No restriction required
Maintaining Honor 4 or 5 requires continued positive communication and teamwork. Your standing can move towards Honor 3 without a chat restriction or suspension.
Current system guide
League Honor, without the old checkpoint confusion
Honor now follows recent behaviour dynamically. There are still five visible levels, but there are no seasonal resets or checkpoint bars to grind through.
Find your next step
What would you like to check?
A lower level is not automatically a restriction
Can Honor 5 drop to Honor 4 without a penalty?
Yes. Riot distinguishes changes in recent positive play from active behaviour penalties. Honor 5 is not a permanent checkpoint.
Taking a break does not lower Honor
Riot says inactivity alone does not reduce Honor. Do not assume you lost a level simply because you stopped playing.
Check the client message
Riot says it warns you before this kind of demotion. An active penalty has its own notification and profile details. If you saw neither, ask Riot Support; VRC.LOL cannot determine your account's cause.
Five current levels
What each Honor level means
These are the Honor emblems used by the League client. The social panel remains authoritative for your live level, restrictions and required recovery games.
1Restricted
Honor 1: Active penalties
Recent behaviour has triggered active penalties. Reward progress and some communication features are restricted while the required games are completed.
How recovery worksComplete the games shown in the client without further disruptive behaviour.
2Restricted
Honor 2: Recovery in progress
The account is still below the normal standing. Restrictions can remain while recent behaviour improves across completed games.
How recovery worksKeep games clean and follow the restoration steps shown in the social panel.
3Baseline
Honor 3: Normal standing
This is the neutral baseline. Standard play and communication features are available, but the account has not yet reached the consistently positive tiers.
What supports this standingContinue playing without penalties and contribute positively over recent games.
4Positive
Honor 4: Consistently positive
Recent play is being recognised as respectful and collaborative. Riot associates the higher Honor tiers with visible recognition and Battle Pass XP drops.
What supports this standingMaintain the same behaviour; progression is dynamic rather than a fixed checkpoint bar.
5Top Honor
Honor 5: Highest standing
The highest current standing includes the strongest visible Honor recognition and access to ally-targeted pings.
What supports this standingKeep the standing through continued positive play; Honor now responds to recent behaviour and does not reset each season.
Post-match recognition
Giving Honor, including to premade friends
Post-game votes are the main source of Honor. You can recognize teammates or opponents, once per player; submitted votes cannot be undone.
Votes you can spend
Each match adds one vote. Receiving Honor in your previous match adds another, and Honor 5 adds one more. Unspent votes carry forward, with a maximum balance of four.
Premade honors do count
Riot's current guide says a premade vote gives the recipient an Honor boost. It does not state whether its weight equals a vote from someone outside your group.
No votes received?
Constructive chat, useful communication and team coordination also contribute. Votes are not a published formula for reaching your next level.
Compare the actual privileges
Chat, pings and rewards at each level
These are Honor-based entitlements. Active restrictions and your own communication settings still apply. Ping and emote figures are limits within five seconds before a temporary lockout.
Honor levels 1 through 5
| Feature | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team and party chat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| All chat | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Champion-select and post-game chat | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pings per five seconds | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Emotes per five seconds | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Targeted ally pings | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Honor 5 recall and skin unlocks | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Honor Battle Pass XP drops | No | No | Available | More often | Most often |
| Ranked season reward eligibility | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Honor eligibility is one requirement for Ranked rewards; queue and season requirements also apply. Ping and ward examples · Ping guide · Chat guide · Ranked guide
Put teamwork into practice
Useful pings and wards: six match examples
Give your team information they can act on. These are practical examples of communication and coordination, not a published formula for earning Honor. Riot does not promise a fixed Honor gain per ping, ward or vision score.
Warn about a roam
Enemy Missing → CautionYour lane opponent disappears toward river. Mark the missing opponent, then warn the lane they could reach. A missing ping on your own lane gives less context than a warning near the possible threat.
Share a likely route; do not present a guess as confirmed enemy vision.Show where you are going
On My Way → destinationYou are moving to help a lane. Ping the route or destination before you arrive so your ally can decide whether to wait, retreat or set up. If the plan changes, communicate that change.
A ping communicates intent; it does not make an unsafe fight safe.Mark an enemy ward
Enemy Vision → ward locationYou see an opponent place a ward in a river brush. Mark that location so your jungler knows the approach is watched. Clear it with teammates when safe, or choose another route.
Use Enemy Vision for a ward you observed, rather than repeatedly pinging a teammate.Ward before pushing
Cover an approach → keep an escapeBefore extending past a safe position, cover a likely enemy approach with a ward you can place safely. Watch the minimap and leave when the threat appears; vision is useful only if you act on it.
Do not walk into an unlit river alone just to place a ward.Prepare an objective together
Need Vision → Assist MeBefore contesting dragon or Baron, ask for vision on the approach and move with teammates. Check nearby enemies, lane pressure and whether your team can arrive before starting or clearing wards.
