Discord Server Rules Template: Rules to Copy & Paste
This Discord server rules template gives you rules you can copy and paste into your rules channel today: a short version for small servers, a full version grouped by theme, rules for voice chat, moderator rules for your staff, and rules for roleplay and FiveM servers. Every list has a copy button that keeps the numbering, ready to paste into Discord.
Copy and paste Discord rules: the short version
These ten rules cover what most servers need. Paste them as they are, or swap in your own wording.
- Be respectful. No insults, harassment or personal attacks.
- No hate speech, slurs or discrimination of any kind.
- No spam: no message floods, walls of emojis or excessive pings.
- No advertising or self-promotion without staff permission, including in DMs.
- Keep content in the right channels and stay on topic.
- No NSFW, gore or shocking content outside age-restricted channels.
- Do not share anyone's personal information, including your own.
- No impersonating members, staff or bots.
- Follow Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
- Listen to the staff. If you disagree with a decision, message them privately.
Rules work better with a consequence. Add one line under the list, for example: “Breaking a rule leads to a warning, a timeout, a kick or a ban, depending on how serious it is.”
Full Discord server rules template
For larger or public servers, use this longer template. Each rule says what is forbidden and why, which makes it easier to enforce and harder to argue with.
- Be respectful. Disagreeing is fine, attacking the person is not.
- No hate speech, slurs or jokes targeting race, religion, gender, sexuality or disability.
- No harassment, threats or bullying, in the server or in DMs with other members.
- No spam: message floods, copypasta, excessive caps, emojis or mentions.
- Don't ping staff or roles without a good reason.
- No advertising: servers, social media, products or referral links, unless staff allow it.
- Use each channel for its purpose. Read the channel topic before posting.
- Use English in public channels, unless a channel says otherwise.
- No NSFW, gore or shocking content, including in names, avatars and status.
- No illegal content, piracy, cheats or account selling.
- No scams, phishing links or fake giveaways. Report them to the staff.
- Don't share personal information: real names, addresses, photos or accounts, yours or anyone else's.
- No doxxing, raiding or organizing attacks against other servers.
- No impersonating members, staff, bots or public figures.
- Keep usernames and nicknames readable and appropriate.
- No alt accounts to dodge a punishment. Ban evasion leads to a permanent ban.
- Don't argue about a moderation decision in public. Contact the staff privately.
- Follow Discord's Terms of Service (discord.com/terms) and Community Guidelines (discord.com/guidelines).
- Staff have the final say, including on situations these rules don't list.
- Rules can change. It is your job to check them from time to time.
Remove the rules that don't apply to you. A gaming server may not need rule 8; an English-learning server may want it to be the first one.
Voice chat rules
Voice channels need a few rules of their own, because nothing is written down and things move fast.
- Respect whoever is talking. Don't talk over people or interrupt on purpose.
- No earrape: loud noises, soundboards or music at high volume.
- Use push-to-talk if your microphone picks up background noise.
- No voice changers or soundboards unless the channel allows it.
- Don't record or stream others without their consent.
- Don't hop between channels to disrupt conversations.
- Music bots stay in the music channels.
- The same rules apply in voice as in text: no hate speech, harassment or NSFW.
Discord moderator rules for your staff
Your staff need rules too, ideally in a private staff channel. Clear moderator rules make decisions consistent and protect your moderators when members push back.
- Stay calm and polite, even when a member is not.
- Use the lightest action that solves the problem: a warning before a timeout, a timeout before a ban.
- Log every warning, timeout, kick and ban in the staff log, with the reason.
- Never punish someone for disagreeing with you, only for breaking a rule.
- Treat friends, popular members and other staff like everyone else.
- Don't moderate a conflict you are part of. Ask another staff member.
- Handle arguments about decisions in private, never in public channels.
- Escalate to an admin when you are unsure, or before any permanent ban.
- Don't use staff permissions for anything other than moderation.
- Never share staff discussions, logs or reports outside the staff team.
- Tell the team in advance when you need a break.
- Admit mistakes. If you punished the wrong person, fix it and apologize.
To recruit people who will follow these rules, ask about them in your application. The Discord staff and mod application questions include scenario questions built around exactly these situations.
Roleplay and FiveM server rules
GTA RP and other roleplay servers use a shared vocabulary for their rules. Here are the classic ones, with a short definition each so new players understand them.
