v3, or 6v6. You pick Picnic, Beach, Egypt, a Museum night, or a lab map. You wait until 75% of the filled slots are ready, or the host force-starts. You hear proximity voice. The lobby browser shows average player level, so you can tell a teaching Picnic from a sweaty twelve-beetle pile before you click join. Hats do not change any of that.
The match ceiling is still up to 6v6. Ranked does not become 6v6 because your friend group is large. If you want twelve beetles on a picnic, custom is the door.
Browser, 75% ready, force start, AFK kick
Open the custom lobby screen from the main menu. Public rooms list an average player level. That figure is not MMR. It is a courtesy so a level 6 beetle can skip a lobby full of people who already know dolphin dive, and so a dedicated group can see when a brand-new account walked in. Join a room that matches the night you wanted: teach, drill, or mess around.
Ready-up is not a unanimous veto. Demo QoL set 75% majority ready: if three-quarters of the filled slots click ready, the match can start without the one beetle who wandered into the shop. Hosts also have force start. Use it when a sixth player is connected but idle, or when a friend is stuck on a prompt. Do not force-start a 6v6 that still has two empty slots you were waiting to fill unless the group agrees the night is starting now.
AFK auto kick exists so idle beetles do not occupy a slot forever. If you tab out to Discord for a long stretch, expect to be removed. Rejoin. The client is cleaning the room, not griefing you.
Players at level 8 or below have seen extra button prompts in custom lobbies in demo notes. If you are teaching a friend, those prompts help. Pair them with How to Score so the extra UI is explaining gold, not only the ready button.
Queue-join is not the dedicated custom list
You can join a custom while you are already in a ranked or unranked queue. That is a real demo feature, and it is not the same door as a dedicated custom room.
The intended flow is: enter the queue first, then open the custom lobby screen. Queue-join customs exist so a group can warm up without dropping a search. They are split from regular custom on purpose. Queue traffic — people killing wait time, popping in, ready-ing, vanishing when matchmaking fires — should not flood a dedicated 6v6, a lab-map test, or a teaching Picnic that never wanted random queue beetles.
If you are hosting a serious custom (locked 2v2, Egypt for an hour, experimental lab layout), stay on the regular custom path. Do not advertise that room as a queue warmup. If you are waiting in ranked, use the queue-join screen and expect the lobby to evaporate when someone gets a match. Do not get angry when it does; that is the contract.
Leave ranked with the hold-to-exit prompt if the custom is going well and you no longer want the search. Rage-clicking still counts as leaving.
Formats: 2v2, 3v3, 6v6
3v3 custom is the ranked mirror. Name attacker, defender, and support before kickoff. Lock a trio with team comps when you are done fooling around. Goliath (or another real net) on blue, someone merging, someone peeling. Three attackers is a meme the other colour will farm.
2v2 custom is carry plus cover. There is no third beetle to hide a bad habit. Every missed grab is obvious. Use 2v2 to learn headbutt grabs and keeper-breaks without six extra bodies in the way. Then read the Players Hub so you are not instalocking two goalies.
6v6 custom is the ceiling. Twelve beetles, multiple balls, proximity voice that only reaches the picnic in front of you. Merge discipline gets harder, not easier. A planted keeper still exists. Gold still needs five levels. If your 6v6 is everyone chasing the same 1, you are playing a worse game than 3v3. Use 6v6 for a big friend group and for teaching the colour rule at scale. Do not use it as your only practice for ranked.
Custom does not unlock a secret beetle. It lets you pick the same live roster without a hidden rating.
Maps, including lab
Custom is how you pick the layout. Ranked will not let you sit on Picnic for twenty rollouts. Custom will.
Run Competitive Maps in this order if you are learning: Picnic until the high-line rollout is boring, Beach until you contest winner-side dung after a goal, Egypt until a pyramid bounce is a habit, then Crater, Snowman, and Gamba when you want the rest of the pool. Museum is the launch map; boot it when the ranked pool is tired or when you are showing a friend the original furniture. Beetlekitty’s Play Pen is real and often not in the competitive pool — fine in custom, a bad ranked diet.
Lab maps are experimental and custom-only. Use them to test movement, joke geometry, and “what if the net is in a hole.” They are not a 3v3 identity. If the loading name says lab, believe it. Do not argue a lab layout into ranked because your group liked it.
Practice movement and scoring here
Custom is where Movement Tech belongs. Sprint, flutter, look-down glide, wall and ceiling walking, headbutt grab (left click, then right click through the ball inside the one-second window), momentum transfer. Dung flutter dash and dung rush, Goliath dolphin dive and ground pound, Ladybug meter fly, Bombardier SE4, Click launch — all of that is cheaper in a lobby you host than in a ranked 0–2.
Custom is also where scoring belongs. Gold only. Beat the keeper, then throw. Watch the rabbit clock. Overmerge on purpose when you mean to reset extra gold. Respect a Potato chomp on a clean 5. None of that is a ranked secret. It is a custom drill.
If the keys still fight you, open Controls. There is no ball-cam. Always-sprint should already be on. Play two Picnics and one Beach, then stop treating the ladder as a tutorial.
Launch shipped proximity voice. Nearby beetles hear you. A Goliath on the blue line may not hear a Ladybug screaming on the far cake. In custom you can walk over to the person you need. In 6v6 you will not get a global radio. Call the gold when you are near the gold. Type if you are on the other continent of the picnic. Mute if the room is tilt; custom volume controls exist. Voice is not required to force-start.
When the drills are boring — grab window, merge to five, one keeper-break that actually works — queue 3v3. Custom stays the gym after that. Ranked never becomes a better place to learn a new map.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for Beetleball players.
How is a custom lobby different from ranked or unranked?
Ranked is 3v3 with a hidden rating. Unranked is the same sport without that number. Custom lets you pick 2v2, 3v3, or 6v6, choose maps (including lab), and practice without donating MMR. See Ranked Matchmaking for the ladder.
What do 75% ready and host force start do?
If about three-quarters of filled slots click ready, the match can start without a unanimous ready. Hosts can also force start when one beetle is stuck or AFK. AFK auto kick clears idle slots.
How do I join a custom while queueing without ruining dedicated rooms?
Enter ranked or unranked queue first, then open the custom lobby screen. That queue-join list is separate from regular custom so warmup traffic does not flood dedicated 6v6 or lab rooms.
Can I play lab maps in ranked?
No. Lab maps are experimental and custom-only. Ranked uses the competitive pool. Host a custom if you want Museum, Beetlekitty's Play Pen, or a lab layout; details are on Competitive Maps.
Should I practice 2v2, 3v3, or 6v6 before ranked?
Does custom use proximity voice?
Yes. Nearby beetles hear you; a keeper on the far net may not. Walk toward the gold to call it, or type. Mute if the room is tilt — voice is not required to force start.