Quick answer: copy the starter rules below into a read-only #rules channel. They cover what almost every server needs: respect, no NSFW, no spam, no scams, privacy, Discord's own Terms, and what happens when someone breaks a rule. Further down there are short, community and gaming versions plus an add-on for trading and crypto servers.
Starter rules · works for most servers
📜 SERVER RULES 1. Be respectful. No harassment, hate speech, slurs or personal attacks. 2. Keep it safe for work. No NSFW, gore or shock content anywhere in the server. 3. No spam. That includes mass pings, repeated messages, emoji walls and unsolicited links. 4. No advertising or DM advertising without staff permission. 5. Use the right channel. Read the channel topic before you post. 6. No scams, phishing or impersonating staff. Staff will never DM you first asking for passwords, codes or payments. 7. Respect privacy. Don't share anyone's personal information, including your own. 8. Follow Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines: https://discord.com/terms https://discord.com/guidelines 9. Staff decisions stand in the moment. If you disagree, open a ticket instead of arguing in chat. Breaking the rules can lead to a warning, a timeout, a kick or a ban, depending on how serious it is.
Pick the version that fits your server
A friends server needs five lines. A public community with strangers needs to say how moderation works so people can't argue they didn't know. Use one version, not all of them stacked together; long rules channels get skipped.
| Version | Best for | Length | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Friends and small private groups | 5 rules | Just the essentials |
| Starter | Most new public servers | 9 rules | Scam and staff-impersonation warning, Discord ToS links |
| Community | Servers with strangers and a mod team | 10 rules + moderation steps | Grouped sections, a clear warning → ban ladder and an appeal route |
| Gaming | Clans, game communities, tournaments | 10 rules | Cheats, account selling, spoilers, LFG and voice rules |
| Trading / crypto add-on | Trading, casino, NFT and crypto servers | 8 extra rules | No DM deals, middleman rule, link safety, legal-age note |
Short rules (friends and small groups)
Short rules
📜 RULES 1. Be kind. No harassment or hate. 2. No NSFW or shock content. 3. No spam or self-promo. 4. Keep personal info private. 5. Follow Discord's Terms and Community Guidelines. Mods can remove anyone who makes the server worse for everyone else.
Community rules (public servers with moderators)
Community rules
📜 COMMUNITY RULES ━━ BE A GOOD MEMBER ━━ 1. Respect everyone. No harassment, bullying, hate speech, slurs or targeted insults. 2. Debate ideas, not people. Heated is fine; personal is not. 3. Keep it safe for work in every channel, including names, avatars and status messages. 4. English only in public channels so moderators can read everything. ━━ KEEP CHANNELS USEFUL ━━ 5. Post in the right channel and stay on topic. 6. No spam: mass mentions, repeated messages, walls of emoji or copy-paste chains. 7. No advertising, server invites or referral links unless a channel says they are allowed. ━━ STAY SAFE ━━ 8. No scams, phishing, "free Nitro" links or fake giveaways. 9. Never share personal information (yours or anyone else's). 10. Staff will never DM you first. Report anyone claiming to be staff in your DMs. ━━ HOW MODERATION WORKS ━━ • Minor issue → a warning. • Repeated or serious issue → a timeout or kick. • Scams, hate, threats or illegal content → an immediate ban. To appeal a decision, open a ticket in #support. Don't argue about it in public channels. By staying in this server you agree to these rules and to Discord's Terms of Service (https://discord.com/terms) and Community Guidelines (https://discord.com/guidelines).
Gaming server rules
Gaming rules
🎮 SERVER RULES 1. Respect every player. No harassment, hate speech, slurs or toxic trash talk aimed at a person. 2. No cheats, exploits or hacked clients. Don't share, sell or ask for them. 3. No account selling, boosting services or real-money trading unless staff allow it in a set channel. 4. Mark spoilers with ||spoiler tags|| and keep them out of #general for at least a week after release. 5. Use #looking-for-group for team-ups. One post per game every 30 minutes. 6. Voice chat: no ear-rape, soundboards or music bots without the room's okay. Push-to-talk if you have background noise. 7. Tournaments and events: play fair, be on time and accept the referee's call. Disputes go in a ticket. 8. No spam, unsolicited invites or DM advertising. 9. No scams or fake giveaways. Staff will never DM you first asking for account details. 10. Follow Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, and each game's own rules. Warnings → timeout → kick → ban. Cheating and scams skip straight to a ban.
Trading and crypto add-on
Most of the servers I build are for casino, case-opening, skin-trading and crypto projects. These are the extra rules those communities keep needing, because scams there arrive through DMs and fake links, not public chat.
Trading and crypto add-on
🔐 TRADING AND CRYPTO RULES (add these under your main rules) 1. Nothing here is financial advice. Do your own research before you spend anything. 2. No pump-and-dump calls, "guaranteed profit" claims or shilling new tokens. 3. No DM deals. Trades happen in the trading channel, in public, where staff can see them. 4. Use a staff middleman for any trade above the limit pinned in #trading. 5. Only click links posted by staff in #announcements. Check the domain every time. 6. No referral or affiliate links unless a channel says they are allowed. 7. Gambling and casino channels are for members who are of legal age where they live. 8. Report scams and fake staff with a ticket straight away, with screenshots. Breaking 2, 3 or 5 is an instant ban.
Why these rules are in the list
- Scams and fake staff. The most common way members lose accounts or money is a DM from someone pretending to be a moderator. Saying "staff will never DM you first" gives members a simple test.
- Discord's Terms and Community Guidelines. Your rules sit on top of Discord's, not instead of them. Linking them saves you writing a rule for every illegal or dangerous thing.
- Advertising and DM advertising. Spam bots join servers to DM members. A clear rule lets moderators ban on the first report.
- The moderation ladder. Writing down warning → timeout → kick → ban makes decisions look consistent and cuts arguments in public channels.
- An appeal route. Pointing appeals to a ticket keeps disputes private and gives staff a record.
How to post the rules so people actually see them
- Create a
#ruleschannel at the top of your channel list, in a start-here category with your welcome and verification channels. - Make it read-only. Open Edit Channel → Permissions. For
@everyone, allow View Channel and deny Send Messages. Staff roles can keep posting. See the roles and permissions guide for how these overrides stack. - Paste the rules as one message. Discord formatting (bold, lists, spoilers) works in normal messages. If you want a styled embed with your logo, post it through a bot or webhook instead.
- Point new members at it. Mention
#rulesin your welcome message and keep the verification button in its own channel so people pass the rules on the way in. - If you turn on Community, Discord requires a rules or guidelines channel, so pick this one in the setup. Community servers also get Discord's Rules and Onboarding tools.
Keep it current. When you add a new channel type or event, check whether the rules still cover it. Edit the existing message instead of posting a new one, so old versions don't confuse people.
Common questions
Do I need rules on a private server with friends?
Not legally, but the short version takes a minute and settles arguments before they start. If you ever enable Community, Discord will ask for a rules channel anyway.
Can I copy these rules?
Yes. Copy them, change the wording, delete what you don't need. Replace channel names like #looking-for-group and #support with the ones your server uses.
Should rules be numbered?
Yes. Numbers let moderators say "rule 6" in a warning instead of re-explaining, and members can quote them in tickets.
Sources
Checked on 12 November 2026. Discord changes menus from time to time, so if a step looks different, the linked article is the reference.