Whenever making Discord server rules, keep the platform's terms and services in mind. So, make sure that everyone on your server is at least thirteen years of age, and that no one shares personal information, or promotes hate speech.
I've been running my server for 3 years now, and it's especially gotten big in the last few months. One of the first things I noticed when my server started growing was that my chat rules weren't the best, as I kept having users getting in trouble. So, I worked on a thorough set of Discord rules that solved the problem.
If you'd like to know what these Discord server rules are, you can read ahead. I've also run through additional information on the topic, like how you can enforce and keep your server in check.
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Here are some really good general server rules that you can include:
Discord is strict about not letting users who are below 13 onto their site. But of course, this doesn't stop users from faking their age and making accounts. You should have a rule not allowing anyone who is below 13 on your server. Remember to specify that you will ban and report anyone if you find out that they lied about their age.
One of the top rules is to make sure your server members are nice to each other. Also, specify that you don't allow any hate speech unless the user wants an immediate and permanent ban.
Users shouldn't be allowed to leak private information about one another. This could cause some serious problems down the road.
While at it, you should also have a rule not to let users share sensitive information about themselves.
Unless you run a server that revolves around politics, you shouldn't allow your server's members to talk about any political topics (or religion either).
You should have a rule that users aren't allowed to send inappropriate content anywhere except for designated NSFW channels. To make things clear, you can define what you view as 'inappropriate'. Also, remember not to allow inappropriate profile pictures either.
You can have a rule not to allow profanity on your server. If you want, you can meet your chatters halfway and only ban swearing in specific channels, like ones that your general chat base has access to.
Your chat members shouldn't be allowed to share other Discord server invite links, or contact server members unsolicited and send them links (through DM).
It can get annoying having users constantly worry you for higher-ranking roles, especially if you have a larger chat. So, make it a rule that users aren't allowed to do this.
You need to make it clear that spamming is not allowed. It'll be hard to keep up with conversations with users constantly sending texts and emojis.
Users should always follow what you and your mod team say. This makes it easier to enforce rules, as you don't have to worry about anyone arguing with you for trying to ban or kick someone.
Depending on how organized you want your server to be, you can make it a rule that users have to use designated channels for certain topics, like one channel to discuss game news, and another to send memes or pet pictures.
I've seen a couple of servers not allowing users to randomly ping others. I can understand how annoying it can get, especially if there are a lot of users pinging you at the same time. So, keep this in mind for your Discord server too.
There are a couple of voice channel etiquettes that you can enforce, like not disturbing members silently listening to music, or joining voice channel conversations and making sounds.
Once you've come up with a set of server rules, you need a dedicated channel to copy and paste them on. Here's how you can make one:
Once you have the channel running, you'll have to either type or copy and paste the rules into the channel chat. Just remember to make them as clear as possible so that users would easily be able to understand them.
There are two main ways that you can enforce Discord rules: you can either have your chat moderators take care of things, or you can try and moderate it yourself.
I wouldn't advise you to moderate your Discord community if it's large. But it might be an option if you're dealing with a small server. Basically, you would watch your chat and then either mute, kick, or ban a user for breaking a specific rule.
There are a few different ways to mute a user, but one that I personally like is taking away the role that gives them access to the main chat. All you have to do is:
Here's how you can kick a user:
Here's how you can ban them:
If you ever want to reinvite anyone that's been kicked, you can always send them a server invite again. And if you want to unban banned members, here's what you can do:
Instead of taking care of the chat yourself, you can have a moderator or two help you. Before you try this out, you need to first have a moderator role created on your chat. You can check the tutorial I've linked on how to make one
Once you've done this, here's how you can assign the role to a user:
Answered below are some popular questions.
When it comes to fandom servers, I'd advise you to keep the rules that I ran through above. But also, include some additional rules, like not talking about any controversial or sensitive topics regarding the fandom, and to keep things respectful, and being nice to other fandoms and artists.
When it comes to your Discord server rules template, always keep the Discord community guidelines in mind. So, you need to make sure that users are kind and respect each other, and that everyone is at least 13 years of age. Plus, ensure that no one sends any malicious and harmful links, or posts inappropriate content for other users to see (unless you have an NSFW channel)
I also ran through some additional information on Discord server rules that I know you would've found useful, like how you can moderate your server, and how you can set up the Discord rules on a specific channel too.
Hopefully, you found all of the points that were discussed useful.
