Discord roles: How to add, assign, manage and delete roles in Discord
Those familiar with Discord know that it is among the most loved gaming chat applications. Discord offers a highly customizable interface to its users and makes the overall gaming experience smooth and enjoyable. Through servers and various channels in them, the app enables users to customize their experience exactly as per their needs.
One prominent feature of Discord is the ability to assign each individual with particular tasks, or Discord roles. Moderators of servers can decide which user should be assigned to which function or role, and implement this accordingly.
In the below sections, we’ve elaborated more on what Discord roles are, how to add, delete and customize them and anything else you need to know about Discord roles.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Discord roles - What are they?
- Meaning of Discord permissions
- Discord Permission Classification
- Discord Role Classification by Permission Hierarchy and Power
- How to add and edit roles in Discord?
- Assigning Discord roles
- Manage Discord roles
- Channel permissions
- Category permissions
- Role colors
- Deleting roles on Discord
- Discord roles ideas
Discord roles - What are they?
Discord roles are a set of permissions assigned to a user under a certain name. Discord lets you decide which user can perform what action, and which ones they cannot, provided you are the owner of the server.
Consider this, in an office, an intern would not have the same function as the president of the department, their roles differ. Similarly, Discord lets you decide such a hierarchy for permissions and accordingly assign roles.
A couple examples are the Discord @everyone and @here role. The Discord ‘@everyone’ is a default role, and it gives every member of the server a range of permissions, usually basic ones such as sending and reading the messages on the server. Discord @here limits these only to the users who are online. Read more about these two roles here.
Users can have multiple roles, and accordingly be given the permissions for these roles.
Meaning of Discord permissions
Discord permissions are simply the functions/ tasks/ actions you are allowed to do in the channel or server. These permissions could be anything from sending messages, muting other users or kicking them from the server.
The permissions on Discord are based on the roles that you assigned to the members, For example, a user with the role, ‘moderator’, will have the permission to mute or ban other users of the server.
The server owners can assign these permissions per role at both the server and the channel levels. So the sum of all these permissions on the individual channels are resolved at the server level.
Additionally, a channel overpowers in terms of permissions. You may be allowed to perform a certain action at the server level, but not on the channel.
Discord Permission Classification
Discord has a total of 31 permissions, split into General, Membership, Text channel, Voice channel, and advanced permissions.
The below tables should help you understand the functionality of each of these permissions, so that you can accordingly assign roles to your server members.
General server permissions:
| Name | Permission |
|---|---|
| View channels | Permission to view channels, excluding private channels, by default |
| Manage channels | Permits members to create, edit or delete channels |
| Manage roles | Allows members to create new roles, edit and delete roles lower than their highest role. Members can also change permissions of individual channels that they have permissions to |
| Manage emojis | Permits members to add or remove custom emojis in the server |
| View audit log | Permits users to view a record of what changes were made in the server by whom |
| Manage Webhooks | Members can create, edit or delete webhooks, which can post messages from other sites into the server |
| Manage server | Members can change the server’s name, switch region and add bots to the server |
Membership permissions
| Name | Permission |
|---|---|
| Create invite | Permits users to invite new users to the server |
| Change nickname | Members can change their own nickname and have a custom name for the server |
| Manage nicknames | Permits users to manage the nicknames of other members within the server |
| Kick members | Allows members to kick members out of the server, but these users can rejoin with another invite |
| Ban members | Permission to permanently ban users from the server |
Text channel permissions
| Name | Permission |
|---|---|
| Send Messages | Allows members to send messages in the text channels |
| Embed links | Links that members share will show embedded content |
| Attach files | Members can upload files or media in text channels |
| Add reactions | Permits members to add new emoji reactions to a message. If disabled, members can still react using existing reactions on a message. |
| Use external emoji | Members can use emojis from other servers, if they’re a Discord Nitro subscriber |
| Mention @everyone, @here, and All Roles | Permission to use @everyone, @here roles and @mention all roles, even if the role’s ‘Allow anyone to mention this role’ permission is disabled |
| Manage messages | Permission to delete messages by other members and pin any messages |
| Read message history | Members can see older messages in the channel. If disabled, members can only read messages that were sent when they were online and active on the channel. |
| Send Text-to-speech messages | Members can send text-to-speech messages which can be heard by anyone focused on the channel, by starting the message with /tts |
| Use slash commands | Members can use slash commands in the channels |
Voice channel permissions
| Name | Permission |
|---|---|
| Connect | Permission to join voice channels and hear others |
| Speak | Permits members to talk in voice channels. If disabled, members are muted until someone with the ‘Mute members’ permission unmutes them |
| Video | Members can share their video, screen share or stream a game in the server |
| Use voice activity | Members can use voice channels by simply talking. If disabled, members would need to use Push-to-talk |
| Priority speaker | Volume of members without this permission will be lowered to give priority to certain speakers |
| Mute members | Members can mute a user in a voice channel for everyone |
| Deafen members | Members can deafen other members in a voice channel, disabling them from speaking or hearing anyone |
| Move members | Permission to move members between voice channels that the user has access to |
Advanced permissions
| Name | Permission |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Access to all permissions. Users will also bypass all specific channel permissions and restrictions |
Discord Role Classification by Permission Hierarchy and Power
Discord roles allow a great opportunity to put a structure in place and manage the powers that the users have in a channel.
