Disable player drawings in “Splatoon 2”

Nintendo’s Splatoon 2 translates the squad-based first-person shooter into a nonviolent game suitable for a younger audience. But the game shows drawings (called “posts”) made by other players. Fortunately, there are two ways you can turn it off.

What is a player post in Splatoon 2?

Splatoon 2 is an updated version of Splatoon, which first launched for the Wii U in 201

5. The Wii U featured a touchscreen with a stylus and encouraged players to share drawings through a now-defunct online service called Miiverse. In line with this idea, Splatoon allowed players to draw pictures called “messages” and show them to other users.

Splatoon 2 continues this tradition. Players can sign messages and share them with others. You can see them floating above other players’ heads as you wander through Inkopolis Plaza (the main city hub in the game).

While many of these posts are beautiful works of art, players can draw anything they want (until reported and removed for offensive material). Sometimes these messages contain messages that you don’t want your kids to see. Even adults may find some of them annoying.

Fortunately, there are two ways you can turn it off.

How player posts in the Splatoon 2 Options menu

The easiest way to disable player posts is in-game. Start first Splatoon 2 on your Switch and start the game by pressing ZL + ZR. When you see your character and other players in Inkopolis Plaza (the city area), press “X” to open the menu.

Select the “Options” tab, select “Other” in the sidebar, then select “Off” next to the “Post View” option.

You can then exit the menu. You may need to force the game to reload Inkopolis Plaza for the change to take effect. One way to do this is to press the plus sign (+) to look at your inventory. After exiting that menu, the city area will reload and you will no longer see player drawings.

Tip: The setting “Post Display” also exists in Splatoon on Wii U, so this method works in that game too.

Turn off player messages on Splatoon 2 through parental controls

Obviously, the above in-game solution is not foolproof in preventing your kids from seeing or sharing messages in Splatoon 2—They can simply re-enable the “Post Display” option.

If you want to use a parental controls solution and you have already registered your Switch with the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smartphone app, open that app on your phone or device. Select the switch to which you want to apply the new parental control setting.

Tap on ‘Console Settings’ at the bottom, then select ‘Restriction level’.

Tap ‘Custom Settings’, then ‘Communicate with Others’.

Make sure that “Restrict communication with others” is turned on.

In that same menu, scroll down and enable the “Splatoon 2” option.

Once enabled, players on that switch will not be able to share or view messages from players. In fact, when you start Splatoon 2 and check the “Post Display” option in the menu. You will see a message confirming that this is limited by parental controls.

Mission accomplished – have fun on the Switch!

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