Discord Server Rules: Copy-and-Paste Templates

A new member should be able to read your rules and understand three things: what is welcome, what crosses the line, and how to get help. They should not need to decode “use common sense” or scroll through thirty variations of “respect the staff.”

Below are Discord server rules you can copy and adapt: a ten-rule starting template, a shorter version for friend groups, and optional rules for gaming, study, creator, and giveaway communities. There is also a plain-text download and a practical setup checklist.

These are original NitroLoot Team templates for your community to customize. They complement Discord’s Community Guidelines, which apply across the platform; a server’s local rules cannot make prohibited behavior acceptable.

Copy This Discord Server Rules Template

Replace [SERVER NAME], [PROMO CHANNEL], and [MOD CONTACT] before publishing. Make the moderator contact a private reporting route that someone actually monitors. If you do not allow promotion anywhere, replace rule 6 with “No advertising or unsolicited promotional DMs.”

Copy the contents of the block, without the surrounding code fences:

**[SERVER NAME] — SERVER RULES**

1. Be decent to people. No harassment, slurs, threats, dogpiling, or continuing to target someone after being asked to stop.

2. Protect privacy. Do not share another person's private messages, personal details, or identifying information without permission.

3. Keep this server safe for a general audience. No sexual content, graphic violence, malware, or malicious links.

4. No spam or raids. Do not flood chat, abuse mentions, coordinate harassment, or use extra accounts to evade moderation.

5. Use the right channels. Read channel descriptions, keep discussions on topic, and mark spoilers where appropriate.

6. Promote only in [PROMO CHANNEL] under its posted rules. Do not send unsolicited promotional DMs to members.

7. Be honest about links and identities. No scams, fake giveaways, staff impersonation, or misleading download links.

8. Respect voice chat. No disruptive sound effects or mic spam. Ask everyone present before recording or sharing their conversation.

9. Report problems privately to [MOD CONTACT]. Include a message link when possible; do not turn a report into a public pile-on.

10. Follow moderator directions during an incident. Actions depend on severity and context. For a review, contact [MOD CONTACT] with the relevant details.

This version is designed for a general-audience server. If your community has a narrower topic or stricter local expectations, say so plainly. Do not copy rule 3 into a server whose actual content policy contradicts it and expect members to guess which version applies.

Put the final version in one readable, read-only rules channel. Let ordinary members view it and read its history while limiting who can edit or post. Our server permissions checklist helps you check role and channel overrides rather than relying only on the channel name.

For Discoverable communities, our Discord web-search privacy guide also helps you explain which channels may contribute summaries or messages to the public web. Include your actual channel choices in the policy rather than describing the whole server as simply public or private.

Short Rules for a Small Friends Server

A private group of friends may not need the same introduction as a public community. This compact version keeps the important boundaries without making every conversation feel like a formal event.

**THE SHORT VERSION**

1. Be kind. No harassment, threats, hate, or targeting someone who wants you to stop.
2. Keep private things private. Ask before sharing messages, personal details, or recordings.
3. No spam, scams, malicious links, sexual content, or graphic violence.
4. Use the right channels, mark spoilers, and keep voice chat comfortable for everyone.
5. If something goes wrong, contact [MOD CONTACT] privately. Follow directions while the situation is reviewed.

Use the short version as the actual rules for a small general-audience group, or as a summary that links to a fuller set. If you use both, they should describe the same policy. “Anything goes” in the welcome message and “no offensive content” in the rules create an argument before moderation even starts.

Do not replace a clear boundary with an inside joke that newcomers cannot interpret. You can keep the community’s tone while still saying exactly what someone should stop doing.

Add Rules That Match Your Community

Start with the main template and choose the additions your moderators can explain and enforce. These are add-ons, not a reason to paste every module into every server. Rename or renumber them in the version you publish.

For a gaming server, add rules about voice behavior, spoilers, and fair participation:

**GAMING ADDITIONS**

- Keep game spoilers in marked channels or behind spoiler formatting. Name the game before revealing a plot detail.
- No cheats, account theft, or links to suspicious tools. Do not pressure members to install an unknown file to join a session.
- Follow the event host's lobby and voice instructions. Critique a play without insulting the player; stop backseat coaching when asked.

Choose a spoiler policy that fits the games you play. A story-game club needs different expectations from a competitive match channel. Put event-specific details in the event post rather than expanding the server rules every time you run a tournament.

For a study server, clarify the difference between helping someone learn and doing the work for them:

**STUDY ADDITIONS**

- Help people understand the method. Do not request or provide answers for a live assessment, impersonate a student, or complete graded work for someone else.
- Post questions in the matching subject channel and include what you have tried. Do not repost the same question across several channels.
- Respect focused sessions: follow the room's voice rules and ask before interrupting. Share only course materials you are allowed to distribute.

Make the first line match your institution’s or group’s expectations. A server rule is not a substitute for a course’s academic-integrity policy. If some rooms are silent co-working and others welcome discussion, label those rooms instead of treating every interruption as misconduct.

For an art or creator server, define consent and feedback etiquette:

**CREATOR ADDITIONS**

- Share work you made or have permission to post. Credit the creator, and do not present someone else's work as your own.
- Ask before giving detailed critique unless the post requests it. Discuss the work without insulting the person who made it.
- Keep commissions and self-promotion in [PROMO CHANNEL]. Explain prices and terms clearly; do not contact members with unsolicited sales pitches.

