Creating a Simple Discord Server

for Your Friend Group

Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
Getting Started ....................................................................................................................... 2
What do you want your server to be? ................................................................................. 2
Start small. .......................................................................................................................... 2
Steps to Get Your Server Up and Running .............................................................................. 2
Start server. ........................................................................................................................ 2
Create channels. ................................................................................................................. 4
Invite friends. ...................................................................................................................... 6
Designate roles. .................................................................................................................. 6
Notifications. ....................................................................................................................... 8
Add custom emoji. .............................................................................................................. 9
Enjoy your server! .................................................................................................................. 9
Further resources ................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction
Discord is an application which allows you to create and customize a digital hangout space. You can make
one for your friend group, book club, hobby, creative project, and more! Each server is divided into a
series of channels—text or voice—that relate to a given topic.

This guide will cover how to set up a server, create channels, invite friends, and create roles. This guide is
not intended to be comprehensive. As such, community features and advanced features like integrations
and audit logs will not be covered, nor will any feature requiring payment be discussed like Discord Nitro
or server boosting.

Prior experience with the Discord application, perhaps as a member of a public channel, would be
helpful, but is not vital to getting your own server up and running. Those who are familiar with Slack will
find many similar features.

Getting Started
To set up your server, you’ll need the application downloaded to an internet connected computer, phone,
or tablet. Discord is available on PC, Mac, Linux, web, iOS, and Android.

Note: This guide will use terminology specific to PCs, such as “right-clicking.” Screenshots in this guide
display the PC version of the application.

What do you want your server to be? Before clicking the Add a Server button, you should ask yourself
what your server will primarily be used for. Here are some questions to consider:

• What sorts of topics do you think your group will want to talk about?
• Does this server need to fill a specific purpose, or does it simply a general hangout?
• If you do have a specific purpose, how can you make the most streamlined experience?

Keep your answers in mind going forward. It will help guide your decisions and keep you from becoming
overwhelmed.

Start small. Something else that will prevent becoming overwhelmed is to remember to keep it simple.
Just because Discord allows you to make 500 channels doesn’t mean you have to do so. Begin with few
channels (3-5 can be more than enough), then expand as you and your friends discover together what is
needed.

Steps to Get Your Server Up and Running

Before inviting friends to your new server, you will need to start it and create channels. Once your server
is populated, you may find you want to designate roles and create custom emoji. You will find the steps
for each part of the process below.

Start server. Getting your server started is a simple process.

1. Press the Add a Server button. It is a green plus (+) button located at the bottom of the server
bar on the left side of the application (see Figure 1).
 Figure 1. Start Server

2. Select “Create My Own” or one of the server templates. You can select whichever template best
suits your needs. The primary difference is in how many channels and categories the server
starts with.
3. Select the “For me and my friends” option. A community server contains functionality beyond
the scope of this guide.
4. Upload a display photo and come up with a name for the server. You can change these later.

You have now successfully created your Discord server! See Figure 2 for an example server.

1 2 3 4

Key: 1: Servers. 2: Channels. 3: Main window. 4: Members and roles.

Create channels. Discord servers are divided into channels.
Have you noticed how people naturally split into different
conversation groups at parties? Think of the server as the party
house, then each of the different groups of people as channels.
Now imagine each group had a sign over their heads reading
“Sports” or “Sewing” or “Album Discussion” and you’ll have an
idea of how Discord servers work. Each group in the party house has a general topic, which everyone is
free to float between as they please.

A channel is given a name which relates to the sort of discussion you want to have in it. Some examples
names are: #general, #music, #book-in-progress, or #pet-pics.

There are two types of channels: text and voice. Channels can be grouped into categories. Specific
channels and categories can be designated as “private” which only allows access for those who have the
given permissions.
Examples of channels as they are laid out in the channel bar can Figure 3. Example Channels

be seen in Figure 3.

Channels can be added, deleted, and renamed over the life of the server. Don’t feel the pressure to get it
“just right” on the first try!

Text channels. A text channel displays messages from users in the order they are sent with the newest
messages being towards the bottom. If you’ve ever been in a group DM or chat room, you’ll understand
how text channels work. To create a text channel:

1. Right-click on the channel bar and select Create Channel or click the plus (+) icon next to a
category.
2. Select the Text Channel option (default selected).
3. Name the channel. Text channels follow these naming conventions:
• Begin with a hash (#) symbol.
• Consist of only lowercase letters and numbers, no special symbols or punctuation. The
text box will not display unaccepted symbols and automatically force capitals into
lowercase.
• Separate words with a dash (-). Pressing the Space Bar creates a dash (-).
• Allow emoji.

Drag and drop channels to change their order.

Voice channels. A voice channel allows users to communicate through their device’s microphone. An
individual user can also choose whether to turn on their device’s camera. It’s like Skype or Zoom built
right into your server, making group voice/video chats easily accessible. To create a voice channel:

1. Right-click on the channel bar and select Create Channel or click the plus (+) icon next to a
category.
2. Select the Voice Channel option.
3. Name the channel. Unlike text channels, there are no restrictions.

