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    FeaturedReferenceHow Zwift Works

    All About the “Zwifters Nearby” Sidebar in Zwift

    Eric Schlange
    By Eric Schlange
    August 3, 2022
    37

    At its heart, Zwift is a social platform. The ability to interact with others begins at the in-game “Zwifters Nearby” sidebar, which shows a list of nearby riders/runners.

    This constantly-updating bar sits on the right side of your screen, and while most of the information it contains is pretty straightforward, there are some icons and other indicators which new Zwifters may not understand.

    The truth is, Zwift has managed to pack an incredible amount of information into this sidebar! Here’s a complete list of what the sidebar contains:

    Always-On Elements

    • Zwifter Name (which can be customized to include your team name or other info)
    • Country flag
    • Power in w/kg (or pace for runners) – turns orange when you exceed 8 w/kg
    • Distance covered
    • Time gap in seconds to selected rider
    • Type of power device (zPower or smart trainer/power meter)
    • Badges for verified account, pro rider, and pro triathlete (pro riders are orange, triathletes are green)
    • Pace partner beacon
    • Status Icons:
      • Zwift employee status
      • Following
      • Structured Workout in progress
      • Companion app connected
      • Steering enabled

    Temporary Elements

    • New segment PR
    • Ride On button: this pops up when a nearby rider gets a PR, starts an FTP test, completes a workout, takes a jersey, or gives you a Ride On (assuming you didn’t already give them a Ride On)
    • FTP test in progress
    • Leader’s jersey: shows when a rider has grabbed a sprint, KOM, or lap jersey (read more)
    • Anti-sandbagging triggered (read more)
    • Registered for Zwift Academy (this may be discontinued)
    • Boost active (this may be discontinued – read about Boost Mode)

    Event-Only Elements

    • Category
    • Rider event placing (only shows if this feature is enabled for the event)
    • Event title (only shows if rider placing is enabled for the event)
    • Rider count (total shows on top if rider placing is enabled for the event, bottom number shows rider count less those listed in the sidebar)
    • Beacon indicator (yellow or red)

    Whew. That’s a lot!

    To help you see where each element fits into the side bar, I’ve cobbled together this visual from various screenshots so we can get all the elements in one place:

    (Please note this is a composite image. So while Casey Schumm is probably currently sprinting on Zwift, I highly doubt T. Evans is a sandbagger. And Amanda Coker doesn’t lead the Roll with Castelli ride! The image is for illustrative purposes only.)

    Questions or Comments?

    Post below!

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      Eric Schlange
      Eric Schlangehttp://www.zwiftinsider.com
      Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. He lives in Northern California with his beautiful wife, two kids and dog. Follow on Strava

      37 COMMENTS

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      Jeff Summers
      Jeff Summers
      6 days ago

      Thanks for information. I didn’t know what all was listed there.

      0
      Reply
      Mick Such
      Mick Such
      6 days ago

      I honestly thought that the “steering enabled” was to signify a Youth rider. DOAH

      0
      Reply
      Janice
      Janice
      6 days ago

      Perfect timing! I was trying to decipher the side bar the other day. I saw a rider with what looked like a volcano icon but I still don’t know what it was. Still, great info!

      0
      Reply
      Kyle
      Kyle(@kylebredesky)
      6 days ago
      Reply to  Janice

      Volcano icon would be the current KOM/QOM of the 🌋 volcano climb.

      2
      Reply
      Alex
      Alex
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Kyle

      Adding the different leaders jerseys to this article would really help me work out which seems others have

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Alex

      Way too many to show here, but here’s a helpful link: https://zwiftinsider.com/sprint-kom-lap-jerseys/

      0
      Reply
      Kyle
      Kyle(@kylebredesky)
      6 days ago

      This is a fantastic article. I figured this all out over 3 years Zwifiting, but if I would have had this article when I first hopped on it would have been absolutely amazing!! Well done!!

      3
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      6 days ago
      Reply to  Kyle

      Thanks Kyle!

      0
      Reply
      Ilari K
      Ilari K(@ilari-koivusalo)
      6 days ago

      Isn’t there missing Zwift workout indicator? Bars from the left side.

      1
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      6 days ago
      Reply to  Ilari K

      There is! I just added it, as well as a couple more things to the graphic that I missed. There’s a lot going on in that sidebar!

      2
      Reply
      Michael T
      Michael T
      6 days ago

      Does discontinuing boost mode mean they are getting rid of that feature or just the icon? Truthfully, I have only used it in one crit race.

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      6 days ago
      Reply to  Michael T

      The feature. I don’t know that they’re totally discontinuing it, but you don’t see Boost Mode races on the calendar anymore.

      0
      Reply
      AMS
      AMS
      6 days ago

      Actually T.Evans…very much a sandbagger

      1
      Reply
      chris andrews
      chris andrews
      6 days ago

      please tell me more about the click for ride on button

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      6 days ago
      Reply to  chris andrews

      If you see it, you can click it. It’ll give that rider a Ride On.

      0
      Reply
      chris andrews
      chris andrews
      6 days ago
      Reply to  Eric Schlange

      you would have to be using the companion app for this to work?

