Every platform hides these two values somewhere slightly different, and the wording is never quite the same twice. Here is the exact click path for each one, what to do when a platform gives you a single joined URL, and how to keep the key from being stolen.
A stream key is a secret string that tells a platform which channel an incoming broadcast belongs to. It works exactly like a password: anyone who has it can broadcast to your channel, and the platform will not ask them for anything else.
It always comes paired with an RTMP server URL, which is the address to connect to. Together they are the entire configuration a streaming service needs:
rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2 + abcd-1234-efgh-5678-ijkl
Never show your key on stream, in a screenshot, or in a support ticket. This happens to someone every week. If it leaks, reset or regenerate it in the same place you copied it from — every platform has a reset option right next to the key.
| Platform | Where the key lives | Server URL |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | YouTube Studio → Create → Go Live → Stream tab | Pre-filled in Streamza |
| Twitch | Creator Dashboard → Settings → Stream → Primary Stream key | Pre-filled in Streamza |
| Live Producer → Go live → Streaming software | Pre-filled in Streamza | |
| Kick | Creator Dashboard → Settings → Stream | Copy it — Kick's URL is account-specific |
| Trovo | Creator Center → Stream settings | Copy from the same page |
| LinkedIn Live | Create event → third-party encoder | Copy from the same page |
| X (Twitter) | Producer tool → create broadcast → source settings | Copy from the same page |
| Rumble | Account → Live stream | Copy from the same page |
| Vimeo | Live event → Connect an encoder | Copy from the same page |
| Restream | Dashboard → RTMP settings | Copy from the same page |
| Self-hosted | Whatever stream name you choose | rtmp://your-server/app |
Your channel must be phone-verified with live streaming enabled, and first-time activation can take 24 hours. Details in the YouTube guide.
Twitch keys begin with a region prefix such as live_, which makes them easy to truncate when copying by hand — always use the copy button. See the Twitch guide.
Facebook requires RTMPS and ends any single broadcast at 8 hours. See the Facebook guide.
Kick's ingest URL is specific to your account, so unlike YouTube or Twitch you cannot rely on a pre-filled address. Paste both values into the custom RTMP fields.
All follow the same pattern: find the stream or broadcast settings page in your creator dashboard, and the RTMP address and key are shown together, usually with a copy button and a regenerate option.
Both require access to be enabled on the account first, and both issue keys per broadcast rather than permanently. Create the event, choose the third-party or custom encoder option, and copy the ingest URL and key at that point — they will not be valid for a later event.
Services like Restream give you one key that forwards to every channel you have connected there. Point Streamza at that single endpoint and let the relay handle the fan-out — or skip it and use Streamza's own multistreaming to send to three platforms directly.
With nginx-rtmp, SRS, MediaMTX or Owncast, the URL is rtmp://your-server-address/app where app is the application name from your config, and the key is any stream name you choose. The port must be reachable from the public internet.
Some platforms hand over a single joined address:
rtmp://live.example.com/app/live_987654_XyZaBc
Split it at the last slash. Everything before it is the server URL (rtmp://live.example.com/app) and the final segment is the stream key (live_987654_XyZaBc). Pasting the whole thing into the URL field and leaving the key blank is one of the most common reasons a stream never connects.
Streamza uses your key only to open the RTMP connection for the stream you started. See our Privacy Policy.
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| Connects, then disconnects immediately | Invalid, expired or already-in-use key. Regenerate it. |
| Never connects at all | Wrong server URL, or the key was pasted into the URL field. |
| Platform shows offline while the stream runs | Broadcasting to a different channel than the one you are watching, or the event was not started on the platform side. |
| Worked yesterday, fails today | A single-use key from the previous broadcast. Switch to a persistent key. |
| "Go live" stays greyed out | The platform has not received video yet — give it a few seconds after starting. |
| Random authentication failures | A trailing space picked up on paste. Delete the field and paste again. |
A secret string that identifies which channel an incoming live broadcast belongs to. It functions as a password — anyone holding it can stream to your channel — and it is always used together with an RTMP server URL.
No. The URL is the public address of the server to connect to; the key is the private credential identifying your channel. You need both, in separate fields.
Some do. Single-use keys are valid only for the broadcast they were created for, while persistent keys keep working until you reset them. YouTube, Twitch and Facebook all offer persistent keys.
They can broadcast to your channel as you. Reset it immediately in the same dashboard you copied it from — that invalidates the old key on the spot.
Yes. Each platform issues its own key and its own URL. If you are multistreaming, collect all of them before you start.
Nine times out of ten it is a trailing space, a truncated copy, or the URL and key being in the wrong fields. Clear both, use the platform's copy button, and paste again.
Upload a video, paste the key, and broadcast from the cloud.
