The gear on the player opens Player Settings. Everything here is local to you and does not affect anyone else.
Piczel offers multiple playback technologies. Source picks between them.
HLS is our default reliable low latency (4-6 seconds, typically) video format. It works with most streamer settings, on essentially every device.
HLS supports DVR so you can rewind the stream if you miss something, with the seek bar on the player.
WebRTC is ultra low latency (2s or less, even in the worst case scenario) but doesn't offer DVR and requires streamers to disable B-frames in their stream to work.
The third option is Streamshots, a screenshot that updates periodically, and has ultra low latency audio, which is much lighter than a full stream. It is what to pick on a slow connection, when you're watching a big multi, or when you only want to listen.
Playback Server is set to Auto by default, which picks the fastest server for you. You can choose one manually if you prefer, but usually this shouldn't be necessary.
Layout by default chooses the layout which gives you the largest possible streams. Pick a different layout if you prefer.
Performance mode is used by default when you load a large multistream, to prevent overloading your browser or network. Instead of loading HLS or WebRTC, the Streamshots player is loaded.
Users can disable Performance mode in Viewing Preferences or in the player controls.
Volume and mute preferences are saved to your account.
Picture-in-Picture pops the video into a floating window, if your browser supports it.
Stats for nerds overlays live playback statistics.
Report an issue lets you provide feedback about your viewing experience when something isn't working right.
Report content lets you report the stream for rule violations. See Blocking and reporting.