# How to set up a welcome message in Discord

> Greet new members with a welcome card, a starter role and a private message, and say goodbye when they leave. Set up a Discord welcome bot from a template, no code.

Source: https://buildcord.dev/guides/discord-welcome-message/
Updated: 2026-11-05
Publisher: Buildcord (https://buildcord.dev)

A welcome bot greets each new member in a welcome channel, gives them a starter role and can send them a private message. It reacts to members joining, so it is a bot that stays connected to Discord, which runs on the Paid plan. The welcome template has every step drawn already.

## Steps

1. **Make the role and channel.** In your server, create a role named `Member` and a channel named `welcome`. You can rename both in the template later.
2. **Turn on the Server Members intent.** In the Discord Developer Portal, open your application's **Bot** page and turn on **Server Members Intent**. Discord only tells a bot about joins with it on.
3. **Start from the welcome template.** Open the welcome template in Buildcord. It makes a bot that gives the role, posts the welcome card, sends a private message and posts a goodbye.
4. **Make the card your own.** Change the card's color, text and footer on the **Embeds** page. Use `{user.mention}` to mention the new member and `{server.memberCount}` to show how many members there are.
5. **Put the bot's role above Member.** Discord only lets a bot give roles below its own. In your server settings, drag the bot's role above `Member`.
6. **Deploy and test.** Paste your token, deploy and join from a test account. The welcome card and the role should arrive within a second or two.

## Good to know

- Delete the goodbye flow if you'd rather not announce departures.
- Add a step that points new members to your rules, or posts a verification button.
- If you only need new members to get a role, a verification button does that on the Free plan.

## Questions

### Why isn't my welcome message sending?

The usual causes are the Server Members intent being off in the Developer Portal, or the bot lacking permission to post in the welcome channel. The bot's logs show which step stopped and why.

### Can the welcome message be private?

Yes. The template already sends a private message as well as the public card. Delete the public step to keep only the private one.

## Build it

Start from the [Welcome template](https://buildcord.dev/templates/welcome/), with every flow already drawn. Use the welcome template: https://buildcord.dev/templates/welcome/