As shown in the above tables, the ‘Administrator’ permission is the most powerful and should be given to only the owner of the channel, or someone who surely won’t misuse it. Permissions such as ‘View channel’ and ‘Create invite’ are much lower in the hierarchy.
When adding a role, you can decide how powerful the role should be. You can choose between ‘Cosmetic’, ‘Member’, ‘Manager’ and ‘Moderator’, from least to most powerful. The permissions can also be changed later.
Cosmetic: This doesn’t actually give permissions besides the ones assigned to everyone. The role shows up on the profile of the user who has it and colors their name, too.
Member: Permissions to talk in channels, invite friends and change nicknames are granted to users with this power.
Moderators: Allows everything that the ‘Member’ power allows, along with added permissions to delete messages, kick people and mute/ ban members.
Manager: This is a combination of the ‘Moderator’ permissions along with added permissions to create/ delete channels, roles, add emoji and bots and do pretty much anything. It is quite a powerful role and should be given only with caution.
When you check the roles in a server, roles with more permissions than yours will be shown with a lock beside their name.
How to add and edit roles in Discord?
Now that you know what the permissions you give a role can do, it’s time to add roles and assign permissions.
Note that you have to be the owner of the server or already have an existing role that has the ‘Manage roles’ permission.
To add and edit roles in Discord on your computer,
- Login to Discord and right click on the server icon shown on the left. Go to ‘Server Settings’ → ‘Roles’
- Press the ‘Create Role’ button.
- In the pop-up shown, give the role a descriptive ‘Role name’ and a ‘Role color’ to help differentiate between roles. Press ‘Create Role’.
- Now, you can choose between ‘Cosmetic’, ‘Member’, ‘Moderator’ and ‘Manager’ options to set how powerful the role should be. Press ‘Select’ to confirm.
- On the next screen, you can assign the role to members of the server. Check the box beside the members names and press ‘Add’.
- You can also skip deciding powers and assigning the role to members, and only create the role by pressing ‘Skip this step’.
- The new role will be shown in the ‘Roles’ list.
If you wish to edit the role permissions in Discord, you can do so by right clicking on the server’s name and going to ‘Server settings’ → ‘Roles’.
Click on the pencil ‘Edit’ icon shown, and switch to the ‘Permissions’ tab to toggle permissions on or off.
You can make other changes such as name, color, etc. in the ‘Display’ tab and choose which members have the role in the ‘Manage Members’ tab.
To add and edit roles in Discord on your mobile,
- Open the Discord app, click on the menu button shown at the top left and go to the server that you wish to add roles to.
- Tap on the three dots and go to the ‘Settings’ option. Press ‘Roles’ in the list shown.
- Here, tap on the ‘+’ button shown, and give the role a name, color and choose from the settings and various permissions that you want to give this role.
- Press the floppy disc icon to save.
To make edits to a role on Discord using the mobile app, go to the Server menu → ‘Settings’ → ‘Roles’.
Here, select the role you want to edit and use the checkboxes to toggle permissions on or off.
Assigning Discord roles
Assigning roles on Discord is to be done carefully, so that the power granted isn’t misused.
To assign a role to a particular member on your computer,
- Open your server and click on the member’s name on the right side of the screen.
- In the menu shown, press the ‘+’ button and select a role for this user, from the list of roles shown.
- To remove the role, hover over the role color shown and press the 'x' button
- You can also assign and remove roles by going to ‘Server Settings’ → 'Members' after right clicking on the server name
To assign a role on a mobile device,
- Open the server and click on the members icon shown at the top right of the screen
- Tap on the member you wish to assign a role to, and press ‘Manage User’
- On the next screen you will be shown a list of roles and other options. Select the role you wish to assign the user by checking the box next to the role name. Simply uncheck this box if you no longer want the member to have this role.
- You can also do the same by going to ‘Server Menu’ → ‘Settings’ → ‘Members’
Manage Discord roles
Manage your server well by carefully assigning and making modifications to the roles and permissions within them. To ensure smooth server operations, make sure to assign roles on the server giving very specific permissions in a hierarchical order.
