Last updated: October 4, 2026 · Category: Guide · Editorial review · About the authors
Key Takeaways
- A Community Server is a server type with extra tools, including Server Insights, Rules Screening, Onboarding, and announcement channels. Any server can opt in.
- Enabling Community does not make your server public. People still need an invite, and Server Discovery is a separate step.
- Discord requires four safety settings first: a verified-email Verification Level, a media content filter, a rules channel, and a moderator updates channel.
A Discord Community Server is a regular server with Community features turned on. You enable it under Server Settings > Enable Community, after Discord checks a few safety settings. It unlocks tools built for running a larger group, such as Server Insights, Rules Screening, and Onboarding. It does not change who can find or join your server.
Friend Server vs. Community Server
Discord's Clarifying Server Types article (retrieved 2026-09-28) splits servers into two types:
| Friend Server | Community Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for | Friends and smaller groups | People who share an interest, from anywhere |
| How people join | Invite link | Invite link |
| Moderator tools | Standard settings | Adds tools like Server Insights, Raid Protection, Rules, and Onboarding |
| Badge | None | A Community Server badge |
Both types are invite-only. In Discord's words, "becoming a Community Server does not mean that anyone can find or join your server." The same article notes that "invite links for Community Servers never expire."
What Discord Requires Before You Enable It
Discord's Enabling Your Community Server article (retrieved 2026-09-28) lists these requirements:
- Verification Level: members need "a verified email on their Discord account before sending messages or DMing anyone in the server." Discord notes this does not apply to members who have been assigned roles.
- Explicit media content filter: set to scan media from all members.
- Rules or guidelines channel: "There must be a clearly posted server rules channel for members."
- Community updates channel: a moderator-only channel where Discord sends updates for Community Server admins.
The server must also follow Discord's Community Guidelines. The separate Community Server Guidelines add expectations for the owner: an accurate title and description, clearly posted rules, and a moderator team. A server that breaks them "may lose its status as a Community."
If you still need a rules channel, Discord server rules has a template you can adapt.
How to Enable Community
- Select the server name in the upper-left corner, then Server Settings.
- Scroll down and select Enable Community in the left sidebar.
- Press Get Started and follow the setup steps. Discord walks you through the safety checks above.
- Confirm that the server will follow the Community Server Guidelines and Community Guidelines, then press Finish Setup.
You can change the rules channel, the moderator updates channel, and the primary language later, under the Overview tab in the Community section of Server Settings.
What Community Unlocks
The Enabling Your Community Server article lists the main tools:
- Announcement channels. Members of other servers can follow them and receive your updates in their own server.
- Direct updates from Discord. New moderation features and changes arrive in your moderator-only channel.
- Server Insights. Discord's analytics on how your community is doing. For how that compares with invite attribution, see Server Insights vs. an invite tracker.
- Discovery. Eligible servers can enable Server Discovery from the Discovery tab. Discord's Enabling Server Discovery article lists six requirements, including at least 1,000 members and a server age of at least 8 weeks.
- Community Onboarding. New members answer a few questions to pick their roles and channels. Discord recommends it over the older Welcome Screen, which Community servers that still use it can no longer edit.
Community is also required for Rules Screening, which asks new members to accept your rules before they can talk, react, or send DMs to members.
What Community Does Not Change
Discord's Clarifying Server Types article separates becoming a Community Server from being publicly joinable. In short, Community changes your tools, not your audience.
- No automatic listing. Your server does not appear in Discovery unless it meets the separate criteria and you opt in.
- No new members by itself. Until a server is listed in Discovery, people arrive through your invites, so the invites you share decide where growth comes from.
- No built-in attribution. Server Insights shows trends. It does not show who invited each member. That is what an invite tracker adds, as covered in how to see who invited who.
Should You Enable It?
Enable Community when your server has grown past a group of friends and you want moderation and onboarding tools. Discord describes the required settings as being there "to ensure safety in the community."
Weigh one tradeoff first. Community unlocks Rules Screening, and Discord's Rules Screening FAQ notes it "will add another step to joining your server which can sometimes lead to a drop off in joiners." The verified-email requirement adds a step too.
Two examples make the choice concrete. A 20-person server for a friend group gains little from Insights or Onboarding, so it can stay a Friend Server. A server of several hundred members that runs giveaways and invite competitions benefits from Rules Screening, Onboarding, and Raid Protection, so enabling Community makes sense.
How to Disable Community
Go to Server Settings, open the Overview tab under the Community header, scroll to Disable Community, select it, and press Save Changes. Discord says you "can always re-enable the Community settings" afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Discord Community Server?
It is a server type with extra tools for running a larger community. Discord describes Community Servers as invite-only spaces whose moderators get tools like Server Insights, Raid Protection, Rules, and Onboarding. Any server can opt in from Server Settings.
Does enabling Community make my server public?
No. Discord says becoming a Community Server does not mean anyone can find or join it. People still need an invite link. Being listed in Server Discovery is a separate step with its own eligibility criteria.
What are the requirements to enable Community on Discord?
Discord requires a verified-email Verification Level, the explicit media content filter set to scan media from all members, a rules or guidelines channel, and a community updates channel for moderators. The server must also follow Discord's Community Guidelines.
Can I turn Community off again?
Yes. Go to Server Settings, open the Community Overview tab, scroll to Disable Community, select it, and save. Discord says you can re-enable the settings later.