TikTok Live Gifts Not Showing? Fix the Alert Overlay Bottleneck

The Panic: "Thanks for the... invisible gift?"

It’s every streamer’s nightmare. You see "Sent a Rose" in the chat, but your screen stays empty. No animation, no sound, no hype. You look at your stream health—it’s green. Your internet is fine. So why are your gifts invisible?

On r/TikTokLive, this is often misdiagnosed as "TikTok being broken." While server lag happens, 90% of the time the issue lies in your Alert Path Bottleneck.

The Diagnostic: Where is the Gift Getting Stuck?

A TikTok gift doesn't just "appear." it travels through a specific chain. If one link breaks, the alert dies.

graph TD
    subgraph "The Gift Alert Chain"
        A["Viewer Sends Gift"] --> B["TikTok API"]
        B --> C["Alert Service (Tikfinity/Streamlabs)"]
        C --> D["Browser Source (OBS/Live Studio)"]
        D --> E["On-Screen Animation"]
    end
    
    B -.->|Fail: API Lag| X["Check TikTok Status"]
    C -.->|Fail: Socket Disconnect| Y["Re-log into Tikfinity"]
    D -.->|Fail: Hardware Accel| Z["Disable Browser HW Accel"]
    
    style X fill:#ffcccc,stroke:#cc0000
    style Y fill:#ffcccc,stroke:#cc0000
    style Z fill:#ffcccc,stroke:#cc0000
    style E fill:#ccffcc,stroke:#00aa00

Figure 1: The alert path. Most "invisible gift" issues occur between the Alert Service and the Browser Source.

The Fix-Oriented Checklist

1. The "Socket" Refresh (Most Common Fix)

If you use Tikfinity or Streamlabs, your "Socket Token" might have expired.

• Action: Log out of your alert dashboard and log back in.
• Why: TikTok's API frequently refreshes session tokens. If your alert service isn't "listening" to the right token, it ignores the gift events.

2. The Browser Source Hardware Bottleneck

If your stream seems fine but alerts are laggy or missing, your OBS/Live Studio might be struggling to render the animation.

• Action: In OBS, go to Settings > Advanced and check "Enable Browser Source Hardware Acceleration".
• The Twist: If it's already ON, try turning it OFF. Some GPU drivers (especially NVIDIA) conflict with TikTok's heavy alert animations.

3. Clear the Browser Cache

Browser sources in streaming software are just hidden Chrome tabs. They get "clogged" just like your regular browser.

• Action: In your Browser Source properties, click "Refresh cache of current page".
• Pro Tip: If using Tikfinity, ensure your "Setup" tab shows "Connected" with a green dot while you are live.

Decision Guide: Is it You or TikTok?

FAQ: "Why do some gifts show and others don't?"

This usually happens with Combo Gifts (like 100x Roses). Some alert services have a "Minimum Gift Value" setting. Check your Alert Box settings to ensure "Rose" isn't filtered out to prevent spam.

TL;DR (Actionable Summary)

1. Refresh your Socket: Log out and back into Tikfinity.
2. Clear Cache: Hit the refresh cache button in your OBS Browser Source.
3. Check Connection: Ensure your alert service dashboard shows "LIVE" status.

Next Action: Run a "Test Alert" from your dashboard. If the test shows up but real gifts don't, your API connection is stale. Re-link your account immediately.