In this article, we will discuss how to make someone an admin or owner on Discord. You can safely appoint someone as a server admin or owner on Discord with the help of our detailed instruction. As your Discord server grows, you may find yourself needing help managing conversations, roles, channels and all administrative tasks. Appointing trustworthy members as server admins or owners can provide assistance and delegate tasks.
However, improperly granting admin capabilities can lead to disaster if the wrong users end up with powers. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the right ways to safely make someone a server admin or owner on Discord.
We’ll cover:
- The risks of misusing admin status
- Prerequisites for identifying candidates
- Granting the Admin role vs. Owner
- Steps to make someone an Admin
- Considerations around transferring Owner
- Revoking admin powers if needed
- Setting admin channel permissions
- Limiting an admin’s scope of influence
- Best practices for oversight and accountability
Follow these steps and recommendations carefully to ensure you responsibly grant admin privileges on your Discord server.
The Dangers of Making the Wrong User an Admin
Before hastily promoting members to admin roles, it’s crucial to understand the risks:
- They can ban, mute and edit roles of any member.
- Delete or edit any channels.
- Modify the names, icons and assets of your server.
- Promote others to admin or roles with elevated permissions.
- Access and export your server’s message history and data.
- Potentially transfer ownership of the server to themselves or another user.
In the hands of a disgruntled, immature or irresponsible admin, permanent damage can be done. Malicious former admins have destroyed entire servers and communities in minutes by abusing privileges.
Don’t take this responsibility lightly. Use the following steps to carefully vet candidates first.
Prerequisites for Candidates to Become Admin
To minimize risks, only consider promoting members who consistently demonstrate the following traits over an extended period of time:
- Maturity and levelheaded judgement
- Reasonable temperament even in heated situations
- Respect for both members and staff
- Deep knowledge of server guidelines and culture
- Active engagement helping newcomers
- Passion for supporting the server’s growth
Ideally look for members who stand out through consistently positive behaviors without needing to be asked. They volunteer to welcome newcomers, politely point members to channels, and demonstrate care for the community.
Granting powers to eager members who ask or as a favor is unwise. Vet candidates thoroughly before entrusting them with influence.
Comparing Admin Role vs. Transferring Server Owner
Once you’ve identified members aligned to the above criteria, decide whether the Admin role or transferring Owner is appropriate.
The Admin role grants abilities to manage conversations, create channels, assign roles, ban rule-breakers and help moderate. This preserves you as Owner with full oversight.
Whereas transferring Owner relinquishes ultimate control to someone else. The new owner can remove you, shut down the server, etc. Only consider this for a successor you’d fully trust with your community if you were permanently absent.
In most cases, starting by granting trusted members the Admin role under your supervision as Owner is the safest approach.
How to Make Someone An Server Admin or Owner on Discord
Once you decide on a candidate, here are the steps to grant them the Admin role:
- Have them download and open the Discord app if they haven’t already.
- Go to “Server Settings” and select “Roles”.
- Under your list of roles, locate the default “Administrator” role.
- Select the blue “Members” number below Administrator to expand the list.
- In the expanded members list, search for and click the candidate’s username.
- Click the blue “Add” button to assign them the Administrator role.
- Confirm the user now has a gold “Admin” tag under their name.
And that’s it! They now have full privileges to manage conversations, channels, members, roles, and perform admin functions.
Take time to walk new admins through how your expectations for moderation and areas you need help with. Set clear boundaries so you’re aligned.
Carefully Considering Transferring Owner
If you ever do need to fully hand over ownership of your server, only do so with immense care. This gives total irreversible control.
You may want to transfer Owner if:
- You can no longer actively manage the server but want to entrust its legacy to someone else. This should be a close confidant who shares your values and vision for the community.
- You ever plan to take an extended break of a month or longer and need someone to lead in your absence.
- Your server has grown vastly beyond your capacity and you need to hand the reins to an experienced second-in-command.
To transfer Owner, go to Server Settings > Roles > click your own username > Transfer Owner. Only proceed once 100% confident in your successor owner.
Revoking Admin Permissions if Needed
If a current admin ever oversteps their role or makes questionable decisions, you can revoke their privileges:
- Go to Server Settings > Roles
- Select the Admin role
- Click the blue “Members” number
- Find the problematic admin and click their username
- Select “Remove from role”
This instantly downgrades them to a standard member. Only wield this power when truly necessary.
Setting Up Admin Channel Permissions
Once granted the Admin role, ensure you set their channel permissions appropriately so they can manage conversations:
- Choose the channel under Channels or Category
- Select “Permissions” on the right
- Under Admin role, allow:
- Read + Send Messages
- Manage Messages + Manage Channel
- Disable permissions not needed like kicking members
Repeat for each channel admins need to moderate. Avoid assigning free rein “Administrator” channel permissions.
Limiting an Admin’s Scope of Influence
To minimize risk, it’s wise to limit an admin’s permissions to only where needed versus global control.
For example, you can:
- Only grant admin powers in their specialized channels like #fortnite or #music-production. They don’t necessarily need abilities in #general or other rooms.
- Restrict ban permissions so they can only delete messages and timeout users for short durations, requiring your review for permanent bans.
- Disable their ability to edit certain branding assets or add new roles and channels without your approval.
Get creative in sculpting segmented admin powers and oversight mechanisms. The more you customize scoped privileges, the safer members will be from any potential abuse of powers.
Best Practices for Oversight and Accountability
Even once granted the Admin role, you should implement accountability systems to ensure responsible management.
- Request admins inform you when they ban or timeout a user so you can review logs and ensure it was justified.
- Ask admins to post public reports on their moderation activity in an admin-only channel you monitor.
- Enable a Moderator Logging bot like Dyno to automatically generate infraction and punishment logs for review.
- Schedule regular meetings with admins to discuss challenges, member complaints and get progress reports.
By putting oversight processes in place, admins stay aligned to your standards even without you watching day-to-day.
Make it clear that admins serve the community’s interests – not their own. Any oversteps in judgment should warrant immediate downgrade in privileges.
Conclusion
Assigning trustworthy members as Admins allows you to distribute the responsibilities of managing your growing Discord server. But improper vetting and oversight can enable disaster.
Follow this guide’s best practices to safely grant Admin powers only to ideal candidates ready for the responsibility. Limit scopes, implement accountability, and regularly connect.
Discord servers thrive when the owner and admins maintain order through policies applied fairly and for the good of the entire community. With the right team and systems in place, your server can continue flourishing.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Read Also: A Guide to Setting Up a Discord Server