How to Add and Assign Roles in Discord (2024)

To help you manage your servers, Discord allows you to create custom roles and assign them to your server members. This way, the members can moderate your server's content and help ease your schedule. We'll show you how to do that.

To create a role, you must be the owner or admin on the server. If you're a regular server user, you can't make or assign roles. However, if you're an admin, you should be careful in assigning powerful roles because that's how servers get nuked.

Related: How to Protect Your Discord Server From Spam and Attacks

Create and Assign Roles in Discord on Desktop

On your desktop, use either the Discord desktop app or Discord for the web to make and assign user roles.

To begin, launch Discord on your machine. In Discord's left sidebar, select the server in which you want to create roles.

At the top, next to your server name, click the down-arrow icon and choose "Server Settings."

From the left sidebar, select "Roles."

On the right pane, click "Create Role."

On the right pane, you'll see an "Edit Role - New Role" section. Here, click the "Role Name" field and type a name for the role you're creating. This name can be anything of your choice, but keep it descriptive so you can recognize it later.

Then click the "Role Color" option and assign a specific color to identify your role.

At the top, select the "Permissions" tab to view the permissions you can assign to your new role. Enable the toggle for the permission that you'd like for your new role to have.

Scroll down to view more permissions. Later, you can revoke permissions if needed.

From the top, select the "Manage Members" tab. Then click "Add Members" to assign your newly created role to your server members.

In the "Add Members" box, from the "Members" section, select the user(s) you want to assign your newly-created role. Then, at the bottom, click "Add."

Back on the "Manage Members" tab, you'll see your selected user with your new role assigned to them. To save your settings, at the bottom of your current tab, click "Save Changes."

Your role is now created and assigned to your selected user, and you're all set.

Make and Assign Roles in Discord on Mobile

On your mobile, use the Discord app to make and assign user roles on your server.

Start by launching Discord on your phone. In the app's top-left corner, tap the three horizontal lines.

On the left sidebar, tap the server in which you want to add a role. Then, next to the server name at the top, tap the three dots.

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In the server menu, select "Settings."

Scroll down the "Server Settings" page to the bottom. There, tap "Roles."

In the lower-right corner of the "Roles" page, tap the "+" (plus) sign.

Tap the newly created role and you'll see a "Role Settings" page. Here, tap the "Role Name" field and assign a name to your new role. Then tap the "Role Color" option and choose a color to identify your role.

Scroll down the page to see various permissions you can assign to your new role. To enable a permission, next to the permission, tap the checkbox.

Save your changes by tapping the floppy disk icon in the bottom-right corner. Then return to the previous screen by tapping the back arrow icon in the top-left corner.

Tap the back arrow icon again in the top-left corner to get to the "Server Settings" page. Then, from the "User Management" section, select "Members."

On the "Members" page, find and tap the user you want to assign your new role.

In the "Roles" section, next to your newly-created role, enable the checkbox.

Your role has now been assigned to your selected user, and you're all done.

And that's how you allow people to do more than just read and write content in your Discord servers. Happy managing your Discord communities!

While you're at it, did you know you can make someone an admin on your Discord server? This grants the user super privileges on your server.

Related: How to Make Someone Admin on Discord