      0
      Reply
      Rüdiger Reichow
      Rüdiger Reichow
      5 days ago
      Reply to  chris andrews

      No… works ingame on mouseclick

      0
      Reply
      chris andrews
      chris andrews
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Rüdiger Reichow

      thanks. do you mean as on your laptop? I am on apple tv and using the remote.

      0
      Reply
      Paul Southworth
      Paul Southworth
      6 days ago
      Reply to  chris andrews

      It pops up when a nearby rider gets a PR, starts an FTP test, completes a workout, takes a jersey, or gives you a ride on (assuming you didn’t already give them a ride on)

      1
      Reply
      chris andrews
      chris andrews
      6 days ago
      Reply to  Paul Southworth

      thanks for the info

      0
      Reply
      Rock
      Rock
      6 days ago

      How does an become “Verified”?

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Rock

      Reach out to Zwift. I don’t know their criteria for who gets to be verified or not.

      0
      Reply
      Rüdiger Reichow
      Rüdiger Reichow
      5 days ago

      Hi Eric, great information, even after 180+ races I did not know everything you displayed above!!! But: while in former races riders from all cats were shown in the rider list in the correct categories (if enabled by race organizer), now it seems that for many races zwifters from other categories either show up in the rider list with my own category indicator (although higher / lower) do not show up in the rider list at all (although visible ingame and on the mini map) Perhaps this is a new bug but both of the above happened to me in… Read more »

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Rüdiger Reichow

      I think this all comes down to how the event is configured. You can have other categories visible or not… just depends on what the organizer wants.

      0
      Reply
      Rüdiger Reichow
      Rüdiger Reichow
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Eric Schlange

      But then it seems some settings do not make any sense

      0
      Reply
      T.erry (YXD)
      T.erry (YXD)
      5 days ago

      At times the names of nearby Zwifters are shown highlighted (brighter), including my own. Any idea why?

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      5 days ago
      Reply to  T.erry (YXD)

      I’ve never noticed this. Just notices different background colors for Pace Partners, and of course the selected Zwifter in the list (which is generally yourself) has a blue background.

      0
      Reply
      T.erry (YXD)
      T.erry (YXD)
      5 days ago
      Reply to  Eric Schlange

      I must correct myself it’s the Watts per kilogram that changes from dull to bright,, it appears to be belated the power output.

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      5 days ago
      Reply to  T.erry (YXD)

      It changes to orange when riders hit/exceed 8 w/kg. Otherwise it’s white.

      0
      Reply
      T.erry (YXD)
      T.erry (YXD)
      4 days ago
      Reply to  Eric Schlange

      Brightness of the white seems to change very subtle

      0
      Reply
      Phil
      Phil
      1 day ago
      Reply to  Eric Schlange

      Maybe I’m wrong but I thought I’ve seen orange at less than 8w/kg. My guess before seeing this page was that it was a percentage of FTP/kg (eg 250% FTP/kg).

      0
      Reply
      Emilio
      Emilio
      2 days ago

      Hi Eric.
      Do you know how the time gap is calculated? In my personal experience is not very accurate. For example, sometimes I got beteween 2.:30-3:00 of advantage over a rider, I stop for 5 minutes and the rider hasn’t caught me yet. Or in races, if I am X seconds behind for the last km, after he/she crosses the finish line, it always takes me much more time that the one indicated. Maybe is because I am a low D rider, why it does not work well for me.
      Thanks for the article.

      0
      Reply
      Eric Schlange
      Author
      Top Member
      Eric Schlange(@eschlange)
      2 days ago
      Reply to  Emilio

      Used to be based purely on distance – see https://zwiftinsider.com/time-gaps/

      I know Zwift said they made some changes to try to improve time gap accuracy in the last year or two, though. It’s possible their simple 30 kph system has changed… probably time for another test!

      0
      Reply
      Emilio
      Emilio
      2 days ago
      Reply to  Eric Schlange

      Sorry, even though I checked before I didn’t find that articule.
      Thanks for the link.

      0
      Reply
      David
      David
      2 days ago

      How do you become verified?

      0
      Reply
      Daren Chandisingh
      Super Member
      Daren Chandisingh(@dchandisingh)
      12 hours ago
      Reply to  David

      I’d guess first be someone “notable”, then contact Zwift. I assume it’s similar to the Twitter blue tick, where someone can be verified as “the person you think they are”, rather than some other person who happens to have the same name or is trying to pretend to be that person. People like Eric Schlange and Shane Miller have a high enough profile that it makes sense

      0
      Reply
      Daren Chandisingh
      Super Member
      Daren Chandisingh(@dchandisingh)
      18 hours ago

      How incredibly useful! And incredible that it’s taken so long for someone to think of putting this explainer together! Not unexpected kudos for being that person!

      With the Ride On button, is it worth adding that it appears when you select someone in the list to spectate them too? Maybe confetti could get its own entry in the “Temporary Elements” list – IIRC as well as setting a PR, it appears when someone completes a workout or reaches a weekly time/distance goal

      1
      Reply
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