# Stream relays

Source: https://urbanx.co.za/stream-relays

UrbanX runs local RTMP relay servers for live streaming. Instead of pushing your stream directly to a platform ingest server overseas, you push to a relay inside South Africa, which forwards it on.

## Relay endpoints

| Platform | RTMP URL | Recommended max bitrate |
|---|---|---|
| Twitch | `rtmp://twitch.urbanx.co.za/live` | 6000 Kbps |
| YouTube | `rtmp://youtube.urbanx.co.za/live2` | 12000 Kbps |
| Kick | `rtmp://kick.urbanx.co.za/live3` | 8000 Kbps |

Use the endpoint as the custom server in OBS (or your encoder of choice) and supply the stream key issued by the platform.

## The problem this solves

Streaming straight to a platform's international ingest crosses long, congested paths. Above roughly 2500 Kbps that shows up as an unstable connection and dropped frames — regardless of the local line speed, because the bottleneck is the path, not the last mile. Relaying to a local endpoint shortens the unstable segment to a hop inside South Africa, so bitrate holds and viewers see fewer buffering events.

The relays pair with an UrbanX uncapped, unshaped, unthrottled line: upload is not deprioritised, which matters because a stream is a sustained upstream flow.