Guide · Welcome messages
How to set up a welcome message on Discord (with welcome images)
A step-by-step Discord welcome message setup — greeting text, welcome image card, goodbye messages, a DM guide, auto-roles and greeting only verified members.
Welcome messagesVerificationRole menusInvites & Rewards
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A good Discord welcome message does three jobs in a few seconds: it tells the new member they’re in the right place, shows them where to go next and makes the server feel alive to everyone already in chat. This guide shows how to set up a welcome message on Discord with BotGG — the greeting text and its placeholders, a generated welcome image with the member’s avatar, goodbye messages, an opt-in DM guide, roles for newcomers and how to greet only people who pass verification.
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, with a live preview.
- About ten minutes. Welcome messages are free, including the image card and goodbye messages.
Discord’s built-in welcome vs a welcome bot
Discord already has a few welcome tools, and they are worth knowing before you add a bot:
- System messages (Server Settings → Overview): Discord posts a random line like “Glad you’re here” in the system channel, with a “Wave to say hi” button. You can’t change the text.
- Welcome Screen and Onboarding (Community servers only): a pop-up with recommended channels, and questions that hand out roles and channels before the member sees the server.
They are useful, but you can’t write your own greeting, attach an image, say goodbye or wait for verification. That is what a welcome bot adds:
| What you want | Discord system messages | BotGG Welcome messages |
|---|---|---|
| Your own greeting text | No (random lines) | Yes, with placeholders |
| Mention the new member | Yes | Yes, {user} |
| Member number (“you are member #1,284”) | No | Yes, {count} |
| Welcome image with avatar | No | Yes, three card styles |
| Goodbye message when someone leaves | No | Yes, with its own card |
| Greet only verified members | No | Yes |
| Show who invited the member | No | Yes, with Invites & Rewards |
Turn off Discord’s random join messages once BotGG greets in the same channel, or members will see two welcomes for every join.
Step 1: Pick the welcome channel
Open https://console.botgg.app, pick your server, then Welcome messages. Turn the feature on and, in the Greeting section, choose the channel the greeting is posted in — usually #welcome or your main chat.
Check two permissions on that channel for BotGG’s role: Send Messages and Attach Files (the image card is sent as an attachment). If the channel is read-only for members, that’s fine — the bot only needs to post.
Step 2: Write the greeting
Type your message in the greeting field or leave it empty. Empty means BotGG sends a ready-made greeting in your server’s language (“Welcome to {server}, {user}! 👋”), so it works out of the box.
Click the variable chips above the field to insert placeholders:
| Placeholder | Becomes | Notes |
|---|---|---|
{user} | A mention of the new member | The only ping in the message |
{username} | Their Discord username | No ping |
{displayName} | Their server nickname or display name | No ping |
{server} | Your server’s name | |
{count} | The current member count | Formatted for your language |
{inviter} | Who invited them | Needs Invites & Rewards; shown, never pinged |
{invites} | How many invites that person has | Needs Invites & Rewards |
A greeting that actually helps newcomers usually has three parts: a hello, one or two channels to visit and a question that invites a reply. For example:
The greeting is posted as a normal message (up to 2,000 characters, Discord’s limit), so channel links and formatting work on desktop and mobile. Only the new member is pinged — role and @everyone mentions in the text never ping anyone.
Step 3: Add a welcome image card
Plain text greetings scroll away fast; a welcome image makes each join stand out. In the Image card section, turn the card on and BotGG renders a 1024×360 picture for every new member and attaches it to the greeting.
What’s on the card:
- the member’s avatar in a gradient ring (their initial if the avatar can’t load);
- their display name, which shrinks to fit long names, and their @handle;
- your server name, a title and a subtitle.
What you can change:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Style | Neon (diagonal light lines), Glass (frosted panel) or Minimal (flat) |
| Accent color | Any color; drives the ring, the title gradient and the glows |
| Background | A solid color, or an image URL (http/https) that is darkened so text stays readable |
| Title | Default “Welcome”; placeholders {username}, {displayName}, {server}, {count} |
| Subtitle | Default “Member #{count}”; the same placeholders |
The console shows a live replica of the card as you edit. Russian, Hebrew and emoji names render correctly, right-to-left included, and every card carries alt text in your server’s language for screen-reader users.
If a background image is too large or too slow, it is skipped and the card falls back to your colors. If the card can’t be rendered at all, the text greeting is still sent — nobody goes unwelcomed.
Step 4: Say goodbye when members leave
Goodbye messages are optional, but they help staff notice churn and give the community a moment of closure. In the Goodbye section:
- Turn goodbye messages on.
- Pick a channel, or leave it empty to use the welcome channel.
