The Discord platform is quite popular, especially in the gaming community. Most of its charm stems from the fact that it allows like-minded people to form a community and engage in their chosen subject.
Due to the site’s popularity, the number of members in a community can be enormous. Therefore, servers often have people called moderators to ensure that each member adheres to the site’s and admin’s rules. But who are they?
A Discord mod or moderator is someone who controls discussions and fosters a safe and respectful environment for everyone on the server. Without a moderator, it’s easy for the site to lose focus of its intended purpose and for trolls to start bullying others.
Learn everything you need to know about Discord moderators — from the tasks associated with the role to how to apply to be one.
What Is the Difference Between a Discord Mod and a Discord Admin?
Contrary to popular opinion, a Discord mod and a Discord admin are two different roles. An admin is of a higher rank because they can perform all the tasks that a mod can perform, plus some other ones that are exclusive to their title.
Some of the functions of a Discord admin include the following:
- Assign mods
- Fire or remove mods
- Assign different roles to members of the community
- Come up with rules to govern the Discord
- Adjust server settings
- Delete/control bots
- Ban/unban users
- Delete offensive messages and so forth
With that said, a Discord admin is capable of performing almost all the tasks that the official server owner can perform. The only thing they can’t do is demote the owner from their position and delete the server.
On the other hand, a Discord mod is the moderator for that particular community. Keeping in mind servers can have thousands of people messaging the Discord at once; it’s bound to get chaotic. For this reason, one Discord server can have many mods.
The mod performs tasks such as:
- Deleting spam accounts
- Banning rowdy users
- Coming up with new topics to keep the group lively
- Answer any questions that users may have
- Address grievances of members
- Giving users time outs, and so forth
It’s imperative to note that the functions of a mod differ depending on the server. This is because they are given their assigned tasks by the people above them in the hierarchy.
Tips To Become a Good Discord Mod
It’s fairly simple to be a Discord mod if the server only has a few members because it will be easy to moderate. However, you might need to put more effort into being a good moderator if the server has a lot of members.
Below are a few tips you should employ if you want to be considered a good Discord mod:
- Create fair and meaningful rules to supplement the ones already there.
- Give everyone a fair chance to express themselves if their opinion isn’t hurting anyone.
- Constantly engage with your Discord community to ensure no one feels oppressed.
- Be impartial when enforcing the rules.
- Master your server’s purpose and ensure the content posted aligns with the community’s intended purpose.
- Constantly engaging with fellow Discord mods to learn from their shortcomings and successes.
- Sign up and participate in the Discord moderator academy.
- You should be constantly active to make sure everything is running smoothly.
How Much Do Discord Mods Get Paid?
Being a Discord mod is usually a volunteer gig; nowhere does the site state that you should be compensated. However, on rare occasions, the server’s admin may pay the moderators a commission off all the profits they make from the server.
You might be wondering how Discord servers generate income; if so, here are a few avenues:
- Selling branded merch to members of the community.
- Tips that members send to the admin as tokens of appreciation, and so forth.
Process of Being a Discord Mod
To become a Discord mod, you need to be an outstanding and trustworthy member of the community you are trying to moderate. Also, you will need to demonstrate that you understand the responsibility that the role brings forth.
If you possess the aforementioned attributes, you will need to fill out an application template provided by the site and send it to the admin.
Alternatively, you can customize your application so long as you ensure to send it to the admin. From there, the process is similar to that of a job application.
On rare occasions, the site owner or administrator randomly reaches out to offer you a proposal for becoming the moderator. In that scenario, you can either accept or deny the position depending on the terms offered.
Conclusion
Discord moderators are essential in a server to ensure everything goes smoothly. Without them, it’s common for the community to get chaotic, and this can even lead to Discord deleting the entire server.
While their functions differ, the primary focus is always to promote a positive and interactive environment where everyone adheres to the set rules.
