Discord Server Rules Templates You Can Copy and Paste

What a good rules message does

A rules post has one job: let a new member understand what is expected in under a minute, and give moderators something specific to point at later. Everything below is built around that, so each template keeps rules short, numbers them, states the consequences once, and names where to go with questions.

Paste the block that fits your server, delete what does not apply, and change the wording to sound like your community. A rule nobody can picture breaking is dead weight — cut it.

• One idea per rule, one line per rule. Long paragraphs get skimmed and forgotten.
• Number the rules so staff can say "rule 3" instead of quoting a paragraph.
• State consequences once, at the end, in a quote block — not after every rule.
• Say where to appeal or ask: a ticket, a mod DM, a channel.
• Date the post. A rules message with no date reads as abandoned.

General Discord server rules template (copy and paste)

This is the all-purpose set. It works for a friend group, a hobby community or a public server, and it is the same wording the server rules template in DWEEB starts from, expanded to ten rules. Discord markdown is already applied: the heading, bold rule names, the quote for consequences and the small subtext line all render as-is.

# 📜 Server Rules
Being here means you agree to follow these.

**1. Be respectful.** No harassment, hate speech, slurs or personal attacks.
**2. Keep it civil.** Disagree with ideas, not people. No flame wars.
**3. No spam.** No flooding, mass mentions, copy-paste chains or wall-to-wall caps.
**4. Stay on topic.** Use the right channel and read the channel description first.
**5. Keep it safe for work.** No NSFW, gore or shock content outside channels marked age-restricted.
**6. No advertising.** No unsolicited invites, self-promotion or DM ads.
**7. Protect privacy.** Never share someone else's personal information.
**8. No impersonation.** Do not pose as staff, other members or public figures.
**9. Follow Discord's rules.** Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines apply here too.
**10. Staff decisions are final.** Take disputes to a ticket or a mod DM, not public chat.

> Breaking a rule can mean a warning, a timeout, a kick or a ban depending on severity. Repeat offences escalate.
-# Last updated September 2026 · Questions? Open a ticket or ask a moderator.

Short rules template for a small server

A server with thirty people does not need ten rules. Five is enough to set the tone without reading like a legal notice.

# Rules
**1.** Be kind. No harassment, hate or personal attacks.
**2.** No spam, mass pings or advertising.
**3.** Keep NSFW and shock content out.
**4.** Respect people's privacy — no doxxing, no leaking DMs.
**5.** If a mod asks you to stop, stop.

> Warnings first. Repeat it and you're out.

Gaming server rules template

Gaming communities need the general rules plus a few that only come up around matches, voice chat and account trading. Keep the game-specific etiquette in its own block so casual members can skip it.

# 🎮 Server Rules
**1. Respect everyone.** No harassment, slurs, hate speech or personal attacks — in text or in voice.
**2. Good sportsmanship.** No rage-quitting mid-match, griefing teammates or trash talk that crosses into abuse.
**3. No cheating or exploits.** Discussing, sharing or selling cheats, hacks or exploits is an instant ban.
**4. No account trading.** No buying, selling or sharing accounts, items or currency for real money.
**5. Use LFG channels for LFG.** Post team requests in #looking-for-group, not in general chat.
**6. Mark spoilers.** Use spoiler tags for story content from the last 30 days.
**7. Keep voice clean.** No mic spam, soundboards, music or screaming; push-to-talk if you have background noise.
**8. Stay on topic.** Clips go in #clips, memes in #memes, bugs and complaints in #feedback.
**9. No advertising.** No server invites, stream links or referral codes outside #self-promo.
**10. Follow Discord's rules and staff direction.** Discord's Terms and Community Guidelines apply; staff decisions are final.

> Timeout first, then a kick, then a ban. Cheating and account selling skip straight to a ban.

Creator and community server rules template

A creator's server has two audiences — fans who want to hang out, and people who want something from the creator. The rules should protect the first group from the second without making the place feel policed.

# ✨ Community Rules
**1. Be respectful to everyone,** including the creator, the mods and each other. No harassment, hate speech or drama.
**2. No begging or demanding.** Don't ask for follows, shout-outs, free stuff, DMs or replies.
**3. Self-promo only where allowed.** Share your own content in #self-promo, never in general or in DMs.
**4. Don't leak private content.** No screenshots of members-only posts, streams or DMs outside this server.
**5. No spam or mass pings.** One message, not five. Never @everyone.
**6. Keep it safe for work.** Nothing you wouldn't want on a stream.
**7. Respect the schedule.** Stream and upload times are posted in #announcements — please don't ask when the next one is.
**8. Stay on topic.** Use the channel names; #off-topic exists for everything else.
**9. Follow Discord's Terms and Community Guidelines.**
**10. Mods have the final say.** Questions and appeals go to a ticket.

