How to Get Your Discord Server on Server Discovery.

The short answer

To get on Discord Server Discovery, a server must be a Community server with at least 1,000 members, be at least eight weeks old, meet Discord’s activity requirements, keep a clean name, description and channel names, and require 2FA for moderators. Then an admin opens the Discovery tab in Server Settings and selects Set Up Discovery.

Why the bar shapes the whole plan

None of those requirements can be switched on in an afternoon. Members and age take time, and the safety settings change how the server works from the first day.

Strategy comes before setup here. A brand that wants strangers to find its server inside Discord has to build the server for Discovery from the start, not open it to the public later and hope it qualifies.

That is the same trade we argue for on every platform: a community people come back to is worth more than reach that passes through.

Where discoverable servers show up now

Discord’s help centre describes the original Server Discovery as an experimental feature for a limited number of users, and says that experiment has ended. It points instead to the Discover tab.

The Discover tab is where users can find servers and Quests. Discord says it is currently experimental and available to only a percentage of users on desktop and mobile.

Inside it, the Servers tab lists discoverable Community servers by category, such as gaming, music and entertainment. Servers are sorted into categories and ordered by popularity based on member count. Search in the Servers tab works only on desktop during the experimental phase.

Two things follow for a brand. Not every user will see the tab yet. And because the order follows member count, clearing 1,000 members gets a server listed, not near the top.

The requirements in full

Discord lists these before a server can turn on Discovery:

• Safety requirements enabled
• At least 1,000 members
• At least eight weeks old
• Certain activity requirements met
• A server name, description and channel names that look clean
• The 2FA Requirement for Moderation setting enabled

Only members whose roles carry the Manage Server or Administrator permission can enable or disable it.

Discord’s page on Community servers puts the member line slightly differently: Discovery is limited to servers with more than 1,000 members, and to Partnered and Verified servers. The help page does not spell out what the activity requirements are.

Step 1: Turn on Community first

Only Community servers are eligible for Discovery, so this is the first switch. In Server Settings, select Enable Community and work through the setup.

Discord’s requirements to turn it on include:

• A verification level that requires members to have a verified email on their account before they send messages or DM anyone in the server
• The explicit media content filter set to scan media from all members
• A clearly posted rules channel
• A community updates channel, where Discord sends announcements and updates for admins and moderators

Turning on Community also unlocks Announcement channels that users can follow into their own servers, Server Insights, and Community Onboarding, where new members pick their own roles and channels.

Step 2: Write the rules for a public audience

The rules channel is required, and the Discovery Guidelines set the floor for what it has to cover.

Servers that opt into any publicly viewable feature should be appropriate for audiences of all ages 13+. Graphic violence and sexual content are not allowed in public spaces. Content meant to single out, bully or harass users or other communities is out, and that applies to off-platform spaces as well.

Write rules a stranger can read in a minute and understand. They are the first thing a new member from Discover will judge the server by.

Step 3: Build the moderator team before the members

The Discovery Guidelines ask for a moderator team that members can trust and turn to for help, and that knows when to escalate issues to Trust and Safety. Discovery also requires the 2FA Requirement for Moderation setting, so plan for every moderator to set up two-factor authentication.

For a brand, that means deciding early who moderates, at what hours, and who has the final call. A server that reaches 1,000 members with one community manager covering everything is exposed the day strangers start arriving.

Step 4: Grow to 1,000 members without Discovery

Discovery cannot bring the first 1,000 members, because a server has to have them before it qualifies. Those members come from the audience the brand already has.

Imagine a games studio with an active following elsewhere. Its first members would come from its own channels, its newsletter and its players, invited into a server that already has something to do in it. The eight-week clock runs while that happens. If that audience is thin, Discord is not the first problem to solve, and a social audit shows where to start.

What does not work is a burst of empty joins. The guidelines ask servers to create environments where people want to spend time with each other, and Discovery has activity requirements on top of the member count.

Step 5: Clean the name, channels and content

Discovery requires a server name, description and channel names that look clean. The guidelines add that the name and description must accurately describe the server and be free of profanity. Read every channel name as a stranger would before you apply.

The guidelines also say to only use content you own or have a licence to use, and not to invade anyone’s privacy or violate their rights. A brand server is a publishing channel, so music in clips, artwork and screenshots need the same rights check as anything on the brand’s other accounts.

Step 6: Switch Discovery on

When the server is ready, open Server Settings, go to the Discovery tab and select Set Up Discovery. Once every requirement is met, select Set Up Discovery again to turn it on.

What keeps a brand server out

Some brands cannot list at all. The Discovery Guidelines rule out discussions about controlled substances or drugs, and servers dedicated to the use of regulated goods, such as alcohol.

Listing is not permanent either. Discord may remove a server from one or more means of discovery if it recently violated the Community Guidelines and received an enforcement action, and it may consider off-platform behaviour. Trust and Safety team members may temporarily join a server to investigate.

If a server drops out of the Discover tab, Discord’s own answer is that it may be due to a violation of the Discovery Guidelines.

What good looks like

A brand server built for Discovery has a reason to exist before it has a listing: something members do there each week that they cannot do on the brand’s other channels.

It has a moderator rota, written rules, safety settings on from the start, and growth that comes from the audience the brand already owns. Discovery then adds strangers to a community that works, rather than introducing them to an empty room.

Next step

If you want social to run with more clarity, rhythm and accountability, start with our social media audit checklist, then NBK can help build the system behind the community.