Set up your bot.

Your bot is a small program written in Python (it uses the discord.py library). It runs on your computer or on a small server, and talks to Discord over the internet. You don’t need to know how to code. You just follow these steps once.

You will need

• The zip file we delivered with your order.
• A Discord account and a server you own (or one where you can manage roles and channels).
• A computer: Windows, Mac or Linux, with internet.
• About 30 minutes the first time.

The order of the steps: make the bot in Discord (Steps 2–6), get your computer ready (Steps 7–10), build and start (Steps 11–12), then keep it online (Step 13).

Unzip it and have a look. The exact files depend on your package, but a bot we build looks like this:

Some files appear after you run the bot: .env (you make it), state.json (remembers the IDs of what setup built), a data/ folder (saved levels, giveaways and so on) and a backups/ folder. Keep them next to the bot.

1. Go to discord.com/developers/applications and log in with your Discord account.
2. Click New Application, type a name (this becomes your bot’s name) and click Create.
3. Optional: on General Information you can add a profile picture.
4. Click Bot in the menu on the left. You’ll use this page in the next two steps.

“Intents” are permissions Discord makes you switch on before a bot can see certain things. The bots we build ask for two of them, and they will not start if you skip this.

1. Still on the Bot page, scroll down to Privileged Gateway Intents.
2. Switch ON: Server Members Intent (so the bot can see people joining and leaving) and Message Content Intent (so it can read messages for things like the chat filter, levels and suggestions).
3. Leave Presence Intent off.
4. Click Save Changes.

If your README asks for something different, follow your README.

1. On the Bot page click Reset Token and confirm.
2. Click Copy. Discord only shows the token once, so paste it somewhere private right away (you’ll put it in a file in Step 9).

1. In the Developer Portal click OAuth2 in the left menu and copy the Client ID (a long number).
2. Paste it into this link in place of YOUR_CLIENT_ID, then open the link in your browser:

   https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&permissions=2253277550996502&scope=bot+applications.commands

3. Choose your server and click Authorize. You may need to prove you’re human.

What that link asks for

• scope=bot adds the bot as a member of your server.
• applications.commands lets the slash commands (the ones that start with /) show up.
• permissions=2253277550996502 gives the bot only the permissions it needs, like manage roles, manage channels, moderate members, pin messages and thread controls. It does not include Administrator.

You can also build a link yourself: OAuth2 → URL Generator, tick bot and applications.commands, then pick the same permissions. You do not need to tick Administrator.

Every server, channel and role in Discord has a secret ID number. Your bot needs to know yours.

1. In Discord open User Settings (the gear next to your name) → Advanced and switch on Developer Mode.
2. Server ID: right-click your server icon and choose Copy Server ID. This is your GUILD_ID. Paste it somewhere for Step 9. (“Guild” is just Discord’s old word for server.)
3. Role ID: open Server Settings → Roles, right-click a role and choose Copy Role ID. You only need this if your .env has a line asking for a role, such as AUTO_ROLE_ID.
4. Channel ID: right-click a channel and choose Copy Channel ID, if your .env asks for one.
5. Private staff server: if your package has one, make a new empty server, invite the bot to it with the same link, and copy that server’s ID the same way (usually STAFF_GUILD_ID).

python --version

python3 --version

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-venv python3-pip
python3 --version

It should print a number like Python 3.12.4. Anything 3.10 or higher is fine.

Unzip your bot to a folder you’ll keep, for example Documents/MyBot. Don’t run it from inside the zip. A terminal is the text window where you type commands. Open one inside the bot’s folder:

cd ~/Documents/MyBot

Not sure you’re in the right place? List the files. You should see bot.py:

dir

ls

The .env file holds your bot’s secrets and settings. You make it by copying .env.example.

copy .env.example .env

cp .env.example .env

Files that start with a dot can be hidden. Windows: in File Explorer choose View → Show → Hidden items. Mac: in Finder press Cmd + Shift + .. Linux: press Ctrl + H in your file manager.

Open .env in Notepad, TextEdit or any text editor and fill in at least:

DISCORD_TOKEN=paste-your-token-here
GUILD_ID=paste-your-server-id-here

• DISCORD_TOKEN is the token from Step 4.
• GUILD_ID is your server ID from Step 6.
• No quotes and no spaces around the values. Lines that start with # are just notes.
• Other lines (a role ID for new members, a staff server ID, your timezone, names) are optional. The notes in the file explain each one. Leave a line empty to skip it.
• The file must be named exactly .env, not .env.txt. Save, close, done.

If you want new members to get a role automatically

If your .env has AUTO_ROLE_ID, paste the role’s ID (from Step 6) after it. The bot’s own role must sit above that role: open Server Settings → Roles and drag the bot’s role higher than the one you want it to give out. Discord never lets a bot hand out a role that is above its own.

