How to connect Discord to Patreon (Creator)

Discord is a voice and text chat app where you and your patrons can build a community you envision. Our Discord integration syncs your Discord server roles with your Patreon tiers to grant exclusive server access and permissions.   

There are 3 phases to linking Discord to Patreon:

1. Create patron-specific roles on your Discord server
2. Connect Discord to Patreon (and move the Patreon bot up)
3. Add Discord roles to your Patreon tiers

We'll also answer the most frequently asked questions that the Support team gets about our Discord integration. 

Create patron-specific roles on your Discord server

Follow the steps below to create Discord roles you might need for your Patreon tiers: 

1. Log in to Discord on the app or Desktop site. If you haven't already, create a server using Discord's guide: How to create a Discord server
2. Click into the server you want to link with Patreon and click on the drop-down button next to your server name
3. Click on the Server Settings menu item
4. Click the Roles tab 
5. Click the Create role button to create a new role, or use the search tool to find the roles you want to link with your Patreon tiers
6. Give your role the desired permissions and access to channels within your server

Server management tips 

• Rename your server roles so that they match your Patreon tier names – this makes it easier for you to identify patrons and keep track of which roles our bot should be assigning them
• Give your roles a distinguishing colour
• Enable the Display role members separately from the online members setting. Displaying role members will help you distinguish Patrons from other server members on the left-hand panel of the server

Connect your Discord server to Patreon

Before you link Discord to your Patreon page, make sure you have a Discord account, have created a Discord server, and have created roles you'd like to assign to your patrons. 

Once your server and roles are ready, go through the steps below to link everything together: 

1. Log in to your Patreon page and click the My Page button from the left sidebar navigation 
2. Click the Page controls “...” button
3. Click the Edit Tiers link from the sub-menu
4. Click the Edit tier button of the tier you'd like to assign a Discord role(s)
5. Click on the Advanced button to reveal the Discord option 
6. Click on the Connect to Discord button and log in to your Discord account via the pop-up window. Be sure to keep Manage Roles and Create Instant Invite ticked in the authorisation screen!
7. Click the Save tier button, and then refresh your editor. Leave this page open because we’ll come back to it 

Open your Discord server in another browser window and continue!

1. While logged in to your Discord server, click on the server
2. Click on the drop-down button next to the server name
3. Click on the Server Settings menu item
4. Click the Roles tab
5. Rename the new “Patreon” role to something like “Patreon Bot” so you know it’s our integration bot

Drag the Patreon bot to the top of your roles list, above other roles

Moving the Patreon bot above your other roles ensures that the bot can assign roles that you designate to your patrons. Not putting the bot at the top of your roles list may prevent our bot from assigning roles, especially if the bot is below any roles you’ve linked to Patreon tiers.

Add Discord roles to your Patreon tiers

1. Log in to your Patreon page and click the My Page button from the left sidebar navigation 
2. Click the Page controls “...” button
3. Click the Edit Tiers link from the submenu
4. Click on the Advanced button
5. In the “Discord Roles” section, select the box to Give patrons access to selected Discord roles
6. A drop-down menu will populate where you can select the role(s) you want patrons in that tier to have 
7. Click the Save tier button
8. Sit back and let us work our magic – we’ll handle the rest from here! 

When a new or existing patron links their Discord account, we’ll automatically assign them the role(s) you assigned to their tier. If a patron deletes their pledge or their payment declines, we’ll remove the role(s) from their Discord account for you.

Want to learn how patrons can connect their Discord account? Check out: Get my Discord role!  

FAQs  

Q: Will non-patrons on my Discord server be affected?

A: We will only modify the roles of those who are your patrons. Additionally, if a patron deletes their pledge, we’ll revoke the roles you asked us to assign them.

Q: Will other roles on my Discord server be affected?

A: Nope, we'll only modify the roles you’ve selected in your Patreon tiers. For example, if you have roles A, B, C, and D but have only assigned A and B to your Patreon tiers, we’ll never touch C and D.

Q: How long will it take for the Patreon bot to assign in Discord?

A: Most of the time, it will happen immediately. If you have a lot of patrons who have connected their Discord accounts and you change the roles tied to their tier, it may take as many as a few hours for the bot to assign roles to patrons.

The Patreon bot may experience delays on the 1st of the month, so new patrons may not instantly add to Discord. However, the bot will catch up quickly, so there’s no action needed on your part. Patrons with a declined payment will regain access as soon as they resolve the charge.

Q: The Patreon bot is offline on my server. Is something wrong? 

A: You’re all good! The bot will display as offline on your server but will still be able to invite your patrons and assign them the correct roles.

Q: My patrons aren't being invited to the server or aren’t receiving their roles! What’s wrong?

A: it might be due to the permissions or Patreon bot’s position in your roles list. The patron may also be in over 100 Discord servers, in which case they may need to upgrade their Discord account. Check the following:

1. That you didn’t add Patreon bot’s role (which should be named “Patreon”, unless you renamed it) to a tier
2. The Patreon bot is at the top of your roles list, ensuring that the bot can assign roles to patrons
3. Reach out to the patron and ask them to check if they’re in over 100 Discord servers. Discord’s free offering lets users join up to 100 servers. If the patron has joined over 100 servers, they can upgrade to Discord’s Nitro offering (limit of 200 servers) or leave a different server before the Patreon bot can assign them a role in yours. We recommend reaching out to the patron and asking them to check if they’ve joined over 100 Discord servers.

Q: why do I need to move the Patreon bot to the top of my roles list?

If the bot is not at the top of your roles list, it will not be able to assign roles associated with you tiers to your patrons. This is particularly true if you have other bots working in your server above the Patreon bot. To be safe, we highly recommend keeping the Patreon bot above your other roles to ensure there is no disruption to your patrons receiving their roles on your server.

If a user role is listed higher than the Patreon bot, the bot won’t be able to update that user’s information. Discord’s server list is a linear hierarchy; the Patreon bot would need to be an Admin to override Discord’s user role hierarchy permissions. Since we don’t recommend adjusting the permissions for the Patreon bot, it’s best to simply drag the bot to the top of your list to ensure it can work its magic.

Q: why aren’t my patrons kicked from the server?

A: The Patreon Bot manages your roles and not the server. So if a patron deletes their pledge on Patreon, their Discord role will be removed, not their invite to the server. You can remove former patrons from your server directly on Discord. 

Learn about managing your roles in this article from Discord: Role Management 101