Discord Server Rules Template

Unless you have a server for a few trusted Discord friends, you should create and uphold server rules so that your members know what to expect. When you open up your server to the public, you never know who may join. Server rules help you to keep you and your community safe.

Creating basic rules for your Discord server is easy. All you need to do is think of what you want people to avoid, then let them know up-front when they join your server. You can even use a bot that makes new members react to your rules to access the rest of the server.

This post will teach you how to create server rules, provide you with a Discord server rules template, and give you ideas on how you can keep these guidelines enforced.

If you want a basic rules template that will fit most community servers, feel free to copy and paste the following rules, adding or adjusting rules as necessary.

1. General Rules

   Some of these rules follow the Discord community guidelines and basic courtesy.

   • No hate speech – This server doesn’t allow people to treat people poorly based on their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, social status, or more. Any personal attacks will result in a permanent ban.
   • No explicit content – Do not post images or videos that are not NSFW unless it is on our NSFW-appropriate channels. Never post illegal content on this server. No digitally altered pornography or other inappropriate or unsafe content.
   • No botting – No inviting unofficial bots or other malicious threats into the server. Do not use bots to message spam to server members.
   • No derogatory language – All derogatory language or sexually explicit nicknames are strictly prohibited in this server. No inappropriate profile pictures.
   • No self-promotion or spam – Do not promote another community server, your Twitch channel, or anything else without permission from an admin. Do not fill channels with spam.
   • No doxxing other users – Keep information about other users private. Don’t share messages, addresses, phone numbers, social media information, or anything else about a community member without their permission. This includes people from other Discord servers.

2. Text Chat Rules

   • No bullying – Do not belittle other people for any reason. This includes both in writing and with emoji, gifs, or imagery of any kind.
   • Respect Discord moderators – If a moderator asks you to stop your behavior, listen to them. If you think something is in error, you can send them a private message, but do not create more trouble by spamming chat.
   • No copypasta – While some copypasta is fun, we prohibit it on our server. It counts as spam and makes following any conversation difficult. This includes character spam. Please keep comments to small messages.
   • No pinned messages – While some mods may have pinned messages explaining different features on the server, any other pinned messages will be deleted.
   • Keep to safe topics – Don’t talk about politics, religion, self-harm or suicide, eating disorders, terrorist events, and anything else that can cause other issues.
   • Take private conversations to DMS – If you want to have Discord conversations with just one or two people, keep them out of server channels.

3. Voice Chat Rules

   • Keep background noise to a minimum – If you need to leave your computer, please mute yourself. Try to mute it during real-life conversations with your family and friends. No excessive voice chat channel hopping.
   • No explicit talk – Don’t talk about violent or sexually explicit content. Keep conversation appropriate for other members of the server.
   • Be respectful – Do not yell or cuss out any server member. Be kind and respectful. Do not disrupt chat. Moderators reserve the right to remove people from chat who are using inappropriate language or treating people wrong.
   • Don’t shout or scream – Try to stay calm so as not to blow out others’ headsets. When you join voice chat channels, give people a few moments to finish their conversation before interrupting.

In addition to the above rules template, many discord servers will have rules relating to their purpose. For instance, a guild server for a game might have rules about how people conduct themselves in the game or communicate with other factions.

Meanwhile, a server setup for people who want to work out together will have rules for what can be posted and when. Servers that use bot commands that help people “level up” in the server will have specific rules about those.

You should also have clear and understandable rules about what will happen if rules are broken. What will lead to an immediate and permanent ban? What may lead to a temporary ban? Letting people know what to expect upfront can save a lot of issues in the long run.

Some large servers may have people who change their nicknames to something with characters at the beginning of it (such as …!!Discorfnickname) to have their name pushed to the top of the server list. Others may use “blank nicknames.” If you don’t want this to be the case, you can make a rule about it or disable Discord users to be able to change their name on their own on your server.

If you have a bot, you will want to add bot-specific rules regarding how it can be used. These will also vary depending on the bot, the bot commands, and what they are used for.

You will need to add your Discord server rules list to a specific channel in your server. Most other servers will call this channel the rules channel.

It should be set up as a text channel so you can copy and paste your rules. You must also set the channel so that nobody else (except other admins) can type in it. Otherwise, some other users will fill the channel with questions or comments, making it difficult for people to refer to the rules.

Make sure that the list is toward the top and easy to find. It is a good idea to ensure people can’t access text or voice channels before agreeing to your guidelines.

Having a rules channel with well-written guidelines isn’t enough. You need to be willing to enforce the rules. To do this, finding people you can trust and using a moderation bot is a good idea.

1. Enable Moderators

   Once you trust a few people on your server, consider making them moderators. You will typically recognize good mods by looking for people who consistently follow the rules and help others navigate the server.

   Create a mod role in your server settings and allow them to change nicknames, kick people (if needed), remove people from channels, and more. You won’t need to make them admins of your own server, but giving them the ability to enforce rules should be necessary.

   You might also want to create a moderation channel for you and your moderators to discuss issues where you are unsure if a rule has been broken or not. This way, you can have fewer issues over the long run.

2. Rules Bot

   Many Discord bots can automatically delete messages that include hate speech or dirty words. You can ensure people are using links, reposting spam, or repeatedly entering and leaving voice chat channels. While many bots require little payment to run, you can get some tools for free.

   Bots can also be set up to make people react to your rules channel before they can join voice chat channels or see text channels. This will help cut down on people abusing your system.