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15 actionable strategies to get more Discord members in 2026 — from server listings and social media to cross-promotion and SEO. No fake members, no shortcuts.
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Add Rally to your server →You've built a Discord server. You've set up the channels, written the rules, added some bots. Now comes the hard part: getting actual human beings to join and stay. This isn't a motivational guide about "building community" (we have that article too). This is a tactical breakdown of specific, actionable methods to get more members on your Discord server in 2026.
Before you spend any effort driving traffic to your server, answer honestly:
If the answer to any of these is no, fix that first. Driving traffic to an unready server is worse than doing nothing, because every person who joins and leaves is a person who probably won't give you a second chance.
This is the most reliable, consistent source of new members for most servers. Discovery platforms let people search for servers by topic, and well-optimized listings attract a steady stream of joins.
Server Name: Clear and descriptive. Don't be clever at the expense of clarity. "The Pixel Lab - Digital Art Community" tells people exactly what they're getting. "xXxDarkRealm420xXx" tells them nothing useful.
Description: Your description needs to accomplish three things in roughly 2-3 sentences:
Bad: "Welcome to our server! We talk about stuff and hang out. Join us!" Good: "A digital art community for artists at every level. We run weekly drawing challenges, offer portfolio feedback, and have an active critique channel. Whether you use Procreate or Photoshop, there's a place for you here."
Tags: Use relevant, specific tags. If your server is about competitive fighting games, tag it with both "gaming" and "fighting games" rather than just "gaming." Browse categories like gaming, art, music, and social to see where your server fits.
Server Icon: Custom, professional, recognizable. It's the first visual impression. Don't use a meme or someone else's copyrighted art.
Banner (if applicable): If the platform supports server banners, use one. It dramatically increases click-through rates.
Most discovery platforms consider activity when ranking servers. Servers with regular activity rank higher and appear more prominently. This creates a virtuous cycle: activity drives visibility, which drives joins, which drives more activity.
Encourage your members to stay active through daily prompts, events, and engaging discussions. Our engagement tips guide has 15 proven tactics.
Reddit is one of the most effective platforms for growing a Discord server, but it has to be done correctly. Reddit communities hate spam, and posting naked invite links will get you banned and downvoted instantly.
Some subreddits are specifically designed for Discord promotion:
But the real value comes from subreddits in your server's niche. A thoughtful comment in r/learnprogramming that mentions your coding community will attract more engaged members than a hundred posts in r/discordservers.
Short-form video is the highest-potential growth channel in 2026:
A single TikTok that hits the algorithm can bring hundreds of members overnight. But don't chase virality at the expense of quality -- consistent content that serves your niche beats random viral attempts.
If you create regular YouTube content about your server's topic, you'll build an audience that naturally flows into your community:
Look for servers that:
Mutual advertisement: Both servers create a partnership channel featuring each other. Simple, low-effort, and effective when the audiences genuinely overlap.
Collaborative events: Run a joint event (game night, art challenge, trivia, debate) that involves members from both servers. This is far more effective than a simple link exchange because members interact and form connections.
Staff cross-pollination: Having a moderator or admin who's active in both communities creates a natural bridge between them.
If you have a website, blog, or any online presence:
Live streamers who maintain Discord servers see strong organic growth:
If your server is gaming-related:
Your existing members are your best recruiters. Give them a reason to invite others:
Important: Incentivize quality invites, not just quantity. 10 engaged members are worth more than 100 who join and immediately go silent.
If your server qualifies for Discord's Server Discovery (requires Community features enabled, 1,000+ members, and meeting safety requirements), this is an incredibly powerful organic growth channel. Members searching within Discord itself can find your server.
If your server is related to a university or educational institution, Discord's Student Hubs can connect you with a built-in audience.
If your server is associated with a bot or tool, the Discord App Directory can drive traffic.
The most sustainable growth strategy is becoming the recognized authority in your niche:
Examples:
This approach is slow but incredibly effective because it generates organic traffic indefinitely.
Let's be realistic about what works and what doesn't:
| Strategy | Effort | Time to Results | Sustainability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server listings | Low | Fast | High |
| Reddit (done right) | Medium | Medium | High |
| TikTok/Shorts | Medium | Variable | Medium |
| Cross-promotion | Low | Fast | Medium |
| Content creation | High | Slow | Very high |
| Authority building | Very high | Very slow | Very high |
| Paid promotion | Low (just money) | Fast | Low |
The best approach combines multiple strategies. Server listings provide a baseline of steady joins. Social media provides spikes. Content creation and authority building provide long-term compounding growth.
This never works and often gets your server reported. Don't DM people invite links. Don't drop your link in unrelated channels. Don't use bots to spam other servers. You'll damage your reputation and potentially get your server terminated.
"Member boost" services either use bots or incentivized joins. The "members" never participate. Your member count goes up, your activity goes down, and new members who join see a ghost town with a fake population.
Getting members in the door is pointless if they leave immediately. For every hour you spend on promotion, spend at least an hour on making your server worth staying in. Check our engagement guide for retention tactics.
Nothing kills a growing server faster than toxicity, spam, or a chaotic environment. New members who encounter negativity in their first interaction will leave and never return. Our moderation guide covers this comprehensively.
If you get a sudden influx of members (from a viral post, raid, or mention by a large creator), make sure your moderation team, bot setup, and channel structure can handle it. Unprepared rapid growth often does more damage than good.
Here's what realistic growth looks like for different server types:
These numbers vary wildly based on your niche, effort, and timing. Some servers grow faster, many grow slower. The point is that growth is gradual and that's okay.
Getting more members on your Discord server is a long game. There's no single trick that makes a server blow up overnight (and if there were, the overnight growth would likely destroy the community anyway). The servers that reach thousands of members got there through consistent effort, genuine value, and patience.
Start with the low-hanging fruit: optimize your server listings, make your existing members happy enough to invite their friends, and create content that attracts your target audience. Layer on more strategies as you grow. And never, ever forget that the goal isn't a big number next to your server name -- it's a community of real people who genuinely enjoy being there.
