Bridge your Minecraft chat and a Discord channel with DiscordSRV

Four pieces that have to fit

DiscordSRV is a plugin, so the server has to run Paper or Purpur (how those two differ). It signs in to Discord as a bot that you create, and it needs to be told which Discord channel receives which messages.

The current release, DiscordSRV 1.30.5 from April 2026, supports Java Edition 26.2, and the catalog on our Plugins tab lists it for that version.

This guide assumes the Discord server itself already exists. If you still have to decide which channels it gets and which roles members and staff receive, Minecraft Discord server setup on astroworldmc.site plans that part, including where the chat bridge channel fits.

Create the bot in the Developer Portal

1. 1

   Make an application

   In the Discord Developer Portal, choose New Application and name it after your server. That name is what people see next to relayed messages.

2. 2

   Keep it to yourself

   On the Installation page, leave only Guild Install ticked and set Install Link to None. On the Bot page, make sure Public Bot is switched off, so nobody else can add the bot to their own server.

3. 3

   Switch on two intents

   Still on the Bot page, under Privileged Gateway Intents, turn on SERVER MEMBERS INTENT and MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT. PRESENCE INTENT only matters if you later set EnablePresenceInformation to true.

4. 4

   Invite it

   Take the Application ID from General Information and build an invite with the bot and applications.commands scopes. Pick your Discord server and authorize it.

5. 5

   Give it a role

   Create a role for the bot in your Discord server settings and assign it. Administrator is the short route; the table below is the narrower set.

The intents are not optional. Without Message Content, Discord delivers the messages in your channel with their text left empty, so nothing readable could reach the game. When the bot asks for an intent that is switched off, Discord closes the connection with code 4014 and DiscordSRV stays disabled.

Install the plugin and give it the token

On the Plugins tab, type DiscordSRV into Search plugins and choose Install. The catalog is matched to your server type and version, and the panel confirms the file as SHA-512 verified with a reminder to restart. Restart once now, before you have a token. DiscordSRV writes its folder and config, fails to sign in, and tells you why:

No bot token has been set in the config; a bot token is required to connect to Discord.

At this stage that line is good news: the config exists. Back on the Bot page in the portal, Reset Token generates the token and shows it for copying. On the Files tab, open plugins, then DiscordSRV, choose Edit next to config.yml, paste the token between the quotes and press Save.

BotToken: "PASTE_THE_BOT_TOKEN_HERE"

A changed token needs a full restart; discord reload does not pick it up. Whoever holds that string controls the bot: they can read every channel it sees, post as it and use every permission on its role, Ban Members included.

• Never paste it into a channel, a screenshot or a help request. Sharing config.yml? Swap the token for a placeholder first.
• Move it out of config.yml if others edit that file. DiscordSRV also reads a file named .token in plugins/DiscordSRV, and while that file exists the BotToken line is ignored. Anyone with the Files permission can still open it, so grant that permission sparingly.
• Use one bot per server. One token on two servers gets the bot rate limited, and DiscordSRV warns that Discord treats this as abuse.
• Debug reports mask it. discord debug replaces anything shaped like a token before the report is uploaded.

Channel IDs and the Channels line

1. 1

   Turn on Developer Mode

   In the Discord app, open User Settings with the cog at the bottom left, go to Advanced and switch on Developer Mode.

2. 2

   Copy the ID

   Right-click the text channel meant for chat. The menu now has an entry that reads Copy Channel ID or Copy ID, and what it copies is a long number.

3. 3

   Put it in the config

   Replace the row of zeros in Channels with that number and keep the quotation marks around it.

Channels: {"global": "CHAT_CHANNEL_ID"}

# or send joins, leaves and deaths somewhere quieter:
Channels: {"global": "CHAT_CHANNEL_ID", "join": "EVENTS_CHANNEL_ID", "leave": "EVENTS_CHANNEL_ID", "deaths": "EVENTS_CHANNEL_ID"}

The left half of each pair is a name DiscordSRV uses internally, not the name of your Discord channel. Player chat on a Paper or Purpur server without a chat plugin is global. Everything DiscordSRV posts goes to the first channel in the list, unless the list has a pair for that kind of message:

A chat plugin brings its own channel names, and those take the place of global. With TownyChat the usual name is general.

