If you're not yet familiar with it, Discord is a voice and text chat app where you and your patrons can build a community you envision. Check out our What is Discord? to learn more. Our Discord integration syncs your Discord server roles with your Patreon tiers to grant exclusive server access and permissions. Join the conversation in the Patreon Creator community Discord server.
To correctly set up your Discord integration, please complete these three steps:
✅ Create patron-specific roles on your Discord server
✅ Connect Discord to Patreon (and move the Patreon Discord bot up)
✅ Assign Discord roles to your Patreon tiers
If your patrons need help troubleshooting their connection, feel free to send them our Discord troubleshooting guide.
Create patron-specific roles on your Discord server
If you are Follow the steps below to create Discord roles you might need for your Patreon tiers:
- Log in to Discord on the app or Desktop site. If you haven't already, create a server using Discord's guide to creating a server
- Click into the server you're linking to Patreon, and click on the drop-down button next to your server name
- Click on Server Settings
- Click the Roles tab
- 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
- Give your role the desired permissions and access to channels within your server
For our Patreon Discord bot to work properly, only one Patreon campaign can be integrated into a server
Server and Role management tips
If you’re already a Discord expert, then great! You already know how to design a server and roles to your needs. If not, read on for some best practices that will help you best manage your membership.
- Match your role names to your Patreon tier names: 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 Patreon Discord bot should be assigning them
- Make sure to drag the roles in order of the highest privileges
- Give your roles a distinguishing color: have fun with it!
- Display role members separately: enable this feature 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
- Create a separate role for collaborators or admins: If you have team collaborators or admins, creating a separate role for them and enabling additional management permission will help prevent confusion from roles that are meant only for patrons
- Check role access to private channels: verify that the roles you’ve created are in the designated private channels, so there aren't any issues with access when patrons are assigned their role
- Don't manually add patron-specific roles to Discord users who aren't patrons: all discord users that are manually added to patron roles will be removed accordingly. Patrons will be granted patron roles based on their active membership eligibility. That means roles managed by the Patreon Discord bot should be used exclusively for Patreon.
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:
- If you have not already connected to Discord in the apps settings page, log in to your Patreon page to do so
- Click on the Settings Page from the left-hand navigation bar, and click the App tab
- Click on the Connect button and log in to your Discord account via the pop-up window. Be sure to keep Manage Roles and Create Instant Invite checked in the authorization screen!
Open your Discord server in another browser window and continue!
- While logged in to your Discord server, click on the server
- Click on the drop-down button next to the server name
- Click on the Server Settings menu item
- Click the Roles tab
- Rename the new "Patreon" role to something like "Patreon Discord bot" so you know it's our integration
6. Drag the Patreon Discord bot to the top of your roles list, above other roles. If you have other roles that you do not want the Patreon Discord bot to manage, make sure that they sit above the bot
Moving the Patreon Discord bot above your other roles ensures that it can help assign roles to new patrons that pledge and remove roles from those who are no longer paying. Not putting the Patreon Discord bot at the top of your roles list may prevent it from assigning roles, especially if it’s below any roles you’ve linked to Patreon tiers.
Assign Discord roles to your Patreon tiers
You can now assign roles to your Patreon tiers right on the settings of the Apps page underneath Discord.
- Visit your Apps settings page
- Enable Discord for one of your listed tiers and select a role — when you enable a tier on this page, you must select a role for the Patreon Discord bot to manage
- When your roles are connected to a tier, you will be able to see this appear in your benefits in the tier description on your Membership Tab
- If there are issues with your setup, follow the instructions to resolve the issue. You can always disconnect your account and try reconnecting
Error states and how to resolve them
| Error state | Resolution |
| Please select at least one role. | A role needs to be selected for each tier that you enable for Discord benefits. This role should be exclusive to Patreon. |
| Please visit the Roles tab on Discord and move the Patreon role to the top of the list. | The Patreon bot appears as a role in your Roles list. This needs to be dragged on top of the roles that you'd like to include as part of your membership benefits. |
| You're already using these roles for another Patreon page: Please select another role to continue, or unlink these roles from your other page. | Roles should be exclusive to only one Patreon page. |
| There isn't a Discord server associated with your Patreon page. Please create a new server and try connecting again. | The Discord server that was previously connected to your Patreon page may have been deleted or can no longer be found. Try creating a new Discord and connecting again. |
| We couldn't find this role. Please update or choose a new role. | The role you have selected may not be sitting in the proper position to be managed by the Patreon role. Move the role below Patreon in your Discord settings to be included, or choose a different role. |
| There isn't a Patreon role in your Discord. Please disconnect Discord and try again. | The connection may have failed, and as a result, the Patreon bot does appear in your roles list. |
|
Please ensure the Patreon role in your Discord server has permission to manage roles. - Please ensure that the Patreon role in your Discord server has permission to instant invite. - Please ensure that the Patreon role in your Discord server has permission to kick members. |
These settings must be checked to ensure that the Patreon bot can properly manage your membership. Check the Patreon role permissions in your Discord settings. |
| There was an issue connecting your {Patreon account with Discord. Please disconnect Discord and try again. | There may have been an unknown issue while connecting your integration. Disconnect and try again. |
| Multiple issues with errors. | If you have multiple errors, they will be listed in the order of highest priority. |
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 accounts? Visit: Connecting to Discord to Patreon (Patron)
Frequently asked questions about Discord
Q: Why does the bot need permission to kick members?