> Rule breaks get a warning, then a timeout, then removal. Leaks and harassment are an immediate ban.

Study, class or professional server rules template

Servers built around a course, a study group or a professional community need rules about honesty and shared material more than rules about memes.

# 📚 Server Rules
**1. Be professional and respectful.** Disagree with arguments, not people.
**2. No academic dishonesty.** Don't ask for or share answers to graded work. Explaining a concept is fine; posting a solution is not.
**3. Respect copyright.** No pirated textbooks, paid course material or paywalled papers.
**4. Stay on topic.** Subject channels are for that subject; #lounge is for everything else.
**5. Search before you ask.** Check the pinned FAQ and use the search bar — repeat questions get redirected.
**6. No recording.** Do not record or screenshot voice sessions or study rooms without everyone's consent.
**7. Protect privacy.** No sharing of names, emails, grades or personal details that aren't yours.
**8. No advertising or recruiting** for paid services, tutoring or other servers without staff approval.
**9. Follow Discord's Terms and Community Guidelines.**
**10. Staff direction is final.** Appeals through a ticket.

> Warnings for minor issues; dishonesty, piracy and privacy violations are removed on the first offence.

Add-on rules for voice chat and age-restricted channels

Two situations regularly need their own short block. Paste either one under the main rules, or pin it inside the channel it applies to.

Age-restricted content on Discord may only be posted in channels marked age-restricted, and Discord's Community Guidelines still apply inside them. A server rule can be stricter than Discord's policy; it can never be looser.

## 🎙️ Voice chat
**1.** No mic spam, soundboards, music bots in talk channels, or screaming.
**2.** Push-to-talk if your background is noisy.
**3.** No recording without asking the channel first.
**4.** Don't hop between channels to interrupt conversations.
**5.** AFK and sleep channels are for AFK and sleep — mute yourself.

## 🔞 Age-restricted channels
**1.** Only post here — never in general channels, avatars, statuses or nicknames.
**2.** Nothing illegal, nothing involving minors, nothing non-consensual. Zero tolerance.
**3.** Discord's Community Guidelines apply inside this channel too.
**4.** Mark anything shocking with a spoiler tag.

Format the rules so people actually read them

Every template above uses the same five pieces of Discord markdown. They are the difference between a rules post that gets read and one that gets scrolled past. The text formatting reference covers every rule and the quirks around them.

Bold numbers are used instead of Discord's list syntax on purpose. A "1." list renders, but Discord numbers the items itself and merges them into any bullet list sitting directly above, so the numbers you typed are not the numbers people see — bold text stays exactly as you wrote it.

Post it as a pinned card, then keep it editable

Pasting the text into #rules as a normal message works, but it is tied to whoever posted it and it cannot carry an accent colour or dividers. Posting it through a webhook with the server rules template gives you a card with a coloured stripe, separators between the header, the rules and the consequences, and a named sender such as "Server Rules" instead of a personal account. Open the template, paste your rules into the middle text block, check the preview and send.

Rules change. Instead of deleting the post and losing the pin, restore the message and update it in place — the message link stays the same, so nothing that points at it breaks. If the rules mention a role or a user, review allowed mentions first so an edit does not ping anyone.

On a Community server, Discord's Rules Screening feature shows a short list of rules that new members must accept before they can talk. Keep that list to the essentials and keep the full text in #rules; the screening prompt is deliberately compact, and the channel is where people will actually look things up.

How many rules should a Discord server have?

Five to ten. Small servers do well with five; a large public server can justify ten plus a couple of add-on blocks. Past that, split the post with sub-headings or move channel-specific etiquette into the channels themselves — a twenty-rule wall is a signal that nobody expects members to read it.

Cut any rule that is really a mood ("no drama"), any rule already covered by a more specific one, and any rule you would not actually enforce. If a situation comes up twice and no rule covers it, add one then.

The rules you must keep whatever you write

Discord's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines apply to every server on the platform. Your rules can be stricter than them and often should be, but a rule that permits something Discord forbids protects nobody, and Discord can act on the server regardless of what your #rules channel says. That is why every template above includes one line pointing at Discord's own rules.

Two things are worth stating explicitly because they come up constantly: content that is not safe for work belongs only in channels marked age-restricted, and anything involving minors or non-consensual material is a platform-level violation, not a server-level one. Report it to Discord as well as removing it.