Changes to Channels apply with discord reload in the Console tab, typed without a slash.

A console channel, and why to lock it

DiscordConsoleChannelId takes the ID of a second channel. DiscordSRV copies the server console into it in batches, every 5 seconds by default, and runs whatever is typed there as a console command. It does not look at who typed it. Every member who can post in that channel gets the reach of the server console.

The only brake is a short blocklist: ?, op, deop and execute. That leaves stop, ban, whitelist off and every plugin command wide open, so one careless channel permission hands out more than any ban or kick could undo.

• Make the channel private. In Discord, deny View Channel to @everyone on that channel and allow it for yourself and the bot's role only.
• Turn the blocklist into an allowlist. With DiscordConsoleChannelBlacklistActsAsWhitelist: true, the list names the only commands that run, for example list, say and tps.
• Keep the record. Each command is written to a Console-<date>.log file with the sender's Discord name and user ID, and by default a command that cannot be logged does not run.

!c say hello from Discord

The chat channel has a side entrance too. A message with that prefix runs as a console command for members holding a role named Owner or Developer, capitals ignored, and those roles may run anything. If your Discord uses those names for other people, set DiscordChatChannelConsoleCommandEnabled: false.

Linking Minecraft and Discord accounts

Linking records which Discord member belongs to which player. Chat works without it, but role sync, nickname sync and ban sync all build on it.

1. 1

   Get a code in game

   The player types /discord link. The server replies with a four-digit code and the name of the bot.

2. 2

   Send the code to the bot

   In Discord, the player opens a direct message to the bot and sends only those four digits. A wrong code gets I don't know of such a code, try again.

3. 3

   Check the result

   /discord linked shows which account is attached, and /discord unlink takes the link away.

All players may link by default, while discord reload is kept for operators. For stricter rules, DiscordChatChannelRequireLinkedAccount: true only lets Discord messages into the game from members who linked, and Require linked account to play in linking.yml keeps unlinked players off the server. That second one is off by default, and players on the vanilla whitelist skip it while Whitelisted players bypass check stays true; the whitelist guide explains that list.

Restart and test both directions

1. 1

   Restart from the Console tab

   Press Restart and watch the output for DiscordSRV errors. When there are none, the bot shows as online in your member list, playing Minecraft.

2. 2

   Game to Discord

   Say something in game chat and look for it in the chat channel.

3. 3

   Discord to game

   Type a line in the chat channel. It appears in game chat and, by default, in the console too, handy when nobody is online to check.

4. 4

   Ask for the player list

   Send playerlist in the chat channel. The bot answers with who is online and deletes both your request and its answer after 10 seconds.

When messages do not arrive

Scroll back to what DiscordSRV printed while the server started. Its startup lines name the cause of most failed setups:

Still stuck? Run discord debug in the console. It uploads a report of the setup and hands you a link, which is what the plugin's own helpers will ask for.

On a Fabric server

A Fabric server cannot load plugins, so the Plugins tab asks you to switch to Paper or Purpur. If the server has to stay on Fabric for its mods (why that choice matters), Simple Discord Link is a server-side mod with a July 2026 release for Java Edition 26.2. It needs CraterLib, which needs Fabric API; the Mods tab only lists mods matching your loader and version, and installs required dependencies along with them.

The Discord side stays the same: a bot of its own, all Privileged Gateway Intents switched on, a token and a channel ID. The first start writes config/simple-discord-link/simple-discord-link.toml. The token goes in botToken under [botConfig] and the chat channel in chatChannelID, and on the next start the mod encrypts the token so it no longer sits in the file as plain text.