Discord Warn Bot: Warnings, Records and Automatic Punishments

Why warnings need a record

Moderation in a small team falls apart on handovers. One moderator tells a member to stop, the next shift sees the same behaviour and has no idea it happened before. A warning that lives in a bot fixes that: every case has a date, a reason and a name.

The second reason is fairness. If punishments follow fixed steps, members can see that the rules apply the same way to everyone, and moderators do not need to decide each time how hard to come down.

Warn, list, remove

• /warn add warns a member with a reason and runs any step they have just reached.
• /warn list shows a member's warnings with the date and who gave each one.
• /warn remove deletes one warning, for a mistake or a successful appeal.
• /warn clear deletes all of a member's warnings.

Warnings can also be given from the dashboard, under Safety, then Warnings. The dashboard page is for server admins.

Automatic steps

A step is a rule of the form "at this many warnings, do this". Noxyr supports a timeout, a kick or a ban as the action. A common ladder looks like this:

Add or change a step with /warn step, giving the count and the action. Choose None to remove a step. Steps run on the exact count: when a member reaches 3 the 3-warning step runs once, not again at 4. If you delete a warning and the member reaches that count again, the step can run again.

Set it up

1. Open the settings. Use Safety, then Warnings on the dashboard, or /warn settings in Discord. It needs the Manage Server permission.
2. Pick a log channel so staff see every warning as it happens.
3. Decide on the member DM. The member gets the reason by direct message when their DMs are open. You can switch this off.
4. Set an expiry. A number of days after which old warnings stop counting. They stay on record. Zero means they never expire.
5. Add your steps and check that the bot role sits above your members and holds Timeout Members, Kick Members and Ban Members for the steps you use.

Who can warn whom

Anyone with the Timeout Members permission can warn, but only members below their own top role. The server owner can warn anyone except bots. This follows Discord's own role order, so a junior moderator cannot warn a senior one.

What happens when something fails

If the member has DMs closed, the warning is still saved. If the bot cannot carry out a punishment, for example because its role is too low, the warning is saved anyway and the moderator who gave it is told why the step failed. You never lose the record because of a permissions mistake.

Writing reasons that hold up

A reason is the part people read later, in an appeal or a handover. State the rule and the act in one line, such as "Rule 3: posted an invite link in #general". Avoid "being annoying". The warning template generator gives you a wording to start from.

Pair it with prevention

Warnings handle people. For floods and bad links, let the bot act first: anti-spam and link filters remove the problem, and server logs show the trail. See the security bot page for the whole stack.

A simple policy to copy

Write your ladder down where members can read it, for example in the rules channel. A short version: first and second warnings are a reminder, the third is a one-hour timeout, the fifth is a kick. Then set exactly those steps in the bot. When the written policy and the bot agree, members cannot say they were surprised, and moderators have less to argue about.

Set an expiry that matches how you see behaviour. Many servers choose a few weeks, so someone who had a rough day in spring is not one warning from a kick in autumn. Expired warnings stay on record for staff, they just stop counting toward the steps.

Next steps

The warn system guide shows how to design a ladder, and the warnings docs list every setting. Add Noxyr to start; warnings are free.