When playing Marvel Rivals, no one likes to be stuck in a match where someone leaves early or goes AFK, throwing off the whole game.
That’s where the penalty system comes in. This guide will walk you through the penalty system and what happens if you bail on a match.
How Does the Penalty System Work?
The penalty system in Marvel Rivals helps keep the game fair and the competition positive.
To keep things fair, the system punishes players who bail on matches too soon (aka "deserters").
When players leave a match, they don’t get penalized immediately.
Instead, the game asks if you really want to leave and warns you: "Leaving the match now will flag you as a deserter, and you might face penalties."
There is no penalty after the first violation, but too many early exits will temporarily ban you from some modes.
The first penalty usually gives you a 5-minute ban from Quick Match and Conquest, so you won’t be able to queue for those modes.
Even if you're banned, you can still hop into custom games or Practice vs AI to kill time while waiting for the penalty to run out.
The more you leave matches, the worse the penalties get.
The more infractions you rack up, the longer the penalty, so playing in competitive modes will be harder.
If you keep leaving matches early, you’ll stack up penalties. You’ll get a message: “You left the last match early, resulting in a penalty. You are temporarily banned from Quick Match and Conquest for 5 minutes.”
The penalty system punishes players who leave matches and those who go AFK (away from the keyboard) while playing.
If a player disconnects or goes AFK and doesn't return, they'll still be considered a deserter and get penalties, like a temporary matchmaking ban.
The system also considers things like when your connection drops or the game crashes.
These issues might cause players to leave, but the penalty system cannot differentiate whether it’s a glitch or if they bailed on purpose.
If you're experiencing these issues, you could still get penalized for leaving the game.
It's a good idea to avoid penalties until the match ends and to let customer support know if you encounter any technical issues.