A: This permission gives patrons the choice to opt out of being automatically enrolled into your servers. They will have the option to do so on their Discord app settings page.
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, even if you manually added members into those roles. If you do not want the Patreon Discord bot to touch certain members, create and assign them to a separate role and make sure that this role sits higher than the Patreon Discord bot in your role settings.
Q: Can I see which patrons are supposed to be removed?
A: Yes! You can use your Relationship manager to view the membership eligibility status of your patrons. Click the settings button on the right-hand side and filter for Discord to see the list of usernames. You can verify this against the list of members currently in your Discord servers.
Note that patron roles that are designated by the Patreon Discord bot will be managed as patrons. This means that any member (patron or non-patron) manually added will be removed.
Q: When patrons have access removed but remain in the servers, what are they able to see?
A: Patrons who are no longer paying will have their patron access to your designated patron channels removed by the Patreon Discord bot. They will be free to access your public channels. You can use this opportunity to engage in marketing in your public channels and re-invite them back into your membership.
Q: Will my other custom bots on my Discord server be affected?
A: Nope, the Patreon Discord bot will not interfere with your custom bots.
Q: How long will it take for the Patreon Discord 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 Patreon Discord bot to assign roles to patrons.
The Patreon Discord bot may experience delays on the 1st of the month, so new patrons may not instantly add to Discord. However, the Patreon Discord 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 Discord bot is offline on my server. Is something wrong?
A: You're all good! The Patreon Discord 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 Discord 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:
- That you didn't add Patreon Discord bot's role (which should be named "Patreon," unless you renamed it) to a tier
- The Patreon Patreon Discord bot is at the top of your roles list, ensuring that the Patreon Discord bot can assign roles to patrons
- 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 Patreon Discord 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 Discord bot to the top of my roles list?
A: If the Patreon Discord bot is not above roles that you’d want it to manage, it will not be able to assign roles associated with your tiers to your patrons. This is particularly true if you have other bots working in your server above the Patreon Discord bot. To be safe, we highly recommend keeping the Patreon Patreon Discord bot above your other roles (but below your admin 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 Discord bot, it won’t be able to update that user's information. Discord’s server list is a linear hierarchy; the Patreon Discord 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 Discord bot, it’s best to simply drag the Patreon Discord 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 Discord 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 Discord Role Management 101
Q: Will my patrons who cancel or decline be removed if they change their Discord username?
A: Yes, our Patreon Discord bot will still be able to identify this patron and manage them accordingly.
Q: What if my patron disconnects their Discord integration, and then deletes their pledge?
A: If a patron is no longer eligible for your membership, they will still have their role removed.
Q: What happens to my patrons when I delete a tier that was integrated with the role ?
A: If your patron is part of a tier that is no longer available, their role will be unassigned and the Patreon Discord bot will no longer manage that role for you.
Q: If I’m on subscription billing or some other billing model, will the Patreon Discord bot still work as intended?
A: Yes! The Patreon Discord Patreon Discord bot will sync across billing models every day. The larger the server, the more time it may take for changes to occur.
Q: Is there a record of which patron was affected by the Patreon bot?
A: Absolutely — creators can view the Audit Log in their Discord admin settings of the server and filter by User Role changes to view a log of all actions taken by time.
Q: Can more than one Patreon account be connected to a Discord server?
Yes! You can have multiple Patreon pages linked to a Discord server. Just make sure that you assign separate roles for your Patreon pages — these roles can have the same set of server permissions.
Q: Can a role be used for multiple Patreon pages?
No, a role cannot be used for multiple pages. This is to ensure more reliable access management with the integration. You can have multiple Patreon pages linked to a Discord server; just be sure to create separate roles for each account. Roles can have the same set of permissions, but can only be assigned to one Patreon page.