Discord Welcome Messages: Setup, Templates, Inviter Credit

Last updated: October 9, 2026 · Category: Tutorial · Editorial review · About the authors

Key Takeaways

Discord's built-in welcome messages are set under Server Settings > Overview > System Messages Channel. Discord's help article describes announcements for new members and describes no custom text or leave message.

A bot gives you your own wording, placeholders, a DM option, and leave messages.

An invite tracker can add something the built-in message cannot: the name of the person who invited each new member.

A Discord welcome message greets each new member in a channel you choose. You can turn on Discord's built-in version in Server Settings > Overview, or use a bot to write your own message with placeholders such as the member's mention. This guide covers both options, gives ready-to-paste templates, and shows how to credit the person who invited each member.

Option 1: Discord's Built-In Welcome Messages

Discord calls these New Member Messages. According to its New Member Messages article (retrieved 2026-09-28), setup takes three steps:

Open Server Settings. You need a role with the Manage Server permission.
Stay on the first tab, Overview, where the welcome settings live.
Under System Messages Channel, pick the text channel for welcome messages.

To stop them, choose No System Messages at the top of the same dropdown. Turning off Discord's welcome messages takes one setting, not a bot.

The built-in option is the fastest route. Its limit is control. The article does not describe a way to write your own text, add links, send the greeting by DM, or post a message when someone leaves.

Option 2: A Welcome Bot With Custom Messages

A welcome bot posts your own message each time someone joins. You pick a channel, write a template, and use placeholders that the bot replaces with real values when the message is sent. Dedicated welcome bots such as Welcomer exist alongside bots where welcome messages are one feature among many, and each uses its own placeholder names.

InviteForge's messages, for example, support:

Your own wording, with channel mentions for rules or roles
Placeholders for the member, the inviter, and the server's member count
An embed mode with a custom color
A Join DM, a private message to the new member
A leave message when someone leaves

To add any bot, you need to own the server or have the Manage Server permission, per Discord's Using Apps on Discord article (retrieved 2026-09-28). How to add a bot to a Discord server walks through the permission screen.

Show Who Invited Each Member

Discord's built-in welcome message cannot name the inviter. Its text is set by Discord, and the help article describes no inviter field. An invite tracker fills that gap: it compares invite use counts before and after each join to find the invite that was used, as explained in how to see who invited who on Discord.

InviteForge uses that attribution in its join and leave messages. The main placeholders, from the InviteForge docs:

Placeholder	Replaced with
`{memberMention}`	A mention that pings the new member
`{member}`	The member's username
`{inviterMention}`	A mention that pings the inviter
`{inviter}`	The inviter's username
`{inviterCount}`	The inviter's total effective invites, with the unit included, such as "5 invites"
`{guild}`	The server name
`{memberCount}`	The server's current member count
`{code}`	The invite code that was used

The docs list a few more, including {memberTag}, {inviterTag}, and {vanityUrl}. With the first template below, a member named Alex invited by Sam would see: "Welcome @Alex! Invited by @Sam (5 invites)."

Three details from the docs prevent awkward messages:

{inviterCount} already includes the word "invites." Writing {inviterCount} invites produces "5 invites invites."
For a join through the server's vanity URL, the inviter placeholders show Vanity URL, and {inviterCount} shows that link's total uses.
For a join through a bot's OAuth2 authorization, the inviter placeholders show that bot's tag with (OAuth2) added.

Neither vanity nor OAuth2 joins count toward any member's invite total.

How to Set It Up in InviteForge

Run /setup with a join-channel and a leave-channel, or leave both empty to open the setup guide. The command requires Manage Server.
Open Dashboard > Settings > Messages and write your join and leave templates.
Click Send Test to preview the result before saving.

The docs list the Join DM as available on all plans.

Welcome Message Templates

These templates are ready to paste into InviteForge. Replace each channel token, such as <#RULES_CHANNEL_ID>, with a real channel mention. Discord's message formatting reference (retrieved 2026-09-28) defines the <#CHANNEL_ID> format for channel mentions.

To get a channel ID, turn on Developer Mode under User Settings > Advanced, then right-click the channel and choose Copy Channel ID. Discord's ID help article (retrieved 2026-09-28) confirms that typing <#channelidnumber> sends a clickable link. Use Send Test to check the result.

Short and direct

Welcome {memberMention}! Invited by {inviterMention} ({inviterCount}).

Points to the next step

Welcome to {guild}, {memberMention}. Start in <#RULES_CHANNEL_ID>, then pick your roles in <#ROLES_CHANNEL_ID>. You were invited by {inviter}.

Community milestone

{memberMention} just joined {guild}. We are now {memberCount} members. Thanks {inviterMention} for the invite ({inviterCount}).

Verification first

Welcome {memberMention}! Verify in <#VERIFY_CHANNEL_ID> to unlock the server. Invited by {inviter}.

Templates that name the inviter read differently for vanity and OAuth2 joins. The milestone template, for example, would thank "Vanity URL" instead of a person. If many members join through your vanity URL, use a version without the inviter:

Welcome to {guild}, {memberMention}. Start in <#RULES_CHANNEL_ID>, then pick your roles in <#ROLES_CHANNEL_ID>.

Leave Message Templates

Discord's help article describes no leave message, so leaves need a bot. A leave message helps staff see churn as it happens, and shows which inviter's recruits are leaving.

{member} left the server. They were invited by {inviter}.

{member} has left {guild}. We are now {memberCount} members.

Leaves also matter for invite counts. InviteForge's effective invite count subtracts members who left, so a recruit who leaves stops counting toward the inviter's total.

Keep Welcome Messages Useful

These are recommendations, not Discord rules:

Keep it short. One greeting and one or two next steps. A long message pushes the rules link out of view.
Mention the member once.
Reach members on gated servers. If new members must verify before they see channels, a welcome posted in a hidden channel never reaches them. Use the Join DM, or post in the channel unverified members can see. How Discord verification bots work covers that setup.
Avoid @everyone and @here in a welcome template. Every join would notify the whole server. In InviteForge, @everyone, @here, and role mentions in a template only ping when the Allow @everyone / @here / role / user mentions toggle is on, and it is off by default. {memberMention} and {inviterMention} always ping.
Credit inviters only if it fits your server. On a server that runs invite competitions, a public thank-you encourages recruiting. On a small private server, it may feel unnecessary.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I set up a welcome message on Discord?

For Discord's built-in messages, open Server Settings, go to Overview, and pick a channel under System Messages Channel. You need the Manage Server permission. For a custom message with your own text, use a bot that supports join messages and placeholders.

How do I turn off welcome messages in Discord?

Open Server Settings, go to Overview, and choose No System Messages in the System Messages Channel dropdown. If a bot sends your welcome messages, turn them off in that bot's settings as well.

How do I mention the new member in a welcome message?

In a bot's custom message, use its mention placeholder. In InviteForge, {memberMention} pings the new member and {inviterMention} pings the person who invited them. To link a channel, use Discord's channel mention format, <#CHANNEL_ID>.

Can a Discord welcome message show who invited the member?

Not the built-in one, which has no inviter field. An invite tracker can, because it works out which invite each member used. InviteForge fills {inviter}, {inviterMention}, and {inviterCount} in join and leave messages.

What is a good welcome message for Discord?

A short one that greets the member by mention and points to one or two next steps, such as the rules channel or the verification channel. Long welcome messages push the next steps out of view.