How to Find the Best Discord Servers & Make Friends Online

Millions of people use Discord to chat with friends, engage with their favorite creators, and interact with like-minded people. 

The app’s versatility and diversity make it a go-to choice for everyone from content creators to celebrities; businesses to people who want to hang out with friends online. 

Despite its popularity, there’s one limitation, especially for novices: how do you find Discord servers to join?

We’ve got you covered. Discover how to find the best Discord servers for your needs, and how to create your own if you want!

What is Discord?

Discord is a messaging application that connects people with shared interests. The app features basic messaging capabilities including voice, video, and text chat. It also offers screen sharing and direct streaming functionality. 

Outside its basic offerings, Discord is an online hangout place. Though you can send direct messages to your friends, Discord servers, which host groups, are the place to be. 

The app started as a place for gamers to hang out and play games online, but it’s grown exponentially since it hit the scene in 2015, and now boasts Discord communities in nearly every niche you can imagine. You can find fan servers, learning servers, shared interest servers, and more on this diverse platform. 

How Do I Use Discord?

Discord is easy to use. Head to Discord.com and create your account. Once you have an account, you can download the app to your desktop, go to your favorite mobile app store to download it on your phone, or use the web version. 

Now you’re ready to explore the bounty of servers available on the platform. Check out our complete guide to using the app for more help. 

What