How to Make a Discord Server: Ultimate Guide

Server Icon

The server icon represents your server, and it's the first thing potential server members will see. If you're interested in getting a top quality server icon, including animated server icons, be sure to check out our server icon maker!

Congratulations! You've completed the first step and created a Discord server!

Server Structure

The basic structure of Discord servers is channels inside categories. Channels can come in various forms, mostly text, but also voice, which allows members to have discussions related to the channel topic. You can create categories to group multiple related channels together. In the default server you created, you'll see two channels inside two categories. The categories are "Text channels" and "Voice channels".

Creating Categories

To create a new category, right-click anywhere in the channels list, then select "Create Category".

Creating Channels

To create a new channel, click the plus symbol next to a category name to create it inside that category. To create a channel that isn't in any category, right-click anywhere in the channel list and select "Create Channel".

There are two main channel types: voice and text. These channel types are self explanatory. You can choose a channel name, and optionally, you can make it a private channel if you only want certain members to be able to access it. To enhance your channels, you can optionally include an emoji as a makeshift icon before the channel name. You can also do the same with category names. Go ahead and create the channels and categories you need for your server.

Rules Channel

It's common for servers to have a rules channel that lists some common rules for the server. Keep it short and simple because most people won't read more than a tiny amount of text.

How to Make Your Text Channels Look Better

To make your Discord server look better, there are many text formatting options and tricks you can use. These tricks are great for informational channels like rules channels. We've compiled a list of all text formatting options in Discord that you can check out.

Server Templates

If you don't want to make everything from scratch, you can use a server template. Server templates are just pre-made server settings and channel/category structures designed to fit a general type of server. Check out the Discord Templates website to find a bunch of pre-made server templates!

Roles and Permissions

Now that we've created our basic category and channel structure, let's move on to roles and permissions. This is the second fundamental part of any Discord server. Roles allow you to give different permissions to different members. Roles can be used to appoint moderators. Roles can have unique name colors, and can even have special icons added next to the member's name with the role.

Creating Roles

To create roles, start by clicking your server name above the channels list. Then, select "Server Settings".

Next, select "Roles" from the menu on the left side of the server settings page.

On this page, you'll see a "Create Role" button. Click it to create your first role.

Now you can create a role. Each role has permissions controlling what the role can and cannot do within your server. Each role can have a name color, and you can choose to display it separately from other members in the member list to make the role stand out.

Permissions

Permissions allow you to control what each user can and cannot do within your server and within certain channels or categories. The definition of permissions is as follows, where specific permissions take precedence over general ones.

Role Permissions

The most general permissions are role permissions. These are defined when you create a new role. For example, you can allow moderators to delete messages with the "Manage Messages" permission.

Everyone assigned to this role will be able to delete messages by other members or pin messages. But, you might not want them to be able to delete messages everywhere. This is where more specific permissions are useful.

Category Permissions

Now that you've added the "Manage Messages" permission to a role, you probably don't want that role to be able to delete important informational messages in your rules channel or your welcome channel. As an example, both of these channels could be inside of a category called "Information". If you right-click this category, click "Edit Category", then "Permissions", you can override the role permissions within this specific category.

If you were to click the red "X" on the left side of the permission, it would override the role's default permission specifically within this category by denying that permission. If you were to click the green checkmark, it would override the role's default permission to allow that permission.

Channel Permissions

You can create similar permission overrides specifically within a single channel. Right-click a channel, click "Edit Channel" then click "Permissions". You can override even the category permissions for a specific channel. Through this tiered overriding permission system, you can create very fine-tuned control of your server to various roles.

Role Icons

To add maximum flare to your server, you can optionally add role icons that sit next to your role names. They look great and make your server appear more professional. Role icons should be 64x64 pixel images. Be sure to check out our massive role icons pack if you want some premade role icons!

Bots/Apps

In a Discord server, bots, also known as apps, are automated programs designed to perform a variety of tasks to enhance server functionality and user experience. They can manage server operations, moderate conversations, provide entertainment, and integrate with external services. Bots can welcome new members, enforce rules, filter content, run games, stream music in voice channels, and much more. Bots are an essential part of a high quality Discord server.

How to Add Bots/Apps

To add a bot/app to your server, go to your server settings, then find "App Directory" on the menu on the left side of the screen. As an alternative, you can use online websites like top.gg to find Discord bots/apps for your server.

The app directory is a convenient place within Discord where you can browse tons of high quality up-to-date bots/apps and add them to your server.

Adding Your First Bot/App

Search for the "Atlas" app. This app is a high quality multipurpose app that handles a variety of basic tasks within your Discord server.

