Discord AutoMod Setup: Best Settings, Word Lists and Regex
How to set up Discord AutoMod: the best settings, a starter word list, a tested invite regex, a block message that sends members to support, and fixes.
Dani, Founder, AI Ticket Bot
7 min read
Beyond the switches, this covers what a blocked member sees, where they go next, and why ticket channels need different rules. Every limit was checked against Discord's documentation in November 2026.
What can Discord AutoMod filter?
Five kinds of rule, each with its own actions.
| Rule | What it catches | What it can do |
|---|---|---|
| Commonly flagged words | Three ready-made lists: insults and slurs, sexual content, severe profanity | Block, alert |
| Custom keywords | Your own words, phrases, wildcards and regex. Up to six rules | Block, alert, timeout |
| Spam content | Messages like reported spam, such as free Nitro offers | Block, alert |
| Mention spam | Too many unique mentions in one message. You set the limit, up to 50 | Block, alert, timeout |
| Member profile names | Words you list, in a username or server nickname | The member must change it to talk |
The limits that matter
- Words per custom rule
- 1,000, each up to 60 characters
- Regex per custom rule
- 10 patterns. Discord's help page caps each at 75 characters
- Custom block message
- 150 characters
- Exempt roles
- 20 per rule
- Exempt channels
- 50 per rule
- Editing rules
- On a computer only, not in the phone app
The ready-made lists and the spam filter are English only, and their contents are private. Custom keywords work in any language. The six-rule limit is from Discord's developer documentation.
How do you set up AutoMod on Discord?
Turn on what Discord built, then add your own rules, one job per rule. Actions, exemptions and the block message are set per rule.
Open AutoMod
On a computer: Server Settings, then Safety Setup, then AutoMod. You need Manage Server or Administrator
Turn on Commonly Flagged Words
Pick the lists. Add any harmless word they catch under exempt words
Make an alerts channel
Private, staff only. Pick it as the alert channel in each rule
Add custom keyword rules
One per job, such as scam phrases or invite links
Write the block message
Edit Custom Message on each rule that blocks, pointing members to support
Set exemptions
Your staff roles, and the channels where a rule should not apply
Test as a member
From an account with no staff role, trip each rule once
On desktop, right-click a highlighted word in chat and choose Flag Word to add it to a rule.
What are the best Discord AutoMod settings?
For a typical community server, this is our starting point.
Recommended starting settings
- Commonly flagged words
- All three lists. Block and alert
- Spam content
- On. Block and alert
- Mention spam
- A limit of 5. Block, alert and a short timeout
- Scam phrases rule
- The list below. Block, alert and a short timeout, with tickets exempt
- Invite links rule
- The regex below. Block and alert, with your partner channel and tickets exempt
- Member profile names
- Words scammers use to pose as staff, such as moderator or support team
- Exempt roles
- Your staff roles, on the invite and scam rules only
How do you build a Discord AutoMod bad words list?
Start with Discord's lists, then add only what your server actually sees. Never retype slurs into a custom rule: turn on Insults and Slurs instead. Custom rules are for what the presets miss: the scams your alerts and report tickets show you.
How the star works
- nitro
- Only the whole word
- nitro*
- Words that start with it, such as nitrogift
- *nitro
- Words that end with it, such as freenitro
- *nitro*
- Anywhere, even mid-word
- steam gift
- Only that exact phrase
A starter scam list. Paste it into a custom keyword rule and delete anything your members say innocently:
free nitro, nitro giveaway, *nitro gift*, steam gift, accidentally reported, claim your reward, *free robux*, airdrop
Use the narrowest form that works: *nitro* would also block a member asking how to buy Nitro.
How do you block links and invites with AutoMod?
Use a regex rule for invites, and block every link only if you must. Regex sits inside custom keyword rules. Discord uses the Rust style of regex, ignores capitals, and does not support backreferences. This blocks Discord invites:
discord(app)?\.(gg|com/invite)/\w+
It catches discord.gg and discord.com/invite links but not message links (discord.com/channels/...), so members can still point staff at a message. For scams, one pattern beats a list of spellings:
fr[e3]{2}\s*n[i1!]tro
That catches free nitro, fr33 n1tro and freenitro. We tested both in a Rust regex engine. To block every link, use https?://, though a link typed without it, like example.com, still gets through.
What happens to a member AutoMod blocks?
Their message is never posted, and they get a note only they can see. Staff see it only if the rule sends an alert. The rest depends on your actions:
What the member gets
- Block message
- A private note that the server blocked it, plus your custom message
- Send alert
- Nothing they can see. Staff get who, what and where in the alerts channel
- Timeout
- No messages, reactions or voice anywhere in the server until it ends
Discord's note does not say what to do next. Yours can, in 150 characters:
Blocked by our filters. If you think this was a mistake, open a ticket in #support and tell us what you were trying to send.