- Write the text, or keep the default (“👋 {user} has left {server}. We are now {count}.”).
- Optionally enable a goodbye card. It has its own style, colors, title (“Goodbye”) and subtitle (“We are now {count}”), with a pink accent by default.
Goodbyes never ping anyone: in a goodbye {user} is the member’s name, not a mention, because they’re no longer on the server.
Step 5: Offer a welcome DM the right way
Many servers want to send new members a private message with the rules and links. Discord’s Developer Policy doesn’t allow bots to send unsolicited DMs, so BotGG never DMs anyone just for joining.
Instead, the DM guide section adds a 📬 Get the server guide by DM button under the greeting. A member who presses it gets your guide text in their DMs, with a small “Sent from {server} via BotGG” footer. If their DMs are closed, they get a private notice explaining how to allow them — no silent failures.
Good things to put in the guide:
- where the rules and FAQ are;
- how to get roles and which channels matter most;
- how to contact staff (for example your ticket system).
Step 6: Give newcomers roles
Welcome messages greet people; roles are handled by the features built for them. Pick the one that fits:
| What you want | Use | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Members choose their own roles (games, region, pings) | Role menus | Buttons, a select menu or reactions in #roles; link the channel in your greeting |
| A role for everyone who passes a check | Verification | Unverified role on join, member roles after the captcha, rules or questions |
| A role the moment someone joins | Flows | A workflow with the Member joined trigger and an Add role action |
The role BotGG gives must sit below BotGG’s own role in Server Settings → Roles — a bot can’t assign roles above itself.
For a true auto-role on join, the Flows workflow takes a minute to build: trigger Member joined (tick “ignore bots” if you like), action Add role, pick the role, save. The no-code automation guide walks through the editor.
Step 7: Greet only verified members
If your server uses a verification gate, welcoming everyone on join means greeting bots and raiders that never pass the captcha. In Advanced, turn on Wait for verification: with Verification enabled, the greeting (and card) is sent when a member is verified, not when they join. The same switch exists on the Verification side as “welcome after verification”; either one is enough.
While you’re in Advanced, consider Ignore bots so that adding a music or utility bot doesn’t trigger a welcome and a goodbye. The verification guide covers the gate itself.
Step 8: Show who invited the new member
With Invites & Rewards enabled, the greeting can credit the person who brought the newcomer:
The inviter is shown as a mention but never pinged. When the join can’t be attributed (for example several people joined through different invites at the same moment), {inviter} becomes “someone” instead of a guess. The invite tracking guide explains how joins are attributed and how to reward inviters.
Welcome message templates
Copy one, then adapt the channel names:
| Server type | Greeting |
|---|---|
| Gaming community | GG {user}, welcome to {server}! Grab your game roles in #roles and find a squad in #lfg. |
| Study or work group | Hi {displayName}, welcome to {server}. Introduce yourself in #introductions and check #resources to get started. |
| Creator / fan server | {user} just joined! You’re fan #{count} 💜 Notifications for new videos are in #announcements. |
| Growing server with rewards | Welcome {user}! Invited by {inviter} — that’s invite #{invites} for them. |
Troubleshooting
- No greeting appears. Check that the feature is on, a channel is selected and BotGG can see the channel and send messages there. If Wait for verification is on, new members are greeted only after they verify.
- The text is posted, but no image. BotGG’s role is missing Attach Files in that channel, or the card is turned off.
- Members get two welcomes. Discord’s own random join message is still enabled for the same channel (Server Settings → Overview → System Messages).
- The background image doesn’t show. Use a direct link to a PNG or JPG over http(s); pages that only display an image, very large files or slow hosts are skipped.
{inviter}shows “someone”. Invites & Rewards is off, BotGG lacks Manage Server (needed for exact invite tracking), or the join was ambiguous.- The DM button says it couldn’t DM me. The member has DMs from server members turned off in their Privacy Settings.
FAQ
How do I make a welcome message on Discord without a bot?
Enable system messages in Server Settings → Overview and pick a system channel. Discord will post random welcome lines, but you can’t change the text, add an image or say goodbye — that needs a welcome bot.
Can the welcome message be an image?
Yes. Turn on the image card and every greeting gets a 1024×360 welcome image with the member’s avatar, name and member number, in the neon, glass or minimal style with your colors or background.
Can BotGG send new members a DM automatically?
No, by design — unsolicited DMs break Discord’s Developer Policy and annoy members. The DM guide button sends the message only to members who ask for it.
Is the Discord welcome bot free?
Yes. Welcome messages, image cards, goodbye messages and the DM guide are all part of the free plan. See pricing for what Pro adds in other features.