FIELD GUIDE / DISCORD MODERATION
Set up Discord moderation that leaves room for judgment.
The best starting point is a written policy, a few well-chosen filters, and a private place for moderators to review what needs context. This guide gives your team a setup you can actually use.
Jump to the moderator checklistWrite rules a moderator can apply.
Put your rules in a channel every member can find. Describe behavior rather than trying to list every forbidden word. Spell out exceptions, such as quoting a message to report abuse, and tell members how to contact the team privately.
“Challenge ideas, not people. Do not target members with insults or threats. If you need to report harmful content, contact the moderation team instead of reposting it publicly.”
Before enforcing a rule, ask whether two moderators would read it the same way. If not, add one concrete example or narrow the wording.
Need a starting point? Copy and adapt our Discord server rules template, which includes a separate checklist for your team.
Set up Discord AutoMod for clear cases.
In Server Settings → AutoMod, review Discord’s keyword and spam filters. Use common word lists where they match your policy, add custom keywords for server-specific terms, and consider the mention-spam filter. You can configure matching messages to be blocked and send alerts to a channel your moderators can see.
- Start with the clearest cases, then test your rules with harmless examples before relying on them.
- Use exemptions sparingly. Check which roles and channels are excluded when you change a rule.
- If your server uses languages other than English, check the limits: Discord says custom keywords can match any language, while its preset word lists and spam-content filter are English-only.
Discord’s AutoMod FAQ documents the current settings, available actions, permissions, and language support. AutoMod can reduce obvious disruption, but a filter match is not the whole story.
Keep review out of public chat.
Create a channel such as #mod-review that only your moderation team can access. Choose it as the destination for AutoMod alerts. Confirm that a regular member cannot view it, and give each moderator only the permissions needed for their role.
Agree on a simple routine: one person picks up an alert, checks the surrounding conversation and the relevant rule, records the outcome, and escalates ambiguous or serious cases to another moderator. Keep reports and discussions about individual members inside your private team spaces.
Pause before you act.
Use the same short checklist for a human report, an AutoMod alert, or a bot-generated review card:
- What happened?Read the message and enough nearby conversation to understand it.
- Which rule applies?Check the exact wording and any published exception.
- Is this a report, quote, or direct attack?Look at intent and the people affected without assuming a flagged word tells the whole story.
- What response is proportionate?Choose no action, a reminder, a timeout, or escalation according to your policy and the situation.
- Can you explain the decision?Leave a short private note so the next moderator can apply the same standard.
Discord’s community moderation guide recommends leaving context-dependent decisions to people and applying rules fairly and consistently.
Revisit the setup as your server changes.
Review alerts that were harmless, incidents you missed, and decisions your team found hard to explain. Update the written rule first when the policy is unclear; then adjust filters and exemptions to match it. Share meaningful rule changes with members so they know what to expect.
Automation works best as support for your team. Discord advises a hands-on approach and cautions against granting bots or people more permissions than necessary in its moderation and community support guide.