Security Settings

These are a few suggestions for settings to set on your Discord server.  This won't solve every problem, especially spam from users that are already on your server and have their accounts hacked, but should help prevent some low-effort attempts.

I have not included every step on every setting (for example, the screens that appear when setting up your server as a Community server), for two reasons.  Most importantly, you will want to read these to understand what is going on, and secondarily, this will help you better make your own decisions on which setting you prefer.

If you intend to have others help you with managing your server, you will likely want to set up aserver permissions for an Administrator role and create at least one channel for administrators to talk and potential warnings (see AutoMod below).

Verification Level

Set this to at least Medium, though High might help.  Highest rqeuires phone number validation; if you want to set it you can, but a lot of users don’t like going that far and it doesn’t help much against hacked account spam.

Both personal and community servers can find this setting within the Safety Setup of the Moderation section on the Server Settings page.

Set this to at least Medium, though High may be a bit more helpful.  Highest will require phone number validation, but some users do not like having to do this and the verification level mostly helps with new accounts compared to an existing server member whose account was hacked.

The AutoMod settings are a series of pre-set rules and similar for each section.  Click the "Set up" button to the right to expand options for each rule.  Each rule has four parts- a name for the rule, rule settings, AutoMod's response, and any exceptions.

Note AutoMod blocking on Discord is not like on Twitch and other platforms- there is no way to approve blocked content.  It must be re-posted either by the original user without the offending content or via an excluded channel/user/role (section 3).

Section 3 prevents AutoMod from monitoring certain user roles or channels.  Discord administartors and server owners are already exempt, but this can be set for other reasons (a trusted friend role, an 18-plus channel not moderated for cursing, etc).

On the bottom of the AutoMod page is a Sensitive content filters option.  Community servers will have this option automatically set, but personal servers can choose the level of control AutoMod uses.

Setting "Apply to Join" will require potential members to go through an application and approval process when joiing the server.  When they click to join, they will essentially fill out an application form, which server administrators can then see and choose to approve, deny, or follow up further on the answers given.

Note- unless your server is specifically NSFW content, do not set Age-Restricted Server.  This restricts server visibility and will require users to verify their age (see the recent-as-of-Feb-2026 uproar) to access the server.

Adding a question provides different ways to answer- short answer (a single line), paragraph (longer write-in form), or multiple choice.  The final option, Rules creates a set of Server Rules, which the applicant must read and accept.

When a user applies to your server, you will see a notification in the Members section of your Discord server (above channel list).  Clicking on Members will bring up a list of server members with applicants at the top.  Only server administrators/owners and anyone with the Kick Users permission can see the application answers and make a decision.

Clicking on a member will show their application question answers, as well as the option to approve, reject, or interview (direct message the user to discuss the application).

Approved users will join the server.  Rejected users are able to reapply, but will not join.  You can either choose to ban them completely, or leave their application open without approving or denying to prevent them from re-applying.