Like it or not, the behavior score in Dota 2 plays a significant role in your matchmaking. Much like how MMR determines the average rank of your games, behavior score places you in matches with players who have similar behavior scores.
Having a low behavior score will often match you with more toxic players who also have low behavior scores. Luckily, we have a guide for improving your behavior score!
What Is The Behavior Score In Dota 2?
Behavior score is Valve’s system for evaluating each player’s toxicity. It’s a numerical metric ranging from 1 to 10,000, with the highest score indicating very good behavior.
Valve is a big advocate of positive mental attitude (PMA) in Dota 2 games, aiming to create a safe space for all players to enjoy. We’ve seen how seriously Valve deals with toxic players, such as when they gave out temporary bans in the form of “a toxic lump of coal” to toxic players during Frostivus 2023.
Maintaining a good behavior score is crucial to ensuring you have quality games to play.
How To Check Behavior Score
To check your behavior score, visit your Profile in your in-game Dota 2 client. Then, click the Conduct Summary tab, where a popup will display your “Overall Conduct.” This will show your current behavior score, with high scores usually in green font and accompanied by a smiling emote. Additionally, you can see other stats that affect your behavior score, such as the number of abandons, reports, and commends.
Your conduct summary is updated every 10 games, so keep that in mind, especially when boosting your scores.
How To Improve Behavior Score In Dota 2
A player’s behavior can often be vague and difficult to understand, blurring the line between what’s considered good and bad. For instance, tipping was intended to be a feature to celebrate, but it’s considered toxic these days to tip a player after they fail.
Regardless, here are several sure-fire methods to quickly increase your behavior score in Dota 2.
1. Be Positive
Not many players go out of their way to be extremely positive to strangers in a Dota 2 match. Simple acts of kindness, such as showing gratitude to your support or tipping your teammates after a great fight, go a long way in getting others to like you and hopefully commend you.
Receiving comments likely boosts your behavior score since it’s a strong indicator that the players who played with you enjoyed your company. Even if you aren’t very expressive, simply commending your teammates after winning the match will often prompt them to commend you back.
2. Avoid Getting Reports
Getting reported is the last thing you want when trying to increase your behavior score in Dota 2. Players often report others for grief, using slurs and insults, or other acts of toxicity.
In some cases, players may also report you for not playing well, getting caught by the enemy team, or losing a fight. In such cases, getting reported is inevitable but make sure these are merely occasional reports and not frequent. Getting 1-2 reports from a game out of 10 games won’t drastically impact your behavior score.
The same applies to abandons, which in most instances have more severe repercussions than reports.
3. Behavior Score Farming
If your current behavior score is low and you need a quick way to regain it, consider playing multiple turbo games or even games with bots.
Turbo games are still considered actual matches but last half the duration of a normal match. The same strategies apply here: be positive and avoid getting reported. Turbo games are also taken less seriously, so players in this match type are often more casual and easygoing. Take this opportunity to enjoy the game and commend one another after the match.
For truly toxic players who can’t change their ways, the least you can do is stay silent throughout the game and just play. You can even take it one step further by muting everyone, both ally and opponent alike. Having no conflict also indicates that you are not toxic, making it a viable way to boost your behavior score with minimal effort.
Rest assured that it takes many instances of bad behavior to significantly lower your behavior score. So, just enjoy the game and try not to be toxic to others.