Add to Discord
A welcome message has one job: turn somebody who just arrived into somebody who has posted. Everything below is written for that, and every variable in them is one that genuinely gets replaced — which is worth saying, because most lists of welcome templates on the internet contain at least one that posts as literal text.
What makes one work
Three things, and the third is the one people skip:
- A name. Mention the person. It is the difference between a greeting and an announcement about a greeting.
- One real fact. When things happen, what the server is for, how many people are here. Something they did not know a second ago.
- One instruction. Name a channel and tell them to do something in it. This is the part that converts, and it is the part almost every template leaves out.
- Welcome to the server! Please read the rules and enjoy your stay!
- A new member has joined us! Welcome!
- Hey there! Make sure to check out all of our awesome channels!
- Welcome @kira — sessions are Tuesdays 8pm UK, planned in #sessions.
- Hey @kira. Post what you are working on in #wip, we critique on Sundays.
- Welcome @kira, member #248. Say hi in #general, we bite less than the name suggests.
The variables
These are the ones NeoBot substitutes in a welcome or leave message. Anything not on this list posts as literal characters — including some that exist elsewhere in the product, which is the trap. {level} is real in a level-up message and dead here.
| Variable | Becomes |
|---|---|
{user} | A mention — @kira. The one you almost always want. |
{username} | Their name as plain text, no ping. |
{server} | The server's name. |
{membercount} | How many members there are, including the person who just joined. |
{channel} | A mention of the channel the message was sent in. |
{server.owner} | A mention of the owner. |
{user.tag} | Their full tag. |
{user.avatar_url} | A link to their avatar image. |
{inviter} | A mention of whoever invited them. |
{invites} | How many people that inviter has brought in. |
Gaming and community servers
Welcome {user} — you are member #{membercount}.
Sessions run Tuesdays at 8pm UK, planned in <#000000000000000000>.
Grab a game role in <#000000000000000000> so you get pinged for the right things.Replace the zeros with real channel IDs, or type # in the dashboard field and pick the channel by name.
Hey {user}, welcome to **{server}**.
Say hi in <#000000000000000000> — someone will actually reply, which is more than most servers can promise.{user} joined. Member #{membercount}.
Read <#000000000000000000>, pick a role in <#000000000000000000>, then talk to us.For a server that grows in bursts
If you get twenty joins in an hour after a stream or a post, a full greeting per person floods the channel and buries the conversation you were trying to send them to. Keep the public line to one sentence and put the detail in a DM.
Welcome {user} — #{membercount}. Say hi in <#000000000000000000>.Hey {username}, thanks for joining **{server}**.
Quick orientation:
- Sessions are Tuesdays at 8pm UK
- Clips and screenshots go in the media channel
- Pick a game role so you only get pinged for what you play
If you are stuck, ask in general — someone is usually around.A DM can be longer because it is not taking up a channel. It is also the only place a new member reliably reads more than one sentence.
Creative servers
Welcome {user}.
Post what you are working on in <#000000000000000000> — finished or not, it does not matter.
Critique threads run on Sundays in <#000000000000000000>.Hey {user}, welcome to **{server}**.
House rule: if you post work asking for feedback, give feedback on someone else's first. It keeps the place from becoming a wall of unanswered posts.Support and project servers
Welcome {user}.
For help, open a ticket in <#000000000000000000> — it gets you a private channel with someone who can actually fix it.
For everything else, <#000000000000000000>.{user} — welcome.
Before asking, check <#000000000000000000>; it answers most of it.
If it does not, open a ticket and include what you already tried.Study and work servers
Welcome {user}.
The voice channels are silent co-working — join one, mute yourself, get on with it. No need to say anything.
Introduce yourself in <#000000000000000000> if you want to.Leave messages
Leave messages use the same variables and are worth thinking about differently: they are read by the people who stayed. A leave message that is snide about the person leaving tells everyone still there what gets said about them when they go.
- kira left. Bye, will not miss you.
- Another one bites the dust! 248 → 247
- kira could not handle the heat.
- kira left the server.
- kira left. 247 members.
- No leave message at all.
{username} left the server. {membercount} members.{user} would mention someone who is no longer here, which does nothing useful — {username} prints the name as text instead. Leave messages read the same variables as welcome messages.
Making it look like more than a line
A plain message is genuinely fine and it is the fastest to read. The alternatives are worth it in one case: a server people take screenshots of, where the greeting is part of what the place looks like.
Frequently asked
Why is my welcome message showing {user} instead of a name?
The variable is not one that surface replaces, or it has a typo — the braces and spelling have to match exactly, and they are case-sensitive. Check it against the table above. The most common cause is copying a template written for a different bot, which will use different names for the same things.
Can I use custom emoji in a welcome message?
Yes, in the message body, but it has to be the full token — <:name:id>, not :name:. A shortcode only resolves where something is there to resolve it, so a bare :wave: posts as literal text. In the NeoBot dashboard, typing : in the field lets you pick the emoji and inserts the full token.
Should the welcome message ping the member?
In a channel, yes — a mention is what makes it read as addressed to them. Never ping @everyone or a role in a welcome message; it fires on every single join.
How long should it be?
One to three lines in a channel. A DM can be longer, because it is not competing with a conversation and it is the only place someone reliably reads more than a sentence.
Do welcome images help?
They look good in screenshots and slow down reading. If your server gets shared as an image, a card is worth it. If you mostly want new members to post something, plain text with a channel mention converts better.
Next
The greeting is one part of the first five minutes — the onboarding guide covers the rest of it, including whether your server qualifies for Discord's native flow. If you still need the rules the message points at, there is a set to copy.