Community Moderation - The Basics

🧑‍⚖️ What makes a good moderator?

A great moderator isn’t just someone with permissions. They’re someone who understands your community and helps it grow.

Look for people who are:

• Friendly, active, and approachable

• Able to de-escalate situations calmly

• Confident taking action when needed

• Good communicators who lead by example

• Focused on making the server feel welcoming and safe

💡 Banning should be a last resort. A great mod can guide conversations without shutting people down.

📜 Setting server rules

Clear rules help reduce confusion and conflict.

• Keep them short and easy to find, ideally in a dedicated channel

• Use a bot flow to guide new members to the rules

• Apply the rules fairly to everyone, including moderators

• Consider adding a note that moderators may use their judgment when enforcing them

💡 Guilded’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use always apply, even if you have your own server rules.

🔍 Example rules you can adapt for your server

• Be respectful. No insults, harassment, or hateful conduct

• No NSFW or disturbing content

• Don’t discuss or promote illegal activity

• Avoid spamming or trolling

• Use self-promotion channels appropriately

• Stay on topic in each channel

• Keep political and hot-button topics out of general chat

• English only in public spaces

• Don’t share private information or screenshots without consent

• Criticism is okay, personal attacks are not

💡 Not everything needs a rule. Give your moderators the space to act with context.

🧩 Moderator roles and permissions

Give your mod team the tools they need, based on their level of responsibility.

Core permissions:

• Kick and ban members

• Manage messages

• Access moderator view

• Manage server XP

Optional or advanced:

• Update server settings

• Manage roles and nicknames

• Control bots and webhooks

• Use @everyone and @here mentions

• Manage server emotes

💡 Only assign high-level permissions to moderators you fully trust.

🧰 Helpful moderation tools

• Use private replies for gentle rule reminders

• Create a timeout or mute role to quickly manage spam

• Shift-click to mass delete messages

• Ban users with the option to clear their message history

• Assign channel-specific moderation roles if needed

✅ Final tip

Great moderation is about trust, clarity, and knowing your community. With the right people and tools, you can keep your space safe, fun, and welcoming for everyone.