How to Set Up a Discord Server for a Community

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First, you'll need to create a Discord account, which is free and easy to do.

To set up a Discord server, you'll need to create a server by clicking on the "+" button in the top left corner of your Discord dashboard.

A server can hold up to 250,000 members, so it's perfect for large communities.

You can name your server and add a description to help new members understand what your community is about.

This will also help with search results, making it easier for people to find your server.

Channel Setup

To set up a Discord server for your community, you'll want to start by organizing your channels. This means creating categories, roles, and permissions to keep everything tidy and secure.

First, create a category by right-clicking on the sidebar and choosing "Create Category". This will help you group related channels together.

You can then manage permissions for the category, which will affect all channels in that category, except those that are not syncing with that category. To do this, right-click, choose "Edit category", then choose "Permissions".

Credit: youtube.com, Discord Setup: Community Tutorial - How to Create the BEST Server and Add Moderation Fast

When creating channels, you can choose from different types, such as text, voice, forum, announcement, or stage. The five types of channels are text, voice, forum, announcement, and stage.

To create a channel, click on the "+" under the appropriate category. This will open a dialogue box prompting you for the type of channel. You can also make it private.

Here's a quick rundown of the channel types:

By understanding the different channel types and how to set them up, you'll be well on your way to creating a well-organized and functional Discord server for your community.

Roles

Roles are a crucial part of any Discord server, as they help you manage access to different channels and features. You can assign region roles to users, which gives them access to specific channels.

To assign region roles, you need to open the server's member list in the server settings, search for the user's name, and add the role. This will immediately give them access to the region category for the role you've assigned them.

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You can also create new roles by going to server settings, clicking on "Roles", and then clicking on "Create role". This will allow you to customize the role's name, color, and permissions.

In setting up roles, you should decide whether everyone can mention the role, which is only useful for moderator and/or group roles. You should also configure the permissions for the role, starting from the top and working your way down.

Here's a simple step-by-step guide to creating roles:

  1. Go to server settings and click on "Roles".
  2. Click on "Create role" to create a new role.
  3. Enter the name of the role, which is how it will be displayed to all community members.
  4. Select a role color to make it stand out in the list of members.
  5. Decide whether everyone can mention the role.
  6. Configure the permissions for the role by selecting the "Permissions" tab.

You can also use roles to create a sense of friendly rivalry or prestige within your community. For example, you can let players pick a side, like the Horde and Alliance in World of Warcraft, and lock certain channels to those factions.

Server Configuration

Creating a Discord server is just the first step in setting up a community hub. To avoid competition and separate discussions, choose a unique topic or community for your server.

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Duplicate servers can lead to chaos, so it's essential to create a server from scratch or use a template like "Gaming" or "Local Community". This will help you get started on the right foot.

To create a server, click on the "+" button, select the template, and follow the prompts. You'll need to enter a name and upload an icon for the server. This will help you customize the brand of your server.

Enable community features to get certain perks, like announcement channels or discoverability. To do so, open server settings, select "Enable Community", then choose "Get Started" and follow the wizard.

You'll want to organize your server with specific channels for different purposes. Here are the main channels you should include:

Remember, you can always add more channels specific to your game.

Community Management

To set up a Discord server for your community, you need to establish clear lines of communication. This means creating channels that cater to different topics, such as product updates, open-source development, or job searching. Simplify your server's structure by focusing on essential channels, categories, roles, and resources to create a welcoming environment for newcomers.

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Having a #general channel and other targeted channels for specific conversations can help. You can also categorize your channels to give further context. For example, you might have a category for "Game-Related" channels, including #play-together, #announcements, and #support.

Here are some essential channels to include in your server:

  1. Welcome
  2. Rules and guidelines
  3. General chat
  4. Play together
  5. Announcements
  6. Support
  7. FAQ
  8. Feedback and feature requests
  9. Beta testing
  10. Community update

Enable Community

Enabling the Community feature on Discord is a game-changer for community management. It takes care of 80% of the heavy lifting for you as a Discord Community Manager by combining security, member verification, and onboarding all in one.

To enable the Community feature, click on your Server name at the top right > Server settings > Community Overview > Activate. This will unlock additional channel types such as forums, stages, and announcements.

Having a clear and organized structure is crucial for a welcoming community. A good mix of channel types will help your community engage and navigate easily. You'll want sections like support, internal, general chat, beta testing, announcements, and in-game advice.