- No RDM (random deathmatch): don't attack or kill another player without a roleplay reason.
- No VDM (vehicle deathmatch): don't use a vehicle as a weapon without a roleplay reason.
- NLR (new life rule): after your character is downed and respawns, forget the events that led to it.
- No metagaming: don't use information your character couldn't know, such as a stream or Discord.
- No powergaming: don't force actions on others or do things that are impossible in real life.
- Value your life (Fear RP): act as if your character's life matters when threatened.
- No combat logging: don't disconnect or leave to avoid a roleplay situation.
- Stay in character in game. Keep out-of-character talk to the OOC channels.
- No fail RP: don't break immersion with behavior your character wouldn't have.
- No exploiting bugs, mods or cheats. Report bugs to the staff.
- Respect the safe zones (hospital, police station, spawn) set by the server.
- Report rule breaks with a clip after the scene, not in the middle of it.
Players on whitelisted servers are often tested on these rules before they can join. The FiveM whitelist application questions turn each of them into a question for your whitelist form.
How to set up a rules channel in Discord
- Create a read-only channel. Add a text channel named
rules(or📜rules) at the top of your channel list. In its settings, open "Permissions", select @everyone and turn off "Send Messages". Staff keep the permission through their role. - Post and format the rules. A Discord message is limited to 2,000 characters (4,000 with Nitro), so split the full template into two or three messages, for example by theme. Use Discord markdown:
## Server rulesfor a title,**bold**for the rule itself and> textfor a short explanation underneath. - Set it as your rules channel. On a Community server, choose it as the "Rules or Guidelines Channel" in Server Settings, and turn on rules screening so new members must agree to the rules before they can talk.
- Repeat the key rules where they matter. Pin a short version in busy channels, or put the main rule of each channel in its topic.
Keep a copy of your rules outside Discord, in a document or on your website. If a message is deleted by mistake, or a raid hits your server, you can repost them in seconds.
How to write rules members actually follow
- Be specific. “No spam” is vague; “No more than 3 messages in a row with the same content” is not.
- Explain the why for unusual rules. People follow rules they understand.
- State the consequences. A simple ladder works for most servers:
| Offense | First time | Second time | After that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spam, off-topic, mild insults | Warning | Timeout (1 hour) | Timeout (1 day) or kick |
| Harassment, hate speech, NSFW | Timeout (1 day) | Ban | Ban |
| Scams, doxxing, raids, ban evasion | Ban | — | — |
- Keep the list short. Every rule you add makes the others less likely to be read.
- Update your rules when a new problem appears, and announce the change.
- Give a way to appeal. Bans happen by mistake. A ban appeal template gives banned members a fair way to ask for a second chance.
Make applicants confirm the rules with Toscio
If your server uses applications, for a whitelist, staff recruitment or member access, ask people to confirm the rules in the form itself.
Toscio adds native application forms to your Discord server: members click Apply, answer in a pop-up, and your staff accept or decline from a private channel. In the form editor, add a required checkbox question such as “I have read and accept the server rules”, and a scenario question about the rule you care most about. Accepted applicants get their role automatically.
It's free to start: run /toscio setup, pick a template (FiveM whitelist, Minecraft whitelist, staff recruitment, member applications and more), and you get your first application within minutes. See how to make a Discord application form for the other options.
Questions
What rules should a Discord server have?
At minimum: be respectful, no hate speech or harassment, no spam or self-promotion, keep content in the right channels, no NSFW content outside age-restricted channels, no sharing personal information, follow Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, and listen to the staff. Add rules specific to your community after that.
How many rules should a Discord server have?
Between 8 and 15 is enough for most servers. Fewer rules get read, and each one is easier to enforce. If you need more detail, keep the main list short and add channel-specific rules in each channel's topic.
Do I have to include Discord's Terms of Service in my rules?
Every server already falls under Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, whatever your rules say. Linking them in one rule is still a good idea: it reminds members, and it lets your staff act on anything those documents forbid.
Can I copy these Discord rules for my server?
Yes. Copy them, edit them and use them on any server, no credit needed. Adapt the wording to your community: rules that sound like your server are more likely to be read.
How do I make members accept the rules before chatting?
On a Community server, turn on rules screening in Server Settings: new members must agree to your rules before they can talk. For a stricter gate, ask people to apply first and give access only to accepted members, with an application bot like Toscio.
