How to host a giveaway on Discord with a giveaway bot (fair and by the rules)

To host a giveaway on Discord, add a giveaway bot, post a giveaway with a prize, an end time and the number of winners, and let members enter with one button. When time runs out the bot picks winners at random, announces them and you deliver the prize. Keep entry free, set a requirement or two so the prize goes to real members, and say clearly how winners are chosen.

This guide shows how to do it with BotGG Giveaways: creating a giveaway in the web console or with /giveaway start, entry requirements, bonus entries for boosters or supporters, scheduled starts, the draw and rerolls. It also covers what makes a giveaway fair and which kinds of giveaways break Discord’s rules.

What you need

• A server where you have Manage Server permission, and BotGG added to it (https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=1553367772451446804&scope=bot%20applications.commands&permissions=282969912110295).
• Access to the web console at https://console.botgg.app.
• BotGG needs to view, send messages and embed links in the giveaway channel.
• Giveaways is free. The Free plan allows 2 giveaways running at the same time, Pro 25; scheduled giveaways that haven’t started yet count toward this limit too.

Discord’s rules for giveaways

Giveaways are allowed on Discord, but a few kinds cause real trouble — with Discord’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, and with the law in many countries:

• Never charge real money to enter. “Pay $5 for a chance to win” is a lottery, which is regulated or illegal in many places. The same goes for asking for Nitro, boosts, game items or anything else with real-world value as the price of entry.
• Don’t make boosting the only way in. Boosts cost money. Extra entries for boosters can be a small thank-you, but members who don’t boost should still be able to enter.
• Don’t run gambling. Betting coins that can be bought or cashed out for real money turns a giveaway into gambling.
• Prizes must be real and legitimate. Buy prizes such as game keys through official stores and deliver them yourself. Never post links that promise a prize for clicking — that is exactly what phishing scams look like.
• No spam requirements. Don’t ask people to DM-advertise your server, raid others or join with alt accounts.
• Respect privacy. If a physical prize needs a shipping address, collect it privately from the winner only, and delete it afterwards.

When in doubt, keep entry free and the rules short and public.

Step 1: Turn on Giveaways and set the defaults

Open https://console.botgg.app, pick your server and go to Giveaways → Settings:

• Manager roles — who may start, edit, end and reroll giveaways (besides members with Manage Server).
• Default channel and ping role for /giveaway start.
• DM winners and notify the host — on by default.
• Allow leaving — members can press the button again to leave a giveaway.
• Show entrant count — the live number of entrants on the button and in the post.
• Default bonus roles and the default look: colors for running and ended giveaways, emoji, image and thumbnail, with a live preview.

Then switch the feature on.

Step 2: Create the giveaway

You can create a giveaway in two places:

• The console editor (Giveaways tab → New giveaway): prize, description, channel, number of winners, start now or schedule, duration with presets, requirements, bonus roles, ping role and look — with a live Discord preview in your server’s language. The bot posts it within seconds.
• In Discord: /giveaway start opens a form for the prize, duration, winners and description. Options let you pick a channel, delay the start (start_in), require a role, set an entry cost and a ping role. Your default bonus roles, look and DM setting are applied automatically.

Durations are typed naturally: 10m, 2h, 3d, 1w, 1h30m, or just 90 for 90 minutes. A giveaway runs from one minute up to 60 days, with 1 to 50 winners.

The post shows the prize, the end time, the host, the number of winners, the requirements and bonus entries, plus one Enter button with the live entrant count.

Step 3: Add entry requirements

Requirements make sure the prize goes to people who are actually part of your server, not to accounts that join for one giveaway and leave. All of them are optional and can be combined:

When a member who doesn’t qualify presses Enter, the bot tells them privately what is missing — for example “You need level 5 or higher”.

Step 4: Give bonus entries

Bonus entries let you thank certain roles with a better chance. Add rows like “@Server Booster → 3 entries” or “@Supporter → 2 entries” (2 to 10 entries per role). A member’s weight is their best matching role, so bonuses don’t stack. The draw is weighted accordingly, and the member sees how many entries their roles give them when they enter.

Keep bonuses modest. A 2× or 3× bonus is a nice thank-you; a 10× bonus makes the giveaway feel decided before it starts.

