How to make temporary voice channels on Discord (step by step)

Temporary voice channels (often called join-to-create channels) fix a classic problem on growing Discord servers: twenty empty "Gaming 1–20" channels cluttering the sidebar, or three channels where squads keep walking into each other's calls. Members join one channel, a bot creates a voice channel for them, moves them in, and deletes it once it's empty.

Here's how to make temporary voice channels on Discord with BotGG Lobbies: what to prepare, the console setup, settings for small and large servers, and fixes for common problems.

What you need before you start

• Manage Server permission on the Discord server (needed to add a bot and to use the admin command /lobbies).
• BotGG in your server — invite it and keep the default permissions. It does not need Administrator.
• A category for the lobbies, for example "🎮 Voice". Temporary channels are created inside a category, and Discord allows at most 50 channels per category.

The bot's role needs these permissions, either server-wide or on that category:

Step 1: Enable Lobbies in the console

Open the BotGG console, sign in with Discord and pick your server. In the sidebar, under Voice, open Lobbies and switch the feature on. The page has six tabs: Setups, General, Permissions, Control panel, Blacklist and Live lobbies.

Step 2: Create a join-to-create setup

A setup is one join-to-create channel plus the rules for the lobbies it creates. On the Setups tab click New setup:

1. Setup type — how lobbies are named and sized (see the table below).
2. Join-to-create channel — let the bot create a new channel (default name "➕ Join to Create") in your category, or pick an existing voice channel.
3. Lobby names — a name template with variables like {username}, {nickname}, {game} (what the owner is playing) or {seq} (the lobby number). The console shows a live preview.
4. Lobby defaults — user limit (0 = unlimited), bitrate and voice region.
5. Placement — which category lobbies go to, whether they copy permissions from the category or from the join channel, and whether to use overflow categories.
6. Behavior — locked or hidden by default, age-restricted, whether owners can customize their lobby, and an optional temporary text channel.

Click Create setup. It's live immediately: join the channel in Discord and you'll be moved into your own lobby.

Prefer Discord? Run /lobbies setup in a text channel inside your voice category (or pass the category option). It creates the join channel and a setup of the chosen type; refine it in the console later.

Which setup type should you pick?

Your plan decides how many setups you can run: 1 on Free and 25 on Pro (see pricing).

Step 3: Decide what lobby owners can do

The member who creates a lobby becomes its owner. By default a control panel is posted in the lobby's built-in text chat with two menus (lobby settings and lobby permissions) and a Load settings button. Owners can also use slash commands:

• /lobby name, /lobby limit, /lobby status — rename, set a member limit, set the voice status
• /lobby lock / /lobby unlock, /lobby ghost / /lobby unghost — close or hide the lobby
• /lobby permit, /lobby reject, /lobby invite — let someone in, kick and block someone, DM an invite
• /lobby transfer, /lobby claim — hand over ownership, or take over a lobby whose owner left
• /lobby lfm — post a "looking for members" ad to your LFM channel

The full list is on the commands page. On the Permissions tab you switch each owner command on or off for the whole server, and you can add role overrides, for example allowing renames only for boosters or a "Trusted" role. If any of a member's roles allows a command, they can use it.

Step 4: Configure roles, logs and cooldown

On the General tab:

• Log channel + Activity log — records lobby creations, owner commands and control-panel usage.
• LFM channel — where /lobby lfm posts go.
• Staff role — full control over every lobby, including locked and hidden ones.
• Member role — lock and hide act on this role instead of @everyone. Use it if your server has a verified-member role.
• In-lobby role — given while someone is in a lobby and removed when they leave.
• Creation cooldown — how long a member waits before creating another lobby (15 seconds by default).

Finally, add words you don't want in lobby names or statuses on the Blacklist tab.

Recommended settings for small and large servers

On a big server, turn on the Member role if you use verification so locked lobbies only affect verified members.

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

Run /lobbies troubleshoot first. It checks the bot's permissions, the categories, the join channels and the roles, fixes safe problems automatically (for example the bot's own access to a join channel) and lists the rest.

• Nothing happens when I join the channel. The setup may be disabled, or the bot lacks Move Members or Manage Channels in the category. Check the category's permission overrides — a deny for the bot's role beats a server-wide allow.
• "The category is full." Discord's hard limit is 50 channels per category (and 500 per server). Turn on Overflow categories in the setup: the bot creates another category when needed and removes it once empty. Dynamic setups can't overflow.
• Members can join but can't talk. Lobbies copy permissions from the category (or the join channel). If @everyone is denied Speak or Use Voice Activity there, every lobby inherits it.
• Nobody can use the join channel. @everyone is denied Connect on it. That's fine if you want only some roles to create lobbies — just allow Connect for those roles.
• The in-lobby role isn't given. Drag the bot's role above that role in Server Settings → Roles. Bots can't assign roles higher than their own.
• "Try again in X minutes" when renaming. Discord allows only two channel renames per 10 minutes per channel. This is a Discord rate limit, not a bot setting.
• Bitrate won't go higher. Without boosts voice channels top out at 96 kbps; boost levels 1/2/3 unlock 128/256/384 kbps.

FAQ

Are temporary voice channels deleted automatically?

Yes. A lobby is deleted as soon as the last person leaves, along with its temporary text channel. In a Dynamic setup, extra empty lobbies are removed after about 10 seconds so exactly one stays ready.

What happens if the lobby owner leaves?

The lobby stays open while others are inside. Anyone still in it can run /lobby claim (or pick Claim in the panel) to become the new owner.

Can I limit who can create a temporary channel?

Yes. Set the setup to copy permissions from the join channel and deny Connect on it for @everyone, then allow it for the roles that may create lobbies.

Can I have separate join channels for duos and squads?

Yes — create one Clone setup per size. Each join channel's name and user limit are copied to the lobbies it creates. The number of setups depends on your plan.

Does this work alongside raid or event sign-ups?

It does. Pair Lobbies with Parties for group sign-ups (see how to organize raid sign-ups), and show live member counts with Stat channels.