Member Role Structure and Why it's Important

Written By JustVibin#1657

Introduction

An average Discord server has about 10 roles or more, this number can usually fluctuate based on the topic, features and owner of the server. When setting up a server for the first time as a rookie server owner, it is one of the most important aspects of an appealing and successful server. Roles and the way they are structured. They can serve purposes from encouraging members to become more engaged, increasing partnership opportunities and even bringing in some donors for your Patreon. These are only a few examples of what this can do for you. You may be puzzled on where to start with this? 

A great way to start is to make sure you understand the concept of role structuring first. Look at how roles are structured on other servers and how the management team of that server administers these roles to their members. For now, we will be looking at how the roles at AYS are structured. 

Level/Activity Roles

First, we will be discussing activity roles, specifically level roles. These kinds of roles are one of, if not the most important out of all of them. These would be the roles that would be awarded to members based on how active they are in the server. Usually, activity can be measured by levels. Which is an interactive and easy way to monitor activity, members would level up based on the amount of messages sent in the server. 

Not only do these kinds of roles improve activity, they also make people want to be active, due to the sense of importance and rewards for playing an active role in chats and general activity around your server. Also gives people something to brag about. 

Below, you can see an example of these roles in action at AYS!

Premium/Paid Services Roles

Our next roles coming into focus, are roles that will signify someone who has purchased a subscription or service that your server is offering. Ranging from a premium subscription service or maybe a simple server boost.

This differs from something like Patreon or other external services out of Discord. This is because you are offering a direct service to the member, now you could do this same thing through Patreon, though it is not as common to provide services like this through applications that are outside of the server.

AYS’s premium plan is a great example of how to perfectly utilize roles like this. Much like level roles, They are stacked in a tier-like structure, with the cheapest, lower-quality plans on the bottom while the more costly, higher-quality plans are on top of them. This distinguishes a sort of hierarchy between members who purchase a plan. 

These kinds of roles could also be useful for people who boost your server. Also can be placed into separate categories in order to divide up each service or product you offer to members for purchase. 

Special/Fun Roles

Some roles don’t even have to be involved with paid services or products (which most servers aren’t affiliated with). As it is not too common to see a server only focused on serving up products. Mostly, you will also see fun roles to allow members to show their personality, interests or just simply reward them for being a good member. 

In most cases, these roles would look a bit simplistic. Color roles, gender roles, favorite music or favorite game, just to name a few. Though, it is totally up to you what kind of roles you want to include in this kind of category. 

These roles are important to your server in terms of things like activity, member engagement and the ability to retain members in the long run. I don’t know about you, but if I join a server and only get a few boring, not unique roles, then you won’t see me hanging around for long. As a server owner, you must understand what it is like to be a member of your server. Put yourself in their shoes, make yourself know what the server is like from the perspective of an ordinary member. This will probably be almost the most important part of your role structure. 

In the image below, you can see an example of a few special roles in place.

Conclusion

It is important to not take this kind of stuff lightly when managing a server or creating your own server for the first time. It provides a more professional, organized and appealing environment for everyone in the server. Above, the categories listed are not the only important parts of role structure, there is much more to it that would probably be far too complicated to fit into a blog post. Anyways, make sure to keep in mind that server roles are certainly not a minor feature of the server. 

To conclude, an extra pinch of creativity never hurts anybody. While you are working away creating a flawless role structure, add some emojis and color! Of course, don’t overdo it, then it only makes your roles not so flawless. Why are you still here? Go! Make your server awesome. Don’t forget, when in doubt, come back and check this blog. I promise all this info is definitely useful and will help you work the kinks out. Thanks so much for reading, have fun building your next Discord server!