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Here are the essential channels you should include:

  1. Welcome. A holding channel where newbies can say hello and get to know the community.
  2. Rules and guidelines. Your second channel should typically have your community rules to ensure everyone is on the same page.
  3. General chat. This is typically an off-topic channel for general chit-chat.
  4. Play together. If your game is multiplayer, having a channel where people can find a squad and team up is useful.
  5. Announcements. You'll want at least one channel where you can post updates about your game.
  6. Support. You want a place where people can ask for help.
  7. FAQ. This makes a good forum channel.
  8. Feedback and feature requests. This is another channel which is best as a forum.
  9. Beta testing. Getting your community involved in your beta testing is a great way to engage with your players.
  10. A community update channel. This is where you'll get Discord updates relevant to your admins and moderators.

By having these channels, you'll create a structured and organized community that's easy to navigate. This will help your community grow and thrive.

Keep Engaged

Keeping your community engaged is crucial to its growth and success. Regularly hosting events is a great way to do this.

You can host Q&As, where your lead developer answers questions from players, by setting up a Stage channel and hosting a fireside chat every week. This is a great way to build trust and get feedback from your community.

In-game events are also a great way to keep players engaged. You can set up a channel and host a tournament, do prize draws, or set a daily challenge. The possibilities are endless, and it's up to you to get creative.

Promoting content creators and fan artwork is another way to keep your community engaged. If you start getting YouTubers or Twitch streamers creating content around your game, make sure to set up an announcement channel so people can follow their content. You could even give them special roles.

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To add some extra fun to your community, consider adding bots. There are loads to choose from, including games like Truth or Dare or dice-rolling tools. You could even set up a role-playing channel.

Finally, as your community grows, you may need to hire a community manager to keep everything organized. They'll need to host events, gather feedback, and field questions from players.

Avoid Raiding, Spam, and Nukes

We've all seen spam and sometimes inappropriate messages on Discord servers before. Hopefully none of you will ever have to see a fully wiped server that suffered from a nuke attack.

Discord has added many layers of Raid and Spam protection as well as some AutoModerator functions to keep your server safe. You can set these up once and forget about them.

You can choose the verification level in DM and Spam protection. I like to set it to Medium, which will only verify a member once they are part of the server for over 5 minutes.

Discord scans and vets each message, attachment, and new member as they join, keeping your server secure in the background.

Customization and Fun

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Let people customize their experience, just like PUBG Mobile does. This can be a simple questionnaire where players choose the channels and roles they care about, and they'll only see the ones they've selected.

Including options for pronoun preferences, like PUBG, can make your community feel more inclusive. This is a great way to show your community that you care about their identity and comfort.

Adding fun elements like stickers and emojis can bring a smile to your community's faces. You can find cool stickers on stickers.gg and emojis on emoji.gg, and even customize the settings in the Server settings section.

Add Fun with Emojis and Stickers

Adding fun to your community is a great way to boost engagement and create a positive atmosphere. You can do this by incorporating emojis and stickers that your community can relate to and use to express themselves.

To get started, check out stickers.gg for some cool stickers. They have a wide variety of stickers that can add a fun touch to your community.

Emojis can also be a great way to add some personality to your community. You can download emojis from emoji.gg to use in your community.

The emoji and sticker settings can be found in the Server settings section, where you can customize them to fit your community's needs.

Customize Your Experience

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Discord offers a nifty feature to customize community servers, allowing users to see only the channels they care about and join the right roles.

This feature is a simple questionnaire where the results decide which channels you see and the roles you join. It's a great way to ensure that players in specific regions, like Europe, get added to the Europe channel rather than the USA channel.

PUBG Mobile uses this feature really well, making it easy for players to choose the channels they want to see. Players can choose everything if they want, but if they don't click, they won't see those channels.

Inclusive servers, like PUBG's, go the extra mile by including pronoun preferences as a role. This shows that the server values diversity and wants to make players feel welcome.

To make the most of this feature, consider using a single-select option, where users can choose one role out of several. This is a great way to assign roles based on specific criteria, like factions in a game.

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Here are some key points to keep in mind when customizing your experience:

  • Use a simple questionnaire to let users choose which channels they see and roles they join.
  • Make sure to include options for users to choose their own roles, like pronoun preferences.
  • Consider using a single-select option for assigning roles based on specific criteria.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Discord community servers free?

Yes, Discord community servers are free to create and join. Anyone with a Discord account can set up their own server in just a few clicks.

Dwayne Zboncak-Farrell

Senior Assigning Editor

Dwayne Zboncak-Farrell is a seasoned Assigning Editor with a keen eye for compelling content. With a strong background in research and writing, Dwayne has honed his skills in guiding projects from concept to completion. Their expertise spans a wide range of topics, including technology and software.

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