Adding a role to your Discord server takes three steps: create the role, set its permissions, and assign it to members

A role in Discord is a label you attach to members that controls what they can see and do on your server. You create roles in your server settings, decide what each role is allowed to do (post messages, manage channels, mute people, and so on), then assign that role to individual members or groups. A member can have multiple roles at once, and their actual permissions are the combination of all their roles.

You need to be a server owner or have the "Manage Roles" permission to create or assign roles. If you do not have that permission, you will see the roles section but cannot make changes to it.

Key Takeaways

  • Create a new role by opening Server Settings, selecting Roles, and clicking the plus button to name and color it.
  • Set what each role can do by toggling individual permissions like "Send Messages", "Manage Channels", or "Kick Members" in the role's permission panel.
  • Assign a role to a member by right-clicking their name in chat or the member list, selecting "Add Role", and choosing which role to give them.
  • A member with multiple roles gets all the permissions from every role they hold, so a member with both "Moderator" and "Announcer" can do what both roles allow.
  • The role order in your Roles list determines who can manage whom — a member can only assign or remove roles that are lower in the list than their own highest role.

Creating a new role from the server settings

Open your Discord server and click the server name at the top left. Select "Server Settings" from the dropdown menu. On the left sidebar, click "Roles". You will see a list of existing roles, with "@everyone" at the bottom — that is the default role all members have.

Click the plus button next to "Roles" to create a new role. A panel will open where you can type a name for the role. The name appears next to members' names in chat and in the member list, so choose something clear like "Moderator", "Artist", or "Announcer". You can also click the colored circle to pick a color for the role, which will tint the member's name in that color throughout the server.

Click "Create Role" when you are done. The new role now exists but has no permissions yet and is not assigned to anyone. You will see it appear in your Roles list.

Setting permissions for a role

Click on the role name in your Roles list to open its permission panel. You will see a long list of toggles, each one a permission the role can have. Scroll through and toggle on the ones you want this role to have. Common permissions include:

  • Send Messages — allows the member to type in text channels.
  • Manage Messages — allows the member to delete or pin messages from others.
  • Manage Channels — allows the member to create, delete, or edit channels.
  • Manage Roles — allows the member to create roles and assign them to others (but only roles lower than their own).
  • Kick Members — allows the member to remove people from the server.
  • Ban Members — allows the member to permanently ban people from the server.
  • Mute Members — allows the member to mute or deafen other members in voice channels.

If a permission is grayed out, it means a higher role in your server has already denied it. You can toggle permissions on or off as many times as you want before assigning the role to anyone. The changes save automatically.

Assigning a role to a member

Right-click on a member's name in the chat or in the member list on the right side of the screen. Select "Add Role" from the menu. A submenu will show all the roles you have permission to assign. Click the role you want to give them. The role now appears next to their name in chat and in the member list.

You can assign multiple roles to the same member by repeating this process. If you want to remove a role from someone, right-click their name again, select "Remove Role", and choose which role to take away.

You can also manage roles in bulk by opening Server Settings, clicking "Members", finding the member, and clicking the plus button next to their name to add roles or the X next to an existing role to remove it.

Understanding role hierarchy and what it means for permissions

The order of roles in your Roles list matters. Roles at the top of the list are higher in the hierarchy than roles at the bottom. A member can only assign, remove, or manage roles that are lower than their own highest role. For example, if you have a "Moderator" role and a "Helper" role, and "Moderator" is higher in the list, then a member with the Moderator role can assign or remove the Helper role from others, but a member with only the Helper role cannot.

You can drag roles up and down in the Roles list to change their order. The @everyone role is always at the bottom and cannot be moved. When you create a new role, it appears above @everyone by default.

A member's actual permissions are the combination of all their roles. If one role allows "Send Messages" and another allows "Manage Messages", a member with both roles can do both things. If one role denies a permission and another allows it, the deny takes priority.

Common role setups for different server types

A small community server might use just two roles: "Moderator" for people who help manage the server, and "Member" for everyone else. The Moderator role would have permissions to delete messages, kick members, and manage channels. The Member role would have basic permissions like sending messages and uploading files.

A gaming server might have "Admin" (full control), "Moderator" (manage messages and members), "Streamer" (permission to stream in a special voice channel), and "Muted" (cannot send messages or join voice). You would assign the Muted role temporarily to members who break the rules.

A creative server might have "Artist", "Writer", "Musician", and "Curator" roles, each with permission to post in their own channels but not others. This keeps content organized without needing to hide channels from people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I give someone a role without them seeing it?

No. Once you assign a role to a member, the role name appears next to their name in chat and in the member list. Everyone on the server can see what roles someone has. You can make the role invisible by unchecking "Display role members separately in the user list" in the role settings, but the role name will still show next to their messages.

What happens if I delete a role?

The role disappears from the server and is removed from all members who had it. Their permissions change when ready to whatever their remaining roles allow. You cannot undo a deletion, so be careful when removing roles you have assigned to many people.

Can a member give themselves a role?

Not unless you set up a special bot or feature to do it. By default, only people with the "Manage Roles" permission can assign roles. Some servers use bots like MEE6 or Dyno to let members click a reaction or type a command to join roles like "Gaming" or "Notifications", but that requires the bot to be installed and configured first.

Why can't I assign a role to someone?

You either do not have the "Manage Roles" permission, or the role you are trying to assign is higher in the hierarchy than your own highest role. Server owners can always assign any role. If you are a moderator, you can only assign roles that are lower than the Moderator role in the list.