How do you set up verification on Discord?
6
Configuration steps
5
Final tests
4
Errors solved
~7 min
Reading time
The answer
The short answer
Verification on Discord takes three moves: you create an access role and hide every channel except the entry one from anyone without it, you publish a verification panel in the entry channel, and the bot grants the role once the gate is passed. In Venon Security you set that up in Panel → Community → Onboarding and verification, where you choose the verification type (a button, an image captcha, an arithmetic problem or accepting the rules), the channel, the role and the minimum account age. The Automatic setup button creates the channel and the role for you if you are starting from nothing.
The content is checked against the bot's configuration — last verified: 2026-08-06.
Context
What the problem is
Without an entry gate, a freshly created account sees every channel straight away and can write in all of them. In an organised attack that means spam in a dozen places at once, before anyone has time to react. Verification does not solve everything, but it turns a free attack into one that takes effort.
Without an extra bot
What you can do with Discord alone
- 01
Create an access role, for example Verified.
- 02
On every channel except the entry one, take the View Channel permission away from @everyone and grant it to the access role.
- 03
Leave one public channel with the rules and instructions on how to get access.
- 04
Raise the server's native verification level in Server settings → Moderation.
Venon Security
What Venon Security adds
Verify publishes a ready verification panel in the channel you choose and grants the role itself once it is passed.
Four gate types let you pick the level of friction: a button for an ordinary server, a captcha or an arithmetic problem when there is real bot traffic.
The minimum account age filters out accounts created for an attack, and the DM after verification can welcome the new person and point them to the starting channels.
Configuration
Configuration step by step
0 of 6 steps
Prepare the access role and the channel permissions
Discord server settings → Roles, and the channel permissionsVerification only makes sense if somebody without the role genuinely sees nothing. The most common mistake is a verification panel next to channels still open to @everyone.
- Create a role, for example Verified, with no administrative permissions.
- The Venon Security role has to sit above the granted role in the list.
- On the entry channel: @everyone sees the channel but cannot write.
- On the other channels: @everyone without View Channel, the access role with View Channel.
Turn verification on in the panel
Panel → Community → Onboarding and verificationIf you have no channel or role yet, click Automatic setup — Venon creates the set and wires it into the settings. If you have your own structure, point to the pieces by hand.
- Verification active: on.
- Verification channel: the entry channel visible to @everyone.
- Role after verification: the access role prepared in the first step.
Match the verification type to your server
Panel → Community → Onboarding and verification → Verification typeEvery extra step costs you some of your new members. Pick the lowest friction that solves your real problem, not the strictest option on the list.
- Button — one click; a good default for a community with no history of attacks.
- Accepting the rules — when you care about the rules being acknowledged before entry.
- An arithmetic problem — cheap to deal with, and it filters out simple bots.
- Captcha (image) — the highest friction; enable it when bots are genuinely getting through.
Set the minimum account age
Panel → Community → Onboarding and verification → Min. account age (days)This single field stops most accounts created for a specific attack, because they are made just before they walk in.
- 3–7 days is a sensible start for most servers.
- Above 14 days it starts blocking genuinely new Discord users.
- If you would rather give a second chance than block, enable AntiFake and a Quarantine role in Panel → Security → Accounts and risk.
Set the welcome message after verification
Panel → Community → Onboarding and verificationA verified person suddenly sees a dozen channels and does not know where to start. A short DM with three links noticeably reduces the number of questions to the staff.
- DM after verification: on; in the DM content field point to the starting channel and the rules.
- The Welcoming new members section additionally announces the arrival in a public channel.
- Starter roles with the Duration (h) field are useful when you want to give new people limited access on trial.
Publish the panel and test the gate
Panel → Community → Onboarding and verification → ActionsPublishing the panel is a separate action — configuration without this step puts no message in the channel. After publishing, always test with a second, ordinary account.
- Click Publish the panel; the message appears in the verification channel you chose.
- Test with an account that has no roles — an administrator account always passes, so it checks nothing.
The steps you tick are saved in your browser — you can come back and finish later.
Verification
How to check the configuration worked
- 1
After joining, the second account sees only the verification channel — if it sees anything more, the channel permissions are still open to @everyone.
- 2
After passing the gate the access role appears within seconds, and the rest of the channels become visible.
- 3
The Roles log category carries an entry about the role being granted.
- 4
An account younger than the minimum age you set is stopped at the gate.
- 5
The DM after verification actually arrived — if not, the test account has messages from strangers turned off.
Diagnostics
When something does not work
Clicking in the panel does nothing, or returns an error.
- Cause
- The Venon Security role sits below the granted role, or the bot lost the Manage Roles permission.
- Fix
- Server settings → Roles: move the bot's role above the access role, check the permissions and repeat the test.
New members cannot see the verification panel.
- Cause
- The verification channel is hidden from @everyone, or the panel was never published.
- Fix
- Give @everyone View Channel on the entry channel (without the right to write) and click Publish the panel in the Actions section.
The role is granted, but the channels stay invisible.
- Cause
- Permission overrides on the channel category outrank the settings on an individual channel.
- Fix
- Set the permissions at the category level and let the channels inherit them, instead of configuring each channel separately.
The DM after verification does not arrive.
- Cause
- The member has direct messages from server members turned off — Discord does not allow that to be worked around.
- Fix
- Duplicate the most important information in the public welcome or in the description of the starting channel.
Honestly
What this configuration does not solve
Verification will not stop a person who simply clicks. It raises the cost of mass entry, but does not eliminate a single troll walking in.
An image captcha is not an impassable barrier — services that solve them for a fee exist. Treat it as a filter for cheap traffic.
A minimum account age will also filter out some honest, genuinely new Discord users. That is a deliberate trade-off, not a configuration error.
Venon does not verify identity and collects no documents — it checks only the behaviour and the account metadata visible through Discord's API.
The gate alone does not protect you from an account that passed verification a month ago and only started spamming now — for that you need AutoMod.
Commands
The commands used in this guide
Read on
Related guides
How do you grant a role after Discord verification?
How to grant a role after Discord verification: the role hierarchy, the Manage Roles permission, the Verify configuration, optional roles and temporary roles.
Read the guideHow do you protect a Discord server from a raid?
How to protect a Discord server from a raid: entry verification, AntiRaid thresholds, content protection and logs. Concrete settings, a test and the usual mistakes.
Read the guideHow do you prepare a Discord server for an attack?
How to prepare a Discord server for an attack: a permission audit, 2FA, a backup, protection thresholds, emergency mode and a procedure for the staff.
Read the guide
FAQ
FAQ – common questions
Will verification stop every alternate account?+
Not every one. It stops accounts created in bulk and simple bots, especially combined with a minimum account age and AntiFake scoring. A determined person with an aged account will pass the gate, and from then on AutoMod and the penalty system do the work.
Which verification type should you choose?+
Start with a button or accepting the rules. An arithmetic problem adds a little friction and filters out simple bots. Enable an image captcha only once you see bots genuinely passing the lighter variants.
Can I grant several roles after verification?+
It is worth keeping the basic access role separate from interest roles. Handle optional roles through Panel → Automation → Self-service roles, and time-limited access through Temporary roles or the /temporary-role command.
How do you test verification without a second account?+
You cannot test it properly with an administrator account, because administrative permissions bypass channel overrides. Ask somebody on the team to join on a clean account, or temporarily remove all your own roles.
Set this up in your own Venon Security panel
Every screen mentioned in the guide is in the web panel. You save the configuration by hand and see its state before anything takes effect on the server.