How to Set Up Discord Onboarding and the Server Guide (2026)

The first minute in a new server decides whether someone stays. If they land in a wall of 40 channels with no idea where to start, they leave. Discord's Onboarding fixes that: new members answer a couple of quick questions, and Discord shows them only the channels and roles that fit.

This guide covers how Onboarding works, how to set it up, and how to write questions people actually answer.

What Onboarding is

Onboarding has three parts:

1. Default channels: the channels every new member can see from the start.
2. Questions: short multiple-choice questions, such as "What brings you here?". Each answer can give the member roles and show them extra channels.
3. The Server Guide: a welcome message, a short list of to-dos for new members, and links to useful channels.

Members can change their answers later under Channels & Roles at the top of the channel list.

Before you start

• Turn on Community. Onboarding is only available on Community servers. See how to turn on Community.
• You need Manage Server and Manage Roles.
• Have your channels ready. Onboarding is built from channels and roles you already have, so set up your layout first. Our server setup guide helps.

Step 1: Pick your default channels

Open Server Settings → Onboarding and start with Default Channels.

Choose the channels everyone should see, whatever they answer: usually #welcome, #rules, #announcements, #general and an introductions or off-topic channel.

Discord has minimums here. You need a certain number of default channels, and some of them must be channels new members can chat in, not just read. If you're short, Discord won't let you turn Onboarding on and tells you how many more you need.

Two rules to follow:

• Default channels must be visible to @everyone. A private channel can't be a default.
• Don't make every channel a default. Then the questions have nothing to add.

Step 2: Write your questions

Questions are where Onboarding earns its keep. For each one you choose:

• The question, like "Which games do you play?"
• The answers, each with an optional emoji and description
• What each answer gives: roles, channels, or both
• One answer or several, and whether it's required
• Whether it's asked before members join or only shown later in Channels & Roles

Good question types

Question	Answers give
What brings you here?	A channel group for each reason (play, watch, learn)
Which games do you play?	A role per game, which opens that game's channels
Where are you based?	A region role for events in their time zone
Do you want event pings?	A notification role, so pings reach only people who asked

Tips for questions people answer

• Two to four questions is plenty. Every extra question is a chance to drop off.
• Keep answers short and add a one-line description when it isn't obvious.
• Put the most useful question first. It's the one everyone sees.
• Use notification roles for pings. People are much happier to opt in to pings than to be pinged.

Step 3: Set up the Server Guide

In the same Onboarding settings, open Server Guide:

• Welcome message: a short hello in your server's voice. Two or three sentences.
• New member to-dos: up to a handful of actions, like "Read the rules", "Introduce yourself in #introductions" or "Pick your roles". Each one links to a channel.
• Resource pages: links to the channels people return to, like FAQs or guides.

Keep it short. The Server Guide is a first step, not a manual.

Step 4: Preview, then turn it on

Use the preview to go through Onboarding as a new member would. Check that:

• each answer opens the channels you expect
• nothing private is accidentally a default
• the to-dos link to the right channels

Then switch Onboarding on.

Common reasons Onboarding won't switch on

1. Not enough default channels, or not enough of them that members can chat in.
2. A default channel is private. @everyone must be able to see it.
3. The server isn't a Community server.
4. An answer gives a role above your own role, which you can't assign.

Check it again later

As your server grows, revisit Onboarding every few months: remove answers nobody picks, add channels you've created since, and make sure your notification roles still make sense.

Let Cordary draft it

Writing questions and mapping every answer to the right roles and channels is fiddly. Cordary can set up Onboarding for you: describe what new members should see, and it drafts the default channels, questions and answers, plus any roles and channels that don't exist yet. You review it all before anything changes. The Server Guide you add in Discord yourself.