If you allow both work-in-progress posts and finished showcases, give members an easy way to say “feedback welcome” or “sharing only.” That small choice makes the critique rule much easier to follow.

For a rewards or giveaway community, make the organizer’s responsibilities visible too:

**REWARDS AND GIVEAWAY ADDITIONS**

- Only approved organizers may host a giveaway. State the exact prize, eligibility, closing time with time zone, winner-selection method, and claim deadline.
- Staff will never ask for your account password, login token, recovery codes, or a payment to release a prize. Report impersonators privately.
- Disclose referral or affiliate links. Do not promise guaranteed earnings, misrepresent a reward, or spam invitations and DMs for entries.
- Do not present a Nitro subscription, an avatar decoration, and a cash reward as the same prize. Tell entrants exactly what the winner receives.

If your community shares NitroLoot offers, point members to the official NitroLoot site and distinguish earning through tasks from winning a community prize. An affiliate link is not a guarantee of a reward, and a giveaway organizer should not imply that Discord or NitroLoot sponsors an event without authorization. Our server reward ideas cover ways to recognize contributions without encouraging chat spam.

Publish the Rules Where New Members Will See Them

For a Community server, Discord offers Rules Screening, which asks joining members to accept the rules before participating. Discord’s Rules Screening FAQ says Community must be enabled and currently documents a maximum of 16 rules.

On desktop, open Server Settings > Safety Setup, then look under DM and Spam Protection for the option requiring members to accept rules before talking or messaging. Add each rule as a separate entry, save, and enable the acceptance requirement. Menu labels can change; use the official guide if your layout differs.

Do not put the whole ten-rule template into a single screening entry. Keep the meaning aligned with the rules channel, and choose your additions rather than filling every available slot. A shorter policy that members understand is easier to use than a long checklist of unrelated restrictions.

Acceptance is also not proof that someone is trustworthy. Discord notes that manual verification can bypass screening. Review your onboarding flow and any bot-based role gates together so that the path into the server behaves as you intend. Our Community onboarding guide covers the broader welcome flow.

For a server without Community features, keep a clearly signposted rules channel and link to it from your welcome message. You can still define expectations and use suitable moderation tools; do not describe a reaction-role button as if it provides exactly the same controls as native screening.

Connect Each Rule to a Practical Moderator Response

“No spam” is easier to enforce when everyone can recognize the behavior. Test your draft against situations that actually happen in your server:

Situation	Rule to clarify	A proportionate starting response
A newcomer posts one question in the wrong channel	Channel use	Redirect them and show the right channel
Someone repeatedly advertises after a reminder	Promotion and unsolicited contact	Remove the promotion and restrict further posting as needed
Members dogpile a person over a disagreement	Harassment	Interrupt the targeting and review the involved messages
Someone posts an apparent credential-stealing link	Malicious links	Remove access to the link promptly and investigate the account
A clip includes a member who did not agree to sharing	Privacy and recording	Remove the shared material while moderators review the report
A friend of a moderator breaks the same rule	Consistent handling	Have an uninvolved moderator review where possible

These are suggested responses, not an automatic punishment ladder. A credible threat or malicious link can justify immediate protective action; a misplaced first message usually calls for a different response. Record which rule applied and why you acted, rather than writing “bad vibes” as the entire reason.

Use AutoMod for patterns it can detect. Discord’s AutoMod FAQ documents keyword and spam filters, mention limits, alerts, and role or channel exemptions. Review exempt roles and test with a member who does not have staff permissions. Keep alerts in a private staff channel.

An automated filter cannot settle every dispute or reliably interpret all context. Have a person review flagged material and give members a usable private route to ask about a decision. Also avoid promising that a moderator will personally review everything immediately if you cannot staff that commitment.

For behavior that may violate Discord’s platform rules, use Discord’s reporting tools as appropriate alongside your server’s moderation process. Keep relevant message links rather than encouraging members to repost harmful material in public.

Download, Customize, and Check the Final Version

Download all six rule templates as a plain-text file. It includes the main template, short version, and four optional modules. Copy the section you need rather than pasting the entire download into a single Discord message.

Before publishing:

• Replace every bracketed placeholder with your actual server name, channel, or private contact route.
• Remove rules that contradict your server’s actual purpose; keep the platform’s requirements as the baseline.
• Ask another moderator to apply the draft to a few realistic examples. Rewrite any rule that produces conflicting answers.
• Check the final version on mobile, including channel mentions and line breaks.
• Confirm that members can find the rules again and contact the people responsible for them.

Discord supports useful message formatting, but decoration should not bury the meaning. A few headings and bold phrases are enough. Our Discord formatting guide covers the syntax if you want a cleaner presentation.

When you change a substantive rule, announce the change and give an ordinary example of what it means. Quietly editing a rule after a dispute makes it harder for members to understand the decision. Keep a dated staff note of the version you applied.

The best final test is a new member’s question: “What should I do differently?” A useful rules page gives them an answer. Start with one template, add the few boundaries your community needs, and make the route to help as clear as the rules themselves.