And for the invite rule:
Invite links are not allowed here. Want to partner with us? Open a ticket in #support.
Treat the alerts channel as a queue: a false positive is a word to exempt or a wildcard to narrow. On AI Ticket Bot, staff with the Open tickets for others permission can open a ticket for the member: /ticket open, picking them under open_for.
Keep timeouts on rules that rarely misfire. A timed-out member cannot write anywhere, a ticket included, so a wrong timeout leaves them nowhere to explain.
Should AutoMod run in your ticket channels?
Keep the slur and mention rules on, and exempt tickets from your link and scam rules. Tickets are private, and members have real reasons to paste in them what your filters stop: the scam invite they were sent, a link to their order, an error log. A blocked message never appears in the ticket, so neither staff nor our AI sees it, and the member waits on something nobody read. And a report without the scammer's invite is one you cannot act on, as report tickets explains.
How you exempt them depends on whether your tickets are threads or channels:
Exempting tickets
- Thread tickets
- Exempt the channel the threads open under. Discord says that covers its threads
- Channel tickets
- Each ticket is a new channel, too many to list. Exempt the ticket category if the picker offers it
- Staff
- Exempt staff roles from the same rules
Discord's help pages only mention channels, never categories. Developer libraries document that a category on the list covers every channel inside it. Test it: open a new ticket from a member account and paste an invite. If it posts, it works. If not, thread tickets are the dependable route.
Discord's own malware and phishing link filter still runs in every Community server, separately from your rules.
Why is Discord AutoMod not working?
Usually because the person testing it is exempt. Check in this order:
| What you see | The likely cause |
|---|---|
| Nothing is blocked when you test | You have Administrator or Manage Server, which always skip AutoMod |
| Messages post, staff get alerts | The rule has Send alert on and Block message off |
| A moderator is never blocked | Their role is exempt in that rule |
| One channel or thread ignores it | That channel, or the one the thread sits in, is exempt |
| A bot's message is not blocked | AutoMod skips bots installed in your server |
| nitro missed nitrogift | No star means whole words only |
| Another language gets through | The preset lists and spam filter are English only |
| Discord refuses your regex | A syntax error, too complex, or a backreference |
Also check the rule is switched on. AutoMod checks messages as they are sent, not older ones.
Where AutoMod stops, and where a ticket bot fits
AutoMod matches words. It cannot tell who keeps causing trouble or follow up with a member it blocked.
AI Ticket Bot is not a moderation bot. It never deletes chat messages, times anyone out or bans anyone, and it does not act on AutoMod's alerts. Its AI speaks only in tickets and the AI FAQ channels you choose. What it adds is the other half: the Discord ticket bot your block message points to, and a blacklist for members who abuse tickets.
/blacklist blocks a member, or everyone with a role, from opening tickets and from the AI, for a day, a week, 30 or 90 days, a year or forever. They stay in the server. It is free on every plan, and you can hand the permission to a staff role. In a ticket, the AI can block a member itself, but only after two clear warnings and only for abuse such as spam or scams. The bot blacklist guide covers both.
Good fit
- AutoMod is free, built in, and stops a message before anyone sees it
- A custom message can send a blocked member to a ticket
Not the right call
- It matches words, not intent, so it misfires and misses
- Administrators and Manage Server always skip it
- AI Ticket Bot does not moderate chat. Its blacklist covers tickets and the AI only
Sources and further reading
Frequently asked questions
On a computer, open Server Settings, then Safety Setup, then AutoMod. You need Manage Server or Administrator. Turn on the Commonly Flagged Words lists and the spam and mention spam rules, add custom keyword rules for your own words, pick a staff-only channel for alerts, and test from an account with no staff role.
For most community servers: all three Commonly Flagged Words lists on, the spam content rule on, a mention limit of about five, one custom rule for scam phrases and one for invite links, alerts sent to a staff-only channel, and a custom message that points members to a ticket. Add timeouts only to rules that rarely catch innocent messages.
Yes. A rule that blocks messages can add your own text, up to 150 characters, to the private note the member sees. Use it to say what to do next, for example: If you think this was a mistake, open a ticket in #support. Each rule has its own message.
Most often because the person testing it has Administrator or Manage Server, and those members always skip AutoMod. Also check that the rule is switched on and set to block, that the role or channel is not exempt, and that keywords use a star where you want partial matches. AutoMod does not check messages from bots installed in your server.
Discord's help pages describe exempting roles and channels, up to 20 roles and 50 channels per rule, and say an exempt channel also covers its threads. They do not mention categories. Developer libraries document that a category on the list covers the channels inside it, so add your ticket category if the picker offers it, then test with a new ticket from a member account.
No. AI Ticket Bot is a ticket bot. It never deletes chat messages, times anyone out or bans anyone, and it does not act on AutoMod alerts. It gives blocked members a ticket to go to, and its /blacklist stops a member or a role from opening tickets and using the AI, free on every plan.
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