Categories. You can group channels together by categories. For instance, if you have some channels for
relaxed chatter and others for more serious work discussion, you could separate them by creating the
categories “WATERCOOLER” and “OFFICE.” Or, if your server is for playing a tabletop roleplaying game
like Dungeons and Dragons, you could divide channels into the categories of “CAMPAIGN” and “OFF-
TOPIC.”
Create a category by right-clicking on the channel bar, selecting Create Category, then naming it. Like
voice channels, categories can contain any combination of letters, symbols, and emoji, although all
letters will appear capitalized.

Categories can be dragged and dropped, just like channels. You can also drag and drop channels into a
category.

Private channels/categories. In the Create Channel and Create Category windows, there is a Private
Channel/Category toggle. By default, it is off. You can tell a channel is private if there is a lock icon added
to its symbol on the channel sidebar.

When you toggle it on, you will see a list of all roles and members in your server. Check the box for each
role or member you want to have access. For a discussion of roles, see “Designate roles” starting on page
6.

Changing settings later. Further down the line, you may find you need to make an alteration and change
a name or permission for a private channel. Do this by right-clicking on the given channel and selecting
Edit Channel from the dropdown menu (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Dropdown menu from right-clicking the channel name.

Channel topics. Sometimes, a channel name may not be descriptive enough, or maybe you want to
make a distinction as to what is specifically allowed in a channel. Or maybe you just want to add an
inside joke. Channel topics appear at the top of the screen next to the name in smaller print (see Figure
5).

Figure 5. Channel and channel topic.

To add a topic, go to Edit Channel as described above. You will then see a Channel Topic dialogue box to
enter your channel description using a maximum of 1024 characters.

Note: Channel topics may only be added to text channels.

Invite friends. You can add people to your server by sending them a link to follow. To generate a link:

1. Click on the server name. Select Invite People from the dropdown menu (see Figure 6).
 Figure 6. Server dropdown menu.

2. You will see a link to copy and paste.

3. Have your friend follow the link, and they will either join or be directed to create an account and
then join.

By default, the generated link will only last for 7 days. To change the duration and number of uses, select
Edit invite link below the link in the pop-up window.

If you have added someone as a friend in the Discord application, you will also see an option to invite
them directly when selecting Invite People.

Designate roles. Perhaps you don’t want to be the only one responsible for running the server, or maybe
you want to create private channels for discussions only a few members need to be privy to, or maybe
you simply want to give your server a little extra personality. Roles are a powerful tool you have as the
server owner to personalize and moderate your server.

This guide will only cover the basics of this tool. For a more comprehensive discussion of roles, click here.

Creating a role is a simple process:

1. Click on the server name, then select Server Settings from the dropdown.
2. Select Roles from the menu on the left side. You will see the page shown in Figure 7.
3. Select Create Role.
 Figure 7. The Roles menu.

There are 3 tabs of options: Display, Permissions, and Manage Members.

Display. Name the role as it will appear on a user’s profile in the server. Changing the color will change
the username color of all members who have the role.

There are 2 important toggles (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. Toggles in the Display screen.

The first separates roles in the members panel on the right side of the server view (see Figure 9). The
second allows this role to be “pinged” (sent a notification) by members of the server when a user writes
@Role Name in a text channel message.

Figure 9. The role "The Head Honcho" has the "display separately" toggle on.

Permissions. Here you can alter what privileges and powers a role allows. There are many options and if
you are just getting the server started, the defaults are best. However, if there is someone else you wish
to run the server with you, you may toggle the Administrator option at the very bottom (see Figure 10).
Figure 10. The Administrator toggle at the very bottom of the Permissions screen.

Manage Members. Select which server members will be assigned the role by clicking Add Members. You
can assign multiple roles to a user.

Notifications. Generally, people don’t like being spammed with notifications. By default, every single
message will generate a notification. Even with only a handful of people, dozens of messages can be sent
in a short time span. Do your server-mates a favor and change the default notification settings of your
server.

You can find this in the Overview tab of the server settings, then by scrolling down to Default Notification
Settings (see Figure 11). Select the Only @ Mentions option. This will severely reduce notification noise.
Individual users can change their own notification settings on a per server, and even per channel, basis.

Figure 11. Notification settings in the Overview menu.

Add custom emoji. You can add up to 50 custom emoji to your server by going into the server settings,
selecting the Emoji tab, then Upload Emoji. Any image under 256kbs may be used, however there are
some best practices to keep in mind:

• The ideal image size is 128x128 pixels

• Emoji work best with a transparent background
• Emoji names must be at least 2 characters

There are plenty of custom emoji on the internet you can search and download. If you want to edit your
own, tools such as GIMP, Pixlr, and Kapwing can help.

For a deeper dive on creating custom emoji, click here.

Enjoy your server!

Now that your server is running, you and your friends will have a great space for digital hangouts of all
sorts.

Further resources
This guide can only cover so much information. For technical support or explanation of advanced
features, visit Discord’s Help Center.

For an explanation on how to use bots to enhance your server, visit this article.