How to Use Bots/Apps

Modern Discord bots/apps are controlled using "slash commands" in the chat. To see available commands, type "/" in the chat and a bunch of options will appear. You can filter the options by bot if you click the bot icon on the left side of this panel.

The icons on the left can be clicked to filter slash commands for only that particular bot. Using slash commands, you can easily interact with bots. Some bots (including the Atlas bot) also have web dashboards so you can configure the bot using a nice visual interface.

Bot/App Permissions

If you want to control which bot commands can be used by which roles, go to "Server Settings", "Integrations", then select "Manage" on the bot you would like to configure.

You can fine-tune bot control and command access here.

Role Assign Buttons

A common use of apps is for creating role assign buttons in your Discord server. Formerly known as reaction roles, users would click a reaction to a message, then receive a designated role. Modern Discord apps use actual buttons with text. The Atlas app includes this feature.

The Atlas bot has a ton of features useful for almost any server and you can check out its functionality on its documentation page. I recommend adding multiple bots to your server depending on what type of server you plan on creating.

Enabling Community Server

Community servers on Discord are specialized servers that offer a suite of tools for server owners and administrators to facilitate community building, moderation, and server growth. Features like announcement channels, membership screening, and server insights help you build a larger more complex server. Community servers can also be showcased in Discord’s Server Discovery to attract new members.

To enable your server as a community server, go to your server settings, find "Enable Community" on the left side panel and click it.

If you're looking to build a large and feature-filled Discord server, it is recommended that you enable community server.

Click "Get Started" and fill out the options. It is recommended to check both boxes for verified email required and scan and delete explicit content. Click "Next" when done.

Rules or Guidelines Channel

Community servers must have a clearly marked rules/guidelines channel. If you already have one, select it from the dropdown menu. If not, keep it on Create one for me.

Community Updates Channel

This channel is for server admins and staff. It will keep you up-to-date about new features Discord adds. This should be a private channel.

Finish Setup

On the last page of the setup, click "I agree and understand" and then click the "Finish Setup" button. Your community server is now set up and you'll be taken to a new page where you can configure your community settings.

Make sure to add a "Server Description" and enable the safety notifications channel.

More Features of Community Servers

Community servers unlock a bunch of useful advanced features for your Discord server. We'll cover the features it unlocks next. Now that you've enabled community server, you'll see more options when you create a new channel.

Forum Channel

Forum channels are excellent for structured discussion like the forums typically found online. They are great for archiving and enhancing searchability of related information.

Announcement Channel

Announcement channels in Discord are specialized channels designed to broadcast updates and important information to server members. Unlike regular text channels, they feature a “Follow” button, allowing members to receive published messages in their own servers. Proper permission settings are crucial to ensure only authorized members can send or manage messages in these channels.

Stage Channel

Stage channels in Discord are a specialized type of voice channel designed for events within Community servers. They facilitate structured conversations where select members can speak to an audience, much like a public speaking event or a panel discussion. Stage channels are unique because they allow for large-scale communication without the cacophony of a regular voice channel, as only designated speakers can be heard at any given time. Stage channels are ideal for hosting Q&A sessions, lectures, or community announcements.

Server Discovery

Another advantage of being a community server is accessing server discovery. Your server must meet specific criteria first, however. Discord server discovery is a feature designed to help users find and join new communities on Discord. Accessible via the compass icon on the server list sidebar, it allows browsing servers by categories such as gaming, music, education, or searching directly for servers. Eligible community servers can appear in this list. Here are the requirements for server discovery eligibility:

Onboarding

Onboarding is a powerful new feature for community servers. It has multiple functions. First, users can select from multiple choices what their interests are and receive roles based on their selections. They can also select which channels they would like to see. For larger servers, this can help the user focus on what they care about when there is a wide array of topics discussed throughout the server.

Onboarding also creates a welcome message and some suggestions giving users ideas of what they can do in their server when they first join. To enable onboarding, click your server name, go to "Server Settings" then click "Onboarding".

You can also choose the default channels all members have access to in your server.

Server Guide

Once you've set up onboarding, you'll see a "Server Guide" appear at the top of your channels list. This is a consolidated informational page for your server. Here's an example of a real "Server Guide" page.

Resource Pages

As a part of the onboarding setup, you can create "Resource Pages". Resource pages are designed for read-only information about your server. Instead of having a rules channel in your channel list, you can turn the rules channel into a resource page. You can see some of the benefits of resource pages in the image below. Resource pages appear in one convenient place in the server guide page as shown in the image above.

Channels & Roles

The "Channels & Roles" page will appear below the server guide after you've setup and enabled onboarding. This allows members to customize their interests and visible channels at any time to tailor the server to fit their specific interests. By selecting their interests, channels can be shown or hidden so only channels they're interested in can be seen.