Build a Discord for your Minecraft server

A Minecraft server Discord is a Discord community built around your server, where players get announcements, ask for help, report problems, join events and chat when they're not online. The good ones are small and focused: a few clear channels, a simple role ladder, in-game chat linked through a plugin like DiscordSRV, and an invite link that never expires. Players don't join a Minecraft server through Discord; they join in game with the address, and the Discord is what keeps them coming back.

This guide is for owners setting one up, with a copyable channel layout, the role and permission setup, bots worth running, and how to promote it without getting banned from every advertising server.

Do you need a Discord before you launch?

Short answer: yes, but a small one. Players checking a new server look for a Discord link as a sign someone is home. It's also where you'll catch bug reports during the first week, when everything breaks. Just don't build forty channels for five people. An empty channel says "dead server" louder than no channel at all. Start with the minimum below and add channels only when conversations start spilling into the wrong places.

A Minecraft server Discord template you can copy

Four categories cover almost every server. Names are suggestions; keep them short so they fit on a phone screen.

Plus one hidden staff category with #staff-chat and #console (more on that below). Once it looks right, Discord's server template feature (Server Settings, then Server Template) turns your layout into a link you can reuse for a second server or share with a friend. Templates copy channels, roles and permissions, but not messages or members.

Minecraft server Discord roles and permissions

Roles do two jobs: they show who's who, and they control what people can do. Keep the ladder short so permissions stay easy to reason about.

• Don't give any bot or staff member the Administrator permission. Grant what the job needs.
• Don't let members use @everyone or @here. One mass ping at 3 a.m. loses you a hundred members.
• Don't sell Discord roles that come with in-game advantages. The same Mojang usage guidelines apply to what you sell for your server, wherever it's sold.

For a deeper look at staff structure, see our guide to hiring and running Minecraft server staff.

Minecraft server Discord integration with DiscordSRV

DiscordSRV is the most common way to connect a Paper or Spigot server to Discord. It bridges chat both ways, can post joins, deaths and advancements, can mirror the console into a private channel, and can link Minecraft and Discord accounts. Setup, following the project's docs:

1. Create a bot. In the Discord Developer Portal, choose New Application. On the Installation tab, turn off User Install and set Install Link to None.
2. Enable two privileged intents on the Bot page: Server Members Intent and Message Content Intent. Skipping these is the classic reason DiscordSRV "connects but nothing happens."
3. Invite the bot to your Discord with the permissions DiscordSRV's docs list (including Manage Roles, Manage Webhooks, View Channel and Send Messages in the linked channels).
4. Install the plugin from the DiscordSRV GitHub page into plugins/ and start the server once.
5. Get channel IDs. In Discord, turn on User Settings, Advanced, Developer Mode, then right-click a channel and Copy ID.
6. Edit plugins/DiscordSRV/config.yml: paste the bot token into BotToken, map the game chat channel in Channels (for example {"global": "123456789012345678"}), and optionally set DiscordConsoleChannelId. Restart.

Account linking

Once linking is on, a player runs /discord link in game, gets a short one-time code, and sends it to your bot in a DM. DiscordSRV can then sync roles (give the Linked role, mirror ranks) and can even require a linked account to join the Minecraft server, which is a strong tool for whitelisted SMPs. Linking settings live in DiscordSRV's linking.yml.

Other Minecraft server Discord bots worth having

Every bot you add can read your server. Only invite bots with a public website, clear permissions and an active developer, and check what permissions they ask for on the invite screen.

Invites, safety and moderation before you advertise

A link that never dies

When you create an invite, open "Edit invite link" and set it to never expire with no use limit. Expired invites are the most common broken link on server listings. If you add your Discord invite to your 9MinecraftServer listing, we read the member and online counts from the invite and show them on your page; if the invite expires, those numbers disappear with it. Point the invite at #welcome, not #general.

Safety settings

• Verification level: at least Medium for public servers, so brand-new accounts can't spam instantly.
• AutoMod: block invite links from non-staff, slurs and mass mentions.
• Require 2FA for moderator actions, so a stolen moderator account can't ban your community.
• Discord's age rules: Discord requires users to be at least 13 in the US. If your server attracts younger players, your in-game and Discord rules need to fit that audience.
• A written staff rule: staff never ask for passwords, payment for "applications," or for anyone to run downloads.

Is it safe to join a Discord server? (for your players)

Mostly, if people keep a few habits: don't click "free Nitro" or "free rank" links, never scan QR codes to "verify," never share a Microsoft or Discord password, and turn off DMs from server members if strangers message them. Put those four lines in your #rules. Parents who find your server will read them, and they matter.

How to advertise a Minecraft server on Discord

Discord advertising works when it's aimed at the right channels and bad when it's spam. A few rules that keep you welcome:

• Post only in channels made for advertising, and follow each server's bump or cooldown rule.
• Lead with your mode, edition and one real difference, same as your listing description.
• Include the address and a Discord invite in the same post, so people can act without asking.
• Never DM-advertise. It gets accounts reported and servers removed.

Our own community Discord has a server-showcase forum built for this. You get one post per server, you can bump it at most every 6 hours, and when you paste your 9MinecraftServer page link, our bot adds a live status card with your real player count. Starting a showcase post needs a linked site account; anyone can reply. There's also a hire-help board (developers, builders, artists, Discord setup) and a staff-recruitment board, plus a live leaderboard of this month's top-voted servers.

Want the bigger picture? How to grow a Minecraft server covers where Discord fits next to lists, votes and content.

Quick questions