Discord has become one of the most popular platforms for building online communities. With features for text, voice, and video communication, it offers a robust set of tools to bring people together. However, as your Discord server grows, you need to establish clear rules and guidelines to maintain a positive environment. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create effective community rules on your Discord server.
Table of Contents
Enable the Community Features
To set up server rules on Discord, you first need to enable the Community features in your Server Settings:
- Go to Server Settings > Community
- Click “Enable Community”
- Follow the prompts to set up rules screening, membership screening, server insights and discovery
Enabling these features allows you to screen new members, gain analytics on member activity, and showcase your server to attract new members.
Draft the Rules
With Community enabled, you can now add rules that new members must agree to before joining your server. Here are some best practices for writing Discord community rules:
Be Clear and Concise
- Keep rules simple, straightforward and easy to understand
- Avoid vague or subjective language when possible
- Cover the basics like etiquette, content guidelines, and consequences
Align with Discord’s Policies
- Prohibit illegal activities, harassment, hate speech, etc. as per Discord’s Terms of Service
- Ban evasion, botting, spamming and other violations should also be disallowed
Customize for Your Community
- Add specific rules based on your server’s purpose, topics discussed, members’ ages etc.
- For example, a gaming server may prohibit cheating or a youth server may ban adult content
Outline Consequences
- Define what happens when someone breaks the rules, like deletion of messages, temporary bans, permanent bans etc.
- Having an escalating system of warnings and punishments is recommended
Add Rules to Membership Screening
Once you’ve drafted rules for your community, it’s time to make members agree to them.
- Go back to Server Settings > Membership Screening
- Click “Add a Rule”
- Paste your rules into the text box one by one and click “Save” after each rule
New members will have to explicitly accept each rule before accessing your server.
Pin Rules Post
To ensure existing members are aware of your guidelines, create a Rules post and pin it in a public channel.
- Copy-paste your rules into a new message in a public channel
- Right click the message and choose “Pin”
The pinned post will be visible to all users. You can also link to this post when directing members to review your community rules.
Enforce Rules Consistently
- Appoint moderators to help enforce rules and regulations
- Provide warnings before banning members, except in cases of severe violations
- Apply consequences evenly and avoid playing favorites
- Review reports and complaints about rule-breaking quickly and transparently
Having fair and consistent enforcement establishes trust in leadership and reinforces positive norms. Members who repeatedly break rules may need to be banned to maintain community standards.
Review and Revise Rules Periodically
As your Discord community evolves, your rules may need updating too. Every few months,
- Seek feedback from members on existing rules
- Discuss modifications with your mod team
- Notify members of any rule changes and update pinned Rules post
Keeping rules relevant encourages buy-in from members and prevents confusion down the line.
Use Bots for Automated Moderation
Discord bots like MEE6, Dyno, and Carl-Bot have customization options to help enforce rules automatically:
- Warn members who use banned words/phrases
- Delete messages containing prohibited content
- Restrict spamming of emojis, links, images etc.
- Temporarily mute repeat rule-breakers
Configuring these moderator bots reduces manual oversight needed from server admins and mods.
Establishing comprehensive rules and guidelines is essential as your Discord server expands. Clearly communicating expectations, enforcing policies consistently, and revising when needed will help sustain a positive community. Encourage members to review the #rules channel regularly so everyone understands the standards your server aspires to uphold.
With a thoughtful approach to rules and moderation, your Discord can foster meaningful connections, enriching discussions, and authentic interactions between all members.