A ward in the pit does not reveal every flank or guarantee objective control.Reset after a mistake
Retreat → next useful planA fight goes badly. Signal the retreat and plan the next wave or objective. Use a short, useful message instead of blame, repeated missing pings or comments about an ally's death.
Save your ping budget for new information, not repeated frustration.Explore ping types and controlsExplore wards and safe visionPlan objective setupRiot Smart Ping reference
Rewards each Act
Two Honor objectives per season Act
Each objective needs 1,200 points and awards 50 Battle Pass XP plus one Hextech Chest and Key. The client shows your current progress.
Honor 3
One point per minute played: 1,200 minutes for one objective if your level stays unchanged.
Honor 4
Two points per minute played: 600 minutes for one objective at that level.
Honor 5
Ten points per minute played: 120 minutes for one objective at that level.
How progression works now
Recent behaviour matters more than a hidden points chase
Riot describes the current system as dynamic. The client evaluates recent positive and disruptive behaviour, then reflects the result in Honor standing, restrictions and restoration steps.
Play complete games
Progress and penalties are tied to games. Leaving, disruptive chat or repeated negative behaviour can interrupt recovery.
Check the social panel
The client shows current Honor, active restrictions and the actions needed to restore account standing.
Keep the pattern consistent
A single commendation is not a guaranteed level. The system considers behaviour across recent play.
Highest standing
Honor 5 recognition and permanent first-time unlocks
Riot states that first reaching Honor 5 permanently awards the listed Honor skins and legacy Honor cosmetics. Higher Honor levels can also receive Battle Pass XP drops.
MalzaharThree Honors Malzahar
ShenThree Honors Shen
AkshanThree Honors Akshan
WarwickGrey Warwick and its chromas
TwitchMedieval Twitch and its chromas
Honor 5 provides targeted ally pings and the Honor 5 recall.
Drops start at Honor 3 and become more frequent at Honor 4 and 5. Act objectives provide separate rewards.
The cosmetic bundle is described as a first-time Honor 5 award, not a repeating reward every season.
Honor 1 or 2
Recovering from an active penalty
Use the number of games and restrictions displayed in the client. Avoid third-party calculators that promise an exact Honor date: Riot does not publish a simple points-per-game formula for the dynamic system.
- 1Read the active restrictionThe client lists the required number of matches without reports.
- 2Avoid another penaltyA new penalty during recovery resets the progress and increases the games required by subsequent restrictions.
- 3Check restoration in the clientSuccessful recovery restores at least Honor 3; returning to Honor 4 or 5 depends on your behaviour in those games.
Account questions
Transfers, breaks and reward ownership
Changing servers
Your Honor level follows your account when you transfer servers.
Season changes
Everyone starts at Honor 3. Since patch 25.04, a new season does not reset Honor. Taking time away does not lower it either.
Already unlocked skins
Patch 25.04 describes the first-time Honor 5 cosmetics as permanent unlocks. Continued Honor 5 standing controls ongoing privileges such as targeted ally pings.
Are Honor votes, levels and objective points the same?
No. Your vote balance is what you can give after a match. Your Honor level reflects recent behaviour and determines privileges. Objective points are a separate reward counter earned from playing time at your current level. Spending four votes does not mean earning four objective points or advancing four levels.
Do wins, kills or champion grades guarantee Honor?
Riot does not publish a win, kill or grade requirement for moving up an Honor level. A strong score is not a substitute for respectful play, communication and coordination. Champion mastery and post-match grades are separate systems.
Post-match champion gradesChampion masteryShould I keep chat open when someone is disruptive?
You can use mute and reporting tools when communication becomes disruptive. Useful pings and coordination can still support your team. Riot describes positive communication as a factor, but does not publish a message quota or a required number of chats per game.
Chat guideReporting guideWhy is a chat feature or reward still unavailable?
Compare your current Honor level with the table, then check active restrictions and communication settings in the client. Honor eligibility does not replace the other requirements for a Ranked season reward. A missing feature alone is not enough to diagnose an account penalty.
Ping guideRanked guideCan this guide calculate my next level-up date?
No. Riot does not publish an exact level-up formula, and VRC.LOL cannot read your account's private behaviour evaluation. Follow the current social-panel messages and any recovery requirements. The hour estimates above apply only to Honor reward objectives.
What should I check before contacting Riot Support?
Check the Honor level, warning or penalty notification, and recovery games shown in your client. Note which feature or reward is affected. Riot Support can investigate account-specific issues; this public guide cannot confirm why a particular account changed level.
Current Riot Honor GuideOfficial references
Checked against Riot's published changes
Verified on 2 October 2026 against Riot's Honor Guide, updated 31 May 2026. Your client remains authoritative for account status.