A Discord server is an online space on the Discord app created for specific groups to connect.
The server is divided into channels, which are dedicated to particular topics within the group. Imagine the server as a filing cabinet and each channel as a file folder in that cabinet.
When you join a new Discord server it can contain lots of channels, and this can get overwhelming for users.
We all know what it’s like to get too many notifications on our phone or desktop.
Fortunately, there is a solution to the information overload you may experience on a Discord server.
As a user, you have the option to tailor the content you see in a server to fit your preferences and interests. A handy way to do this is through self-assigned roles.
Self-Assign Roles on Discord – All Explained
Usually only channel admins are allowed to assign roles on Discord. Admins, or administrators, are the people who create and oversee a Discord server.
They invite people to join the server and self assign roles to the users. Roles on a Discord server help the admin organize users and ensure they get the content they want from the server.
In a server with hundreds or even thousands of users, it can be annoying and complicated for admins to change the permissions every time a user wants to add or subtract a role.
To save the admins a lot of headaches, they can enable bots that allow users to do this chore themselves.
As a user, when you self-assign roles on Discord, you control what kind of content you receive through the server.
Servers that give you this option will typically have a designated place for role selection, usually in the “Intro” or “Welcome” channel.
The channel greeting will prompt you to select the roles you would like.
You can manually manage roles and assign them easily within the Discord server settings, and then heading into roles;
You can then assign Discord roles by using the + icon to add a new role. You need to do this individually to give roles to server members.
However, sometimes when a channel starts to get more and more users, you may want to set up self assignable roles for when a user joins your server.
The ability to automatically assign roles and give particular users all the permissions they need by typing certain command lines can be done by using a multi purpose Discord bot.
Types of Self-Assigning Roles
Some roles on a Discord server are administrative and come with the ability to make changes to the server.
These roles are typically not self-assigned but are granted to people to whom the admin wants to delegate tasks.
You can give people on the server multiple roles too, which when successfully created, will make the entire process of running a Discord channel much easier.
The roles that you can self-assign tend not to be focused so much on granting you permissions but filtering server posts so that you only see the content you are interested in.
Some roles are practical, and some are just for fun.
When you assign yourself a role on a Discord server, you are essentially giving the server bots a picture of what kind of user you are.
This way, the bots will know what content to send you notifications about – these are all the roles that you can currently assign to your
This will allow you to assign reaction roles automatically, which is a step further than what we can do ourselves in Discord.
For this, we like using the Mee6.xyz bot, which you can add to your Discord servers to give you the ability to allow users to make command based actions.
The plugin called Reaction Roles is extremely simple and easy to install, and it’ll give you the ability to edit user roles quickly.
If you want an alternative you can also look at Carl Bot, which is specifically made to create reaction roles (though you can do this with Mee6 too!, and you get the additional advantages of other customizations).
Carl Bot allows you to add multiple reactions, and has various role commands that you can set up too.
Reaction Roles
This is a fun one. Most servers have a selection of reactions that you can use to quickly respond to a post or a comment. These reactions are more than just emojis, though.
By enabling a Reaction Roles bot, the admin of a server can create roles that correspond to a reaction.
When you visit the “Welcome” or “Intro” channel, you will see a key that equates roles with a certain reaction.
For example, the Welcome channel on a Harry Potter fandom server might have a prompt that says, “react with the color of your Hogwarts house.” You could then react with red, green, blue, or yellow in the reaction menu.
Depending on the reactions you choose on the server’s welcome page, the bot will assign you roles and let you access channels that interest you.
For example, if you selected yellow in our theoretical Harry Potter server, you would be admitted into a Hufflepuff channel where you can discuss what good finders you all are. It’s a Hufflepuff thing. You wouldn’t understand.
Interest-Based Roles
Let’s say you are part of a server that focuses on a really broad topic, but you are only interested in a few sub-topics.
An anime-related server might have sub-topics related to specific anime like My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Cowboy Bebop.
A server related to gaming could have sub-topics for particular games like Fate/Grand Order or Persona.
Assigning yourself roles based on your interests will ensure that you see posts and comments about the sub-topics you care about and won’t be bothered by content that doesn’t interest you.
It’s like a funnel for your Discord server. This might not make a massive difference is there’s only a few online members, but in a massive server, it can be extremely helpful.
Event-Based Roles
Some of the servers you follow probably have many events going on, some that you want to attend, and others that you aren’t interested in.
If a server has self-assigning roles enabled, they often have different roles for each kind of event they organize or participate in.
Just like with interest-related roles, you can assign yourself certain roles based on what events you want to attend.
Maybe you want to be alerted when someone on the server starts streaming a playthrough of Bloodborne, but you don’t want to receive alerts every time a gamer starts streaming Mario Party.
Event-based roles can get very specific. If you want to be alerted about an annual video game charity stream in your area, you can select a role that will filter out all the other events you aren’t interested in.
Dive Into the Server
You’ve found an awesome server that gives you access to your favorite content, but it comes with a lot of excess content that isn’t relevant to you.
You could leave the server and save yourself the notification overload, but then you’d be missing out on the server channels you enjoy. Instead, weed out the deadwood with some self-assigned roles.
Once you get the hang of self-assigning roles, you can filter out unwanted content and tailor your Discord experience to suit your interests. Adding self assigned roles is Discord can improve the app drastically.
You won’t have any backlog of notifications from topics and channels that aren’t relevant to you, which is one of the main advantages to taking a little time to learn how to run your Discord channel properly.
Whether you use Discord for a gaming community, D&D group, or theater company, there’s no limit to the customization you can bring to your feed by selecting self-assigning roles.
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