Discord is popular because of the app’s community system called servers. People with similar interests join a server and form a community with common goals.
Discord has communities dedicated to different niches, which include technology, music, art, software development, and many more. Another community with a significant Discord following is online gaming.
Discord has features like streaming, voice and video calling, and in-app chatting users utilize and play and stream games on the app. If you’re new to Discord, you may occasionally encounter confusing terms like nuking.
So, what does nuking mean on Discord?
Nuking a server is deleting some or most of the server features and rendering it useless to other members. Nuking may involve spamming, deleting core channels, and banning most members so they can’t access the server. In most cases, one needs special access to perform a server nuking. This means that nuking is mainly done by server admins. In some isolated cases, nuking may involve hacking an admin’s account.
To learn more about server nuking and how to do it, read this post to the end.
Overview of Server Nuking
As the introduction notes, server nuking is when a member deletes core channels, spams the server, and bans most members.
Most times, nuking involves deleting a server’s critical features and information and preventing members from accessing the server.
One distinguishing factor about server nuking is that a person needs access privileges.
Only roles like a moderator or server admin can access features like deleting channels or banning members. This means that admins or moderators initiate most nuke attacks.
There’s a difference between nuking and raiding a server. Nuking involves deleting all functional features and information in a server while raiding mainly refers to spamming. Servers aren’t usable after nuking but are still accessible after raids. Any member can initiate a raid because it requires no role privileges.
If your server is nuked, it’s best not to retaliate, as it’s against Discord’s terms of use. Instead, report the server immediately.
If you know who initiated the nuke attack, notify Discord so they can ban their account. If you suspect the attack involved hacking, ensure you notify Discord immediately so they can warn other members.
Next, we’ll cover ways to prevent server nuking on Discord.
How To Prevent Your Server From Being Nuked?
You can do some things to prevent any member from nuking your server.
Verify Members You Assign Roles
Suppose you’re dealing with a server with hundreds or thousands of members. Assigning notable roles like a moderator to specific members may be inevitable.
However, ensuring these are upstanding members who won’t attempt to delete or nuke the server is essential.
If you have a small server with a few members, it’s best to manage everything yourself. If you need to assign roles, ensure you add bots that detect when members attempt suspicious activity on the server.
These bots can detect when a member, usually with a specific role, is attempting to mass ban or delete channels and quarantine them. The bot will only release the member from quarantine when the server owner allows it.
Such bots also have other security features to help protect your server.
Backup Your Information
One of the best ways to be prepared for a server nuke is to have your information backed up in a secondary location. This allows you to create and restore server information after an attack.
The best way to back up server information is to use a backup bot.
Most backup bots will automatically update your server information after a few hours. Still, some have premium versions allowing you to back up member names, messages, channel information, etc.
Upgrade Your Discord Account Security
Ensuring you have a strong password and enabling two-factor authentication for your Discord account will protect your server from nuking.
A strong password makes hacking difficult, and the two-factor authentication ensures that you’re the only one who can access the account.
It’s also critical to avoid sharing your account information with anyone. Additionally, warn your server members about clicking on clickbait and fishy links, as most lead to attacks.
Discord has a filter detection for malicious links, and they also warn users when a link isn’t authentic, but sometimes the links can bypass the filters.
Avoid giving permission roles to members you don’t trust. Add bots that detect rogue members and others to back up your server information if necessary.
For smaller servers that don’t require moderators, oversee the roles yourself so none can ban members or delete channels.
Summary
Nuking a server on Discords means deleting useful features like channels and banning most members so the server is no longer accessible.
Nuking is mainly instigated by admins or moderators as they have permission to ban and access the server’s features. Nuke attacks can, in rare cases, be a result of hacking.
Some of the best ways to prevent server nuking include verifying the members you assign roles to, enabling two-factor authentication for your account, and using quarantine bots that detect rogue members.
