2 min read
By Mike
Discord Raid: What It Is and How Servers Defend Against It
A raid is a coordinated wave of accounts that join a Discord server at once to spam, harass or disrupt it. Servers defend against raids by slowing joins, requiring verification and limiting what new members can do, and by having staff alerted early.
What a raid looks like
The signs are easy to spot once you know them. Many new members arrive within seconds. Their accounts are young, often with default avatars and similar names. Then the same message, link or image appears in many channels, or mentions pile up.
Some raids are bots, others are people coordinating in another community. The goal is to cause damage quickly, before staff can react.
Defenses that work
- Verification: hold new members behind a button or a question until they pass. See onboarding and the verification bot.
- Server verification level: Discord's own setting can require a verified email, a minimum account age or membership time.
- Limited permissions for @everyone: no mass mentions, link embeds or file uploads until a trusted role is given.
- Anti-spam and link filters: remove repeated messages and unwanted links automatically.
- Staff alerts: an alert channel so a human sees the problem within minutes.
- Invites paused: Discord lets admins pause invites to stop joins for a while.
Discord's own AutoMod also helps, and the article on AutoMod versus bot moderation compares them.
What to do if one is happening
- Pause invites and raise the verification level.
- Time out or ban the accounts, and delete their messages.
- Check the audit log for roles or channels they touched.
- Write down what worked, then tighten the weak spot.
Raids and Noxyr
Noxyr's protection module includes raid mode. When 10 members join within 30 seconds it switches on, raises verification, and can time out or kick new joins. It ends by itself after 15 minutes, or when staff press End raid. It also has an alt account check that looks at account age (7 days by default), default avatars and names close to someone already banned, using public info only and never IPs. All rules start off, and rules that could affect a real person only alert staff until you choose a stronger action. Details are in the protection docs, with anti-spam and link filters as companions. See also alt accounts.
After the raid
Review what slipped through. Was the verification level too low, did a role have too much power, did nobody see the alert for twenty minutes? Fix that single weakness and tell your staff what changed. Keep a short written plan so anyone on your team can act fast, even when you are asleep.
Common questions
What is the first thing to do during a raid?
Pause invites and raise the verification level to stop new joins, then remove the accounts and their messages.
How does Noxyr detect a raid?
Raid mode starts when 10 members join within 30 seconds and ends on its own after 15 minutes.
Does a verification button stop all raids?
It stops lazy bots. Combine it with anti-spam, link filters and staff alerts for stronger defense.
