Permissions and roles

When a member uses a command, three checks run one after the other:

1. Discord hides the command from members who lack its default permission (for example Ban Members for /ban). This default can be changed in the server settings (see below).
2. The bot checks again the member's permission. It accepts the Discord permission or a staff role registered for the server (ADMIN and MODO types, see below). For commands that declare them, it also checks its own permissions.
3. The command applies its own rules: for example, nobody can ban the server owner, or a member whose role is above their own.

The bot checks permissions at server level (the roles' permissions), not channel by channel.

When inviting the bot

The official invite link (the Add Dispatch.IO™ to server button on the website) asks for the Administrator permission, plus the detailed permissions the bot uses: managing channels, roles, messages, nicknames, webhooks and expressions, banning, kicking, timing out, viewing the audit log, connecting and speaking in voice, and so on. Keep Administrator checked: the anti-raid, tickets and temporary voice channels need it.

Where the bot's role sits

On Discord, a role can only manage the roles and members placed below it. Put the bot's role above:

• the roles it has to give (welcome roles, level and flame rewards, reaction roles, temporary voice channel roles);
• the members it has to sanction or rename.

Permissions checked per command

Some commands check the bot's permissions before running. They then also check a common base: View Channel, Send Messages, Embed Links, Read Message History, Add Reactions, Use External Emojis and Manage Messages.

Other commands check nothing beforehand: if a permission is missing, the action itself fails.

Permissions required by /config

Each category of /config checks what it needs and shows a warning when a permission is missing.

This table gives the Discord permission required from the member for each command. It is what decides whether Discord shows the command.

Commands reserved for the Dispatch.IO team are described in Internal commands. The full command list is in All commands.

On top of Discord permissions, the bot knows two staff role types registered for each server: ADMIN and MODO. A member holding a role of one of these types passes the bot's checks as if they had the Discord permission:

These types are also used by the protection rules: a member with an ADMIN role can only be sanctioned by the owner, and a member with a MODO role only by the owner or an administrator. ADMIN roles also get access to every ticket channel, and ADMIN and MODO roles get moderation rights in temporary voice channels (muting, moving members…).

The moderation commands protect the owner and the staff. Here is the full path of /ban:

Each refusal shows a clear message, for example "You cannot ban a member with a role higher than or equal to yours." or "Only the server owner can ban an administrator.".

The rules vary slightly from one command to another:

For /ban, "admin" means an ADMIN role or the Administrator permission. For the other commands, only an ADMIN role counts. The role position checks of /ban only apply to members present in the server: /ban can also ban a user who is not in the server.

The server owner always has every Discord permission: they see and can use every command, and they can open the server dashboard. On top of that, the bot gives them these rights:

• Protection: they cannot be targeted by /ban, /kick, /timeout or /unban.
• Sanctioning staff: they are the only one who can sanction a member with an ADMIN role (and, with /ban, a member with the Administrator permission).
• Anti-raid: the message filters always ignore them. For server protections (channels, bans, invites, webhooks, server changes), they are protected by a Global whitelist entry that the bot creates when it joins the server (and on an ownership transfer). /config can't remove it, but saving the whitelist from the website deletes it (see The whitelist): their own changes can then be undone. To create it again, see Whitelist.
• Alerts: as long as no emergency mention is set on the website, they are the one mentioned on critical logs (anti-raid, sanctions).
• Infractions: along with members who have the Administrator permission, they can delete an infraction with /infractions.
• Nickname: flames never rename them.

Access goes through the Discord permissions of your roles (Server Settings → Roles). Example for the Café des Devs server:

To protect staff members from each other, mind the hierarchy: put @Modérateurs above @Membres, and the bot's role above them all.

Changing who sees a command

In Server Settings → Integrations → Dispatch.IO, you can allow or hide each command for given roles, members or channels. This setting only changes visibility: the bot still checks the permission. If you allow /ban for a role that lacks Ban Members, its members will see the command but get no reply.

Changes made with /config are recorded in the Server logs channel, with the name of their author. The website also has its own Configuration Logs page. Every setting is detailed in Bot configuration.

Website account roles (Dispatch.IO team, administration pages) are a separate system: see Managing permissions.

For other issues, see Troubleshooting.