Also, make it easier upon yourself by minimizing the number of roles that you create. Since you’d have to assign a role to a user every single time, it’s better to have a single '@everyone' role with all the basic permissions and a single main admin role to manage members.
If a person is assigned more than one role, then the color shown on the server on that person’s username would be of the highest role assigned to them. This enables members to easily identify the roles that are assigned to different users.
Channel permissions
As mentioned earlier, permissions given to a role on a channel will override those on the server.
To set specific channel permissions on your computer,
- Click on the gear icon ‘Edit channel’ option next to the channel’s name. From the left menu, go to ‘Permissions’
- Here, under 'Advanced permissions', you can select the roles/ members you want to grant these permissions to. '@everyone' will be selected by default. You can press the '+' icon to select different roles.
- Now, select whether you want to grant a certain permission or not by selecting the check mark or 'X' beside the permission.
- Press the 'Save Changes' button to confirm this.
To set channel permissions on your mobile,
- Go to the server menu and long press on the channel you wish to edit permissions for. Select 'Edit Channel'
- In the 'User Management' section, go to 'Permissions'. Press the 'Add a Role' option and select the role you wish to modify channel permissions for.
- Toggle the check mark and X buttons to give or keep the permissions from the given user. Save by selecting the floppy disc save option.
Category permissions
You can set certain permissions as a whole to all the text channels or all the voice channels in your server.
To set category permissions on your computer,
- Go to the server and right click on the text channel/ voice channel category. Select ‘Edit category’
- Here, go to ‘Permissions’ and under ‘Advanced permissions’ select the roles you wish to assign permissions to.
- Choose the permissions you wish to give or keep by making use of the check mark or X button shown beside the permissions accordingly. Confirm by pressing the ‘Save Changes’ option.
To set category permissions on your mobile,
- Go to the server menu and long press on the category (text/ voice channels) you wish to edit permissions for. Select 'Edit Category'
- In the 'User Management' section, go to 'Permissions'. Press the 'Add a Role' option and select the role you wish to modify category permissions for.
- Toggle the check mark and X buttons to give or keep the permissions from the given user. Save by selecting the floppy disc save option.
Note that if your channel is synced with the category, it’ll get the exact permissions of the category. If not synced, then these will differ based on the settings.
To sync channels, go to ‘Edit channels’ → ‘Permissions’ and press the ‘Sync now’ button shown and confirm these changes.
Role colors
For users who have multiple roles, by default, the color of the highest role will be shown in the username color.
However, if you want to change this, and make the color of another role more prominent, you can do that, too.
For example, consider a user having Lieutenant (green) and Captain (blue) roles as shown in the screenshot. If the Captain role has higher permissions, the blue color will be shown on the server for that user.
However, you can make the green color shown instead. To do this on your computer, right click on the server name and go to 'Server Settings' --> 'Roles'. Here, on the role list shown, click on the left of the role name and drag the roles to sort them. The one at the top will be the predominant color for a member having a set of roles. Press the 'Save changes' button to confirm.
To re-order roles on your mobile device, go to the server menu, ‘Settings’ → ‘Roles’. Now, long press on a role and drag the roles up and down. Save this by clicking on the save icon.
Deleting roles on Discord
If you have too many roles and are finding it difficult to manage them, or want to delete a role to have more order, you can delete the roles through the following steps.
To delete a role on Discord on your computer,
- Right click on the server name, click on ‘Server Settings’ → ‘Roles’.
- Next, press the ‘More’ (the three dots) button next to the role name and press ‘Delete’. Confirm by pressing ‘Okay’ in the popup shown.
To delete a role on Discord on your mobile device,
- Tap on the server name, click on the three dots shown and press ‘Settings’ → ‘Roles’.
- Now, select the role you wish to delete, press the three dots at the top of the screen and press ‘Delete Role’.
Discord roles ideas
Make your Discord server really cool by assigning roles based on various interests and purposes. Some nice Discord role ideas you could try are:
- Creating roles by the server’s interest: For example, if your server is dedicated to CS Go, you can assign roles based on the roles you actually perform in the game.
- Create roles by events: If you want to conduct an event on the server, you can try getting specific roles added that make it easy for you to do so.
- Use emojis and symbols: Make the roles you assign funkier by adding apt emojis and symbols to these roles.
- Moderator roles based on the topic and in proper hierarchy: Suppose you are playing a military game, then you can add roles in a hierarchical order, for example from Admiral to Sub-lieutenant. Similar hierarchies can be used in other areas such as offices (founder to intern) or families (head → child)
- Group bots: If you have multiple bots in your server, group them together by adding a single role to all.