In the terminal you opened in Step 8, run these lines one at a time. The first makes a private box (a “virtual environment”) for the bot’s add-ons, the second turns it on, and pip install downloads everything in requirements.txt.

python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

You’ll see a lot of text scroll by. That’s normal. When your cursor comes back, it’s done. After activate you’ll see (.venv) at the start of the line.

Closed the terminal later? Open a new one in the folder and run the activate line again before running the bot. If your zip has a start-bot file, it does all of this for you.

Standard and Premium bots can build your roles, channels and welcome and rules messages for you. If your zip has setup_server.py, run it once, with the same terminal still open:

python setup_server.py

python3 setup_server.py

• It prints each role, channel and message as it makes it, and finishes with “Done!”.
• It’s safe to run again. It skips what already exists.
• It may create state.json, which remembers what it built. Keep that file next to the bot.

Then in Discord, open Server Settings → Roles and make sure the bot’s own role is at the top, above the roles it needs to give out. After that, give yourself the Owner role if your bot made one. Everything it built is yours to rename, move or delete.

python bot.py

python3 bot.py

You should see a line like Logged in as YourBot#1234. Your bot is now online in the member list. Try one of its slash commands in your server. Type / and a list pops up. Your README lists them.

• The bot only works while this window stays open and the program is running.
• To stop it, press Ctrl + C in the window (or just close it).
• If you didn’t activate the private box, you can run the bot straight from it instead. Windows: .venv\Scripts\python bot.py. Mac / Linux: .venv/bin/python bot.py.

The easy way

If your zip has start-bot.bat (Windows) or start-bot.command (Mac), just double-click it. The first time it sets up the private box and installs the add-ons for you, and afterwards it starts the bot and restarts it if it stops. Make your .env first (Step 9). On a Mac, if it won’t open, right-click it and choose Open, or run chmod +x start-bot.command once in Terminal.

A Discord bot is only online while its program is running. When the program stops, the bot goes offline and its buttons stop working. You have three options:

Option 1: your own computer (free)

Leave the bot running (use start-bot if you have it). It goes offline when the computer sleeps, restarts or shuts down. Turn off sleep in your power settings if you want it always on.

Option 2: a small rented server (a VPS)

A VPS is a small Linux computer you rent, usually for a few dollars a month. Pick Ubuntu, log in over SSH, and run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y python3 python3-venv python3-pip tmux
# copy your bot folder to the server (scp, WinSCP or FileZilla), then:
cd MyBot
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
tmux new -s mybot
.venv/bin/python bot.py

Press Ctrl + B, then D to leave it running in the background. To come back later: tmux attach -t mybot. tmux doesn’t restart the bot after the server reboots. For that, ask your host about a “systemd service”, or use a bot host.

Option 3: a bot host or game-panel host

Many hosts made for Discord bots let you upload files and press Start. Typically you:

1. Create a Python server.
2. Upload the whole bot folder (or the zip, and use Unarchive). Make sure .env and state.json (if you have one) are included.
3. Set the start file to bot.py and the requirements file to requirements.txt. Or set the startup command to pip install -r requirements.txt && python bot.py.
4. Click Start.

Tip: run setup_server.py once on your own computer first (Step 11), then upload the folder with its state.json.

Whichever you choose, keep the bot’s folder together. state.json and the data/ folder hold your server’s IDs, levels and other saved data.

• Texts: if your zip has a content/ folder, edit those .md files in any text editor (they hold things like your welcome and rules text). If your bot has setup_server.py, run python setup_server.py --update-messages afterwards to refresh the messages it already posted.
• Names, timezone and options: they’re in your .env file when your bot supports them. The notes in the file explain each one.
• After you change any file, restart the bot (stop it with Ctrl + C and start it again).

Want something changed that isn’t in a setting? Your order includes revisions. Check your package on the pricing page.

Find your error message below, or use the search box at the top of the page.

Still stuck? Send us a message on your order and tell us the exact error line from the bot’s window (copy and paste it, but never include your token).

• Never share your token or your .env file. If anyone asks you for your token, say no. Nobody needs it to help you.
• Reset the token (Developer Portal → Bot → Reset Token) if you ever paste it somewhere by mistake, then update .env.
• Don’t upload .env or state.json to GitHub or any public place.
• Only give powerful roles (Owner, Admin) to people you fully trust, because the bot’s admin tools follow your roles.
• If your bot makes backups in a backups/ folder, copy that folder somewhere else now and then. A backup on the same computer won’t help if that computer breaks.
• Ask a parent or guardian before you rent a server or add a payment method anywhere.