What order should Discord roles be in?

Discord roles use a hierarchy where higher roles override lower ones. Place your most powerful roles at the top: Server Owner (automatic), then Administrators, then Moderators, then trusted community roles (Verified, Booster), then general member tiers, then bots near the bottom. A role can only manage, assign, or affect roles that sit below it in the list. This means your mod roles must be above any role they need to manage. Bots need to be above any role they assign to members.

How many roles can a Discord server have?

Discord servers support up to 250 roles. This limit is generous enough for most communities. If you're approaching the limit, audit your roles - servers often accumulate unused color roles, old event roles, and bot roles that were never cleaned up. Delete anything that hasn't been assigned to a member in months. Integration roles (created automatically by bots and linked services) count toward the 250 limit.

What is the @everyone role?

@everyone is the base role that every member of your server has by default. Its permissions apply to all members unless overridden by a higher role or channel-specific permission override. It's the right place to set your server's default behavior: what channels members can see, whether they can send messages by default, and what actions are available without any additional role. Most servers restrict @everyone heavily and layer permissions on top through earned or assigned roles.

How do I give someone a role automatically?

There are several ways. Reaction roles let members self-assign roles by clicking an emoji reaction - requires a bot like Carl-bot or MEE6. Select roles use Discord's native UI component where members pick from a menu in a channel. Bots can auto-assign a role when a member joins (a 'newcomer' role), after they pass a verification step, or when they reach a leveling milestone. Discord itself automatically assigns integration roles when members link services like Twitch or YouTube.

How to Set Up Discord Roles: Complete Permissions and Role Management Guide

Roles are the foundation of Discord server organization. They control what members can see, what they can do, who they are in your community, and how they're distinguished from one another. A well-designed role structure makes your server self-organizing. A poorly designed one creates confusion, permission conflicts, and constant manual work.

This guide covers everything you need to set up a role system that actually works.

Understanding Role Hierarchy

Before creating any roles, understand the hierarchy. Roles in Discord are ordered in a vertical list - higher position means higher authority. This affects everything:

Hierarchy mistakes cause broken moderation

The most common role setup mistake: placing bot roles or moderator roles too low in the hierarchy. If your moderator role sits below a regular member role, mods can't kick or timeout members who have that role. If your bot role is below the roles it needs to assign, the bot will throw errors. Always verify the order after adding new roles.

How to Create a Role

Open Server Settings

Click your server name at the top of the channel list to open the dropdown, then select Server Settings. Navigate to the Roles section in the left sidebar.

Create a new role

Click the Create Role button (or the + icon next to "Roles"). A new role named "new role" appears at the bottom of the list. Click it to begin editing.

Name and color the role

Give the role a clear, descriptive name. Assign a color - colored roles show the member's name in that color throughout the server. Use color intentionally: it's a visual signal. Moderators might be red or orange. Trusted members might be blue. Bots might be purple. Too many colors create noise; use them for roles that benefit from quick visual identification.

Configure display and mention settings

Display role members separately from online members - Hoists the role to its own section in the member list sidebar. Use this for staff and important community roles. Don't hoist every role or the sidebar becomes cluttered.
Allow anyone to @mention this role - Leave this off for most roles. Enable it only for roles where community-wide pings are appropriate (event notifications, announcements opt-in roles).

Set permissions

The Permissions tab controls what members with this role can do server-wide. Assign permissions that match the role's purpose (covered below in the permissions section).

Position the role in the hierarchy

Back on the Roles list, drag the role to the correct vertical position. Higher = more authority. Staff roles go near the top; decorative or cosmetic roles go near the bottom; bots go above the roles they assign but below human staff.

Recommended Role Structure

Keep roles purposeful

Every role should do something - grant a permission, display a title, or let members opt into something. Roles that exist for no clear reason add visual clutter and confuse new members. Audit your role list periodically and delete anything that has no active members or no purpose.

Setting Permissions Correctly

Permissions cascade: @everyone sets the default, and individual roles layer additions or overrides on top. Work from the bottom up.

The Administrator permission is absolute

The Administrator permission bypasses every channel-level permission override. A member with Administrator can see every channel, regardless of any deny rules you've set. Only grant Administrator to your core trusted staff, not to bots unless they explicitly require it (most don't).

Self-Assignable Roles with Bots

Most active servers let members self-assign certain roles - notification preferences, platform affiliations, pronouns, color choices. There are two main approaches:

Reaction roles: A bot posts a message with emoji reactions. Members click an emoji to get the associated role, click again to remove it. Requires a bot like Carl-bot, MEE6, or a community bot like Rally.

Discord native Select menus: Some bots (and newer versions of popular bots) post dropdown select menus or button layouts for role selection. These are cleaner visually than emoji reactions on mobile.

Both approaches work well. Set these up in a dedicated #roles channel, separate from your regular channels, so members can manage their roles without cluttering active conversation channels.

Integration Roles

When members link external services to Discord (Twitch, YouTube, Steam), or when bots are added, Discord automatically creates and assigns integration roles. These:

Position integration roles below your human staff roles and above general member roles. They're usually harmless but audit them occasionally - disconnected services leave orphan roles.

Channel-Level Permission Overrides

Roles set server-wide defaults, but channels can override them. Right-click any channel → Edit Channel → Permissions to add role-specific overrides.

Channel overrides take precedence over role permissions. An explicit Deny at the channel level overrides an Allow at the role level - with one exception: the Administrator permission bypasses all channel overrides.

Next Steps

A well-designed role system largely runs itself - members know where they stand, moderators have the tools they need, and the permission hierarchy prevents problems before they start. Invest the time to do it right at the beginning, and you won't be untangling permission conflicts every week.