It depends on whether you are watching or broadcasting. If you are watching an existing YouTube Live stream, YouTube’s documented controls do not provide a setting that makes the broadcast loop from a chosen point. With DVR enabled, you may be able to pause, rewind, or fast-forward through the available stream history. If you are the broadcaster and want prerecorded video to begin at a chosen point and repeat in your live output, set up the source in OBS before streaming.
If you are watching an existing YouTube Live stream
YouTube’s embedded-player start parameter is documented for video playback, not as a control that makes an active live broadcast begin or loop from a particular point. The official documentation reviewed does not document a universal live-stream start point or a live-loop setting. This is a conclusion from the scope of YouTube’s documentation, not an explicit statement that every possible player behavior is prohibited.
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When a broadcast has DVR enabled, viewers can pause, rewind, and fast-forward through the stream history available to them. That lets an eligible viewer navigate available footage; it does not establish a shared or persistent start position for everyone joining the stream. How far back you can seek depends on the available DVR history and the player.
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What YouTube’s video-player start and loop settings do
For an embedded ordinary video, YouTube’s start parameter takes a positive integer representing seconds from the beginning. Google for Developers says, “This parameter causes the player to begin playing the video at the given number of seconds from the start of the video.” The player seeks to a nearby keyframe, so playback can begin just before the requested time—usually no more than around two seconds earlier. This describes the documented video-player behavior, not a guaranteed precise offset in an active live stream. YouTube Embedded Players and Player Parameters
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The same documentation describes loop=1 for looping a single video in an embedded player. For an IFrame embed, the playlist parameter must also be set to the same video ID. This restarts the player’s video; it is not a documented way to loop an arbitrary segment between two timestamps or to control an ongoing YouTube Live broadcast.
YouTube’s LiveBroadcast API documents viewer DVR controls when DVR is enabled. Those controls concern navigating available stream history, not setting a broadcast-wide start point. YouTube LiveBroadcast API
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If you are broadcasting prerecorded video with OBS
To begin prerecorded material at a selected point and repeat it in your stream, control the source that feeds OBS’s live output. This changes what you broadcast; it does not make each viewer’s YouTube player seek to that point.
- Add the file: In OBS, add a Media Source and select your local video file.
- Choose where playback begins: Before sending the source to the live output, use the media playback controls to seek to the desired position. OBS’s cited knowledge-base page documents local-file playback and loop/restart controls, but not a timestamp field for seeking; the exact controls available may vary by OBS version.
- Repeat a single file: In the Media Source properties, enable Loop. OBS replays the file when playback completes.
- Repeat a playlist: Add a VLC Video source, arrange the files in its playlist, and enable Loop Playlist. VLC must be installed for the source to appear; OBS notes that 64-bit OBS requires 64-bit VLC.
- Check activation behavior: Use Restart playback when source becomes active if the source should start over whenever it becomes visible. If you want it to continue according to its visibility behavior instead, leave that setting off.
- Verify before going live: Check the video and audio in the OBS preview, then start the stream. Confirm that the source begins at the intended point and repeats as expected.
OBS’s documentation describes the Media Source loop and restart controls, and the VLC Video playlist and loop behavior. OBS Media Sources
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Troubleshooting a loop that starts at the wrong point
- The file starts at its beginning: Seek to the desired position in the source’s playback controls before it enters the live output. The documented Media Source controls do not guarantee a timestamp-entry field.
- The source restarts when you switch scenes: Check whether Restart playback when source becomes active is enabled. Turn it off if you do not want the source to restart on activation.
- A playlist stops after the last file: Check that Loop Playlist is enabled in the VLC Video source.
- VLC Video is missing from OBS: Install VLC. If you use 64-bit OBS, OBS says to install 64-bit VLC.
- Viewers cannot rewind far enough: DVR navigation is limited by the available stream history and player behavior. It does not create a permanent starting point for new viewers.
- An embed starts a little before the requested second: The
startparameter seeks to a nearby keyframe rather than guaranteeing frame-accurate playback at the requested second.
Copyright and YouTube live-stream rules
Looping a file in OBS controls playback, not whether you have permission to broadcast it. Use video and audio you own or are licensed to stream, and check YouTube’s current copyright rules before going live. Repeating material does not itself grant rights to it. A recurring prerecorded stream also does not guarantee eligibility for monetization; YouTube’s channel and content policies apply separately. Use the copyright safety checklist before streaming material whose rights are unclear.
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