How to set up verification on Discord to stop raids and bots

A Discord verification gate keeps new accounts in a single #verify channel until they prove they are real people. Combined with an anti-raid lockdown, it turns a join flood from a server-wide mess into a queue your staff can clear in minutes. This guide shows how to set up verification on Discord with BotGG: which method to pick, how the setup wizard builds the roles and channel permissions for you, and which settings actually stop raids and bot accounts.

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 — every setting below lives there.
• About ten minutes. Verification and Moderation are free features; no Pro plan is needed for anything in this guide.

Discord’s own verification levels vs a verification bot

Discord has a built-in verification level (Server Settings → Safety Setup): from None up to requiring a verified email, an account older than five minutes, ten minutes of membership or a verified phone number. It is a good baseline and costs nothing, so set it to at least Low or Medium.

What it can’t do is tell a bot farm with fresh verified emails from a human, show your rules, ask a question, or hold suspicious accounts for staff review. That is what a verification bot adds:

Use both: Discord’s level filters the laziest bots, BotGG handles the rest.

Step 1: Run the setup wizard

Open https://console.botgg.app, pick your server, then Verification → Setup. The wizard asks two things:

1. Unverified role — create a new one or use an existing role. New members get it on join.
2. Verify channel — create #verify (optionally inside a category) or pick an existing channel.

It shows a summary before touching anything. When you confirm, it creates the role, sets up #verify so that the unverified role can read it but not type, denies View Channel for the unverified role on every category and channel, optionally creates a Verified role, and saves all the IDs into your config. The feature’s on/off switch is not changed — turn Verification on when you are ready.

Step 2: Choose a verification method

On the Method tab you pick how members prove they are human. Each card has a live preview.

Captcha images use 5 or 6 characters from an alphabet without look-alikes (no 0/O or 1/I), are case-insensitive and come with a “New image” button. You choose how many attempts a member gets (3 is the default).

Questions compare answers case- and space-insensitively against a list of accepted answers. Leave the list empty to accept any answer — handy for “Where did you hear about us?”. The console has a live answer tester so you can check what passes before members do.

Step 3: Add an account-age gate

Most raid and spam accounts are days old. Set Minimum account age (in days, 0 = off) and choose what happens to younger accounts:

• Review — they land in the staff queue instead of being kicked. Safer for servers where real newcomers create accounts just to join you.
• Kick — they get a DM with the reason and are removed.

A 3–7 day minimum is a sensible start for most public servers.

Step 4: Decide what happens on failure

The Outcomes tab controls the rest of the flow:

• Deadline — minutes a member has to verify (0 = no deadline, up to 7 days).
• On failure (wrong captcha, wrong answers or timeout) — kick (with an optional DM first), review (staff decides) or none (logged, attempts reset).
• Manual approval — everyone who passes still waits for a staff Approve. Use it for private or age-restricted communities.
• Welcome DM after success, with {user}, {username} and {server} placeholders.
• Log channel, review channel and staff roles allowed to approve or deny.

Review cards appear in the review channel with Approve and Deny buttons. Staff can also use /verification approve and /verification deny, or decide from the Queue tab in the console — decisions made there are carried out by the bot within seconds.

Step 5: Turn on anti-raid in Moderation

Verification controls who gets in; anti-raid reacts when many accounts arrive at once. Open Moderation → Protection and enable anti-raid:

• Trigger: N joins within T seconds (10 joins in 10 seconds by default).
• Lock channels: @everyone loses Send Messages, threads and reactions in the chosen channels (or every public text channel). The previous permissions are stored and restored exactly when the lockdown ends.
• Joins during the raid: accounts younger than the raid age limit are kicked; others get a timeout, a kick or nothing.
• Alert: a message to your alert channel with role pings, and auto-end after a number of minutes (0 = end manually with /lockdown end).

Staff can also start a lockdown by hand with /lockdown start. The full list is on the commands page, and the AutoMod setup guide covers spam filters for accounts that do get in.

Step 6: Greet people after they verify

If you use Welcome messages, turn on wait for verification there (or “welcome after verification” in Verification’s advanced settings). The greeting then fires when a member is verified instead of the moment they join — no more welcoming bots that never pass the captcha.

Recommended settings

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

• Unverified members still see channels. Channels created after the wizard ran don’t have the “View Channel: deny” overwrite for the Unverified role. Add it by hand or run the wizard again with the existing role.
• Roles aren’t given after verifying. BotGG’s role is below the Verified role, or the Unverified role is also listed as a member role (the console blocks that combination).
• The panel disappeared. Re-post it from the Setup tab or run /verification panel send. Members can always type /verify to get the prompt again.
• Everyone lands in review. Check that manual approval is off and that your account-age action isn’t “review” with a very high minimum.
• Lockdown ends too early or never. Adjust auto-end minutes; 0 means it only ends with /lockdown end or from the console.

FAQ

Is a captcha bot enough to stop Discord raids?

It stops accounts from reaching your channels, but a raid can still flood #verify and your join feed. Pair Verification with Moderation’s anti-raid lockdown and Discord’s own verification level.

Can members verify on mobile?

Yes. Every method uses standard Discord buttons and pop-up forms, which work in the desktop, web and mobile apps.

What happens to members who never verify?

With a deadline set, they are kicked or sent to review when it expires. Without one, they simply keep the Unverified role and see only #verify.

Do I need Pro for Discord verification?

No. Verification and anti-raid are part of the free plan. See pricing for what Pro adds elsewhere.