How To Transfer Discord Ownership

Discord has been growing as a social media platform for many years now. Servers come and go, and sometimes people want to pass on their server to another user. To do this, you need to know how to transfer Discord ownership.

The process to transfer ownership is simple, but there are a few essential things you need to know before making the transfer that could affect the future success of your channels. Read on below to find out more about ownership transfer and what it means for you and your server.


What Is Discord Ownership?

When you first create a server on Discord, you become the owner by default. You are solely responsible for the content and maintenance of the server until you delegate these processes to other members via permissions. Essentially, you control the administrative settings of the server you own and are also responsible for all of the content in it. 

Your name on the server will appear with a crown next to it. This indicates to all of the other members that you are the server owner. They know not to mess with you, but most importantly, who to turn to if they have any problems. The crown will, however, disappear if you delegate administrator roles.


What Can Discord Owners Do?

Discord owners can do whatever they please in their Discord server. They are automatically granted every single permission to help design, create and maintain their server.

The biggest responsibility that a Discord server owner has is the ability to delete the server in question. This setting can be found in the server settings menu and is only viewable to the server owner.

Owners can also choose whether or not to convert their server to a community server. They can also apply for features such as the partner program, which can help them grow and market their server. 

Owners are very rarely extremely active in their servers. They usually delegate moderation responsibilities to moderator teams or other trustworthy members, which saves them time and allows them to focus on the main topic of the communities’ interests.


What Is The Difference Between An Owner And An Administrator?

When discussing how to transfer Discord ownership, users sometimes get mixed up with the terms owner and administrator. They are very similar but have a few very important differences.

The administrator role is a role you can give a member of your Discord server to grant them extra permissions. With the administrator role, a member can:

  • Kick and ban other members
  • Create and delete channels and categories
  • Give, remove and create roles
  • Make channel announcements
  • Configure, install and remove bots

There are a few things, however, that only server owners can do. These include the ability to:

  • Permanently delete the server
  • Manage the permissions of other administrators
  • Upgrade or downgrade server partner status

It’s best to think of a Discord owner as a ‘super’ administrator who is slightly above the regular administration team. Some might even call the owner the CEO of the server! 

Whoever creates the server is automatically assigned owner status. This will only change if the owner chooses to transfer ownership via the method below.


How To Transfer Server Ownership

So you’ve come to a point in your Discord journey when it’s time to transfer server ownership to a new owner. Perhaps you lost interest, or you think another person could put more quality time into the project. Either way, the physical process of transferring ownership is straightforward. Follow the simple steps below to transfer Discord ownership: 

  1. Firstly, click on the logo of the server that you own and want to transfer ownership of.
  1. Next, click on the server name in the top left-hand corner of the window. A drop-down menu will appear. Click on server settings, three lines down in the drop-down menu.
  1. In the next menu, there will be a list of up to 16 tabs on the left-hand side. Click on the members tab.
  1. Search for the member you want to transfer discord ownership to (they must already be a member of your server). Once you find their name, click the three dots that appear at the end of their line when you hover over it. Click transfer ownership and follow the security instructions.

Once you pass the security check, your server will be transferred to its new owner. You will lose all permissions in the server and be relegated to the lowest role.


How To Reverse An Ownership Transfer

There is no way of reversing a transfer of Discord ownership once it has taken place. The only way of getting ownership back is to ask the new owner to kindly transfer it back via the process above.

Because there is no way of reversing the process, it’s vital to make sure that you transfer ownership to somebody you know and trust. If you don’t, likely, you will never get your Discord server back. If you manually transfer ownership and click that button, not even Discord support can help you.


Alternatives To Transfering Ownership

Knowing how to transfer Discord ownership is valuable information, but you might not need to take such a drastic step. Unless you specifically need a member to have the ability to delete your server, there are other permissions you can hand out that is more secure and safe for you and your server.


Give Additional Permissions To Members

Discord permissions are a list of abilities that you can hand out to certain members of your server. A full list of permissions that can be handed out can be found in the Discord developer portal

If you want to see these permissions inside the Discord application, go to your server settings and click the roles tab on the left-hand side of the screen. In the next screen, click the permissions tab at the top of the page.

Scrolling down will now reveal all of the permissions you can hand out to members with this specific role. These include the ability to send messages, join voice chats, ban members, among many, many more. 

It’s pretty standard for a server to have roles that members work through with time or purchase a subscription service such as Patreon. The higher the role they achieve, the more permissions they unlock. 

For example, a non-Patreon subscriber might only have permission to send text messages in one general chat channel. However, a subscriber instantly gets the ability to send text and gif images to all channels in your server. This is a great way to encourage engagement and financial support from viewers and give them rewards in return.


Create A Moderator Team

Instead of transferring your entire Discord server over to another person and potentially losing everything, why not just create a moderator team? 

A moderator team is usually a group of loyal and regular members permitted moderate content and messages inside your server. They can delete rude messages, kick inappropriate members and give out additional permissions to lower-role members. 

Creating this team is simple. First, create a role called ‘Moderators’ and turn on the following recommended permissions:

  • Kick members
  • Ban members
  • Read and see text and voice channels
  • Send messages
  • Manage messages
  • Read message history
  • Timeout members
  • Attach files

Then apply this role to each member that you want to have these special permissions. 

You can give a member a new role by clicking their name in the member’s list of your server’s homepage and clicking the plus icon in their name card. 

Warning: Only hand out moderator status to members you have known for a long time or trust entirely. They can ban valuable members … be sure not to alienate your loyal members by promoting a trash moderator!


In Conclusion

Knowing how to transfer Discord ownership is a valuable tool in your server arsenal. Sometimes, owners lose interest. It happens. What’s great is that your server can continue to live and thrive without the original creator. 

Always make sure to only transfer ownership to someone that you trust. After all, they will now have the power to influence your community’s energy. Choose someone who shares the same passion for your server subject as you did the day you started the channel!

One great way to keep your viewers engaged is installing a music bot in your Discord server. Members will have access to an audio channel with 24/7 music and a massive variety of songs. Check out our article on the best Discord music bots and start setting your server apart from the competition today!