Step 5 (optional): Paid entries with server coins

If your server runs an economy with Bank, you can set an entry cost in your server’s currency. Members confirm the price first (with their balance before and after), the coins are charged together with the entry, and they are refunded if the member leaves or the giveaway is cancelled.

This works well as a coin sink for economy servers — as long as coins are earned on the server and can’t be bought or cashed out for real money. The server economy guide shows how to keep prices balanced.

Step 6: Schedule and announce

To build hype, schedule a giveaway in advance — in the console with a date and time, or with the start_in option of /giveaway start. A giveaway can be scheduled up to 60 days ahead. The bot posts it on time and can ping a role when it goes live.

Announce it in your announcements channel and create a Discord Scheduled Event for the draw if you want people to be there when winners are revealed.

Step 7: Draw the winners and reroll

When the time is up, BotGG draws the winners with a secure random source, without replacement — nobody can win twice in one draw. Then it:

• edits the post to show the winners and disables the button;
• replies to the post mentioning the winners;
• DMs the winners (if enabled) and sends the host the list.

Need to end early? Use /giveaway end or End now in the console. If a winner doesn’t respond or has left the server, use /giveaway reroll with the number of new winners you need: rerolls never pick someone who already won. Cancelling a giveaway refunds every paid entry.

In the console, Details shows the post as it was published, every entrant with their entries and paid amount, the winners of each draw and the history of actions — useful if anyone questions the result.

Commands

Managers are members with Manage Server or one of your manager roles. The full list is on the commands page.

Fair giveaway checklist

• Entry is free in real money; any cost is in earned server coins only.
• The prize, the end time and the number of winners are in the post.
• Requirements are written in the post (the bot shows them automatically).
• Staff and hosts are excluded with a blocked role, if your community expects that.
• Bonus entries are modest, and non-boosters can still enter.
• Winners have a clear deadline to respond (for example 48 hours), after which you reroll.
• The prize is delivered privately and confirmed in public (“Prize delivered to @winner 🎉”).

Giveaway ideas that grow your server

A giveaway can do more than make one person happy — it can bring the right people in and keep them around:

• Recruiter giveaways. In Invites & Rewards, give a role at an invite milestone (“5 verified invites → @Recruiter”), then require that role in the giveaway. Invites only count after anti-cheat checks, so alts don’t help.
• Activity giveaways. A level requirement rewards people who chat and spend time in voice. See the leveling system guide.
• Milestone giveaways. Celebrate 1,000 members with a giveaway that requires a week on the server, so it rewards the people who got you there.
• Weekly small prizes beat one huge prize a year: they give people a reason to return every week.

More ideas for growth are in the guide on how to grow a Discord server.

Troubleshooting

• Members can’t enter. They don’t meet a requirement — the bot tells them which one. Check that required roles aren’t also listed as blocked.
• The post doesn’t appear. BotGG can’t see or send messages in that channel; a giveaway whose channel is missing or locked at start is cancelled instead of retrying forever.
• The entry cost option is rejected. Entry costs need the Bank feature turned on.
• A winner left after the draw. At draw time the bot only picks members who are still on the server and still meet the requirements; if a winner leaves later, reroll for one new winner.
• You hit the limit of running giveaways. End or cancel one, or see pricing for Pro.

FAQ

Is there a free Discord giveaway bot?

Yes. BotGG Giveaways is free: one-click entry, requirements, bonus entries, scheduled starts, rerolls and the console editor are all on the Free plan. Pro raises the number of giveaways running at the same time.

How does a Discord giveaway bot pick winners?

BotGG draws winners at random using a cryptographically secure random source, weighted by bonus entries and without replacement, so one member can’t win twice in the same draw. Every draw and reroll is stored.

Can I require members to invite friends to enter a giveaway?

Not directly, but you can combine features: give a role at an invite milestone in Invites & Rewards and require that role in the giveaway. Only verified invites count, which keeps alt accounts out.

Is it allowed to charge for giveaway entries on Discord?

Not with real money — paying for a chance to win is a lottery and can break both Discord’s rules and local law. Entry costs in server coins that members earn on the server are fine.

How do I reroll a giveaway on Discord?

Run /giveaway reroll, pick the giveaway and the number of new winners, or use Reroll in the console. Previous winners are excluded automatically.