This article shares the steps for setting up a Discord server for your patrons. Discussed are connecting Discord to Patreon, setting up roles in your Discord server, including setting permissions for the Discord/Patreon BOT, and adding roles to your tiers. There are also Discord troubleshooting steps if your patrons are not getting their roles.
Give your patrons the gift of communication with Discord. Discord is a voice and text chat app where you can engage with your Patrons. Learn more about Discord, HERE. Our Discord integration makes it easy for you to access your Discord server with special roles for patrons.
In this article we’ll cover:
- Connecting Discord to Patreon
- Setting up roles in your Discord Server
- Adding roles to your Tiers
- Frequently asked questions
Note: For the purpose of this article, we’ll be showing screenshots of the Discord app, but know that you can do these things either in the Discord app, or on the Discord site.
Connect my Discord server to my Patreon page
Step 1: Before getting started you’ll need a Discord account with a server created. Learn how to set up your Discord server, HERE.
Step 2: Once you have your Discord account and server created, log in to Patreon and navigate to your Creator Page Editor. From here select the Tiers tab of your editor.
Step 3: Click Edit on a Tier you’d like to assign a Discord role(s), and click into the Advanced section. Scroll until you see the Connect to Discord button.
Step 4: Click Connect to Discord and log in to your Discord account via the pop-up window that appears.
Be sure to keep Manage Roles and Create Instant Invite checked in the authorization screen!
Step 5: A red message will appear letting you know that you’ll need to add a role to your Discord server and refresh this page. Click Save tier, and then refresh your editor. Leave this page open because we’ll come back to it.
Set up roles in my Discord Server
Step 1: Log in to Discord, and click into the Discord server that you’ve just connected to Patreon.
Step 2: Add roles to your server
Head to the Server Settings window and navigate to the Roles tab. You’ll notice a new “Patreon” role is in your server, go ahead and rename the role “Patreon Bot”.
Click the plus sign 
to add roles to the server – you’ll be able to use any of the roles you add to your Patreon tiers.
to add roles to the server – you’ll be able to use any of the roles you add to your Patreon tiers. Server management tips:
- Rename your roles so that they match your Tier names
- Give your roles a distinguishing color
- Enable the Display role members separately from online members setting, this will help you distinguish Patrons from other server members
Step 3: Give the Patreon Bot the required permissions
Make sure that the Patreon Bot is above the roles you’ve just created for your Tiers. If you have existing roles you’d like to assign to patrons, be sure to drag the Patreon Bot above those roles. If the Patreon Bot is not above these roles, it will not assign that role to patrons.
Important: Do not deselect or add any permissions to the Patreon Bot! It has all of the permissions it needs, and adding any additional permissions may break the integration.
Is that it? – Almost! Add Discord roles to your Patreon tiers
Step 1: Log back in to your Patreon account and head to your Creator Page Editor (if you aren’t already there). From here select the Tiers tab of your editor.
Step 2: Click Edit on a Tier you’d like to assign a Discord role(s), and click into the Advanced section. Scroll down and select Gives patrons access to selected Discord roles. A drop-down menu will appear where you can select a role.
You can select multiple roles. This useful if higher tiers are meant to receive benefit that lower tiers do. When you’ve selected your role(s) click Save tier.
Watch the magic!
We’ll handle the rest from here! Once a new or existing patron connects their Discord account, we’ll automatically invite them to the server and assign them the role(s) corresponding to their chosen tier. If a patron deletes their pledge or their payment declines, we’ll remove the role(s) from their Discord account for you.
FAQ’s
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 which 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 roles to be assigned in Discord?
A: Most of the time it will happen immediately. If you have a lot of patrons who have connected their Discord accounts, however, and you change the roles tied to their tier, it may take as many as a few hours for the roles to be reassigned.
Note: Patrons who were pledged to you before you set up your Discord Patreon roles will need to update their pledge, so that they can land back on the “thank you” page containing their invite to your Discord server. Feel free to direct any patrons who did not receive their server invite, here.
Q: The Patreon bot is offline on my server. Is something wrong?
A: You’re all good! The bot will appear to be 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 the Patreon Bot has. Make sure that (1) you didn’t add Patreon Bot's role (which should be named "Patreon", unless you renamed it) to a tier, and that (2) that the Patreon Bot is above all of the roles that you’ve added to your roles. The roles should look like, this.
If you've confirmed both of those and it's still not working, there may be a short delay, or there may be an issue on our end. If you think it's the latter, let us know!
Q: My former patrons aren't being kicked from to the server, they only lost their roles! What's wrong?
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. If you want to remove ex-patrons from the server, this must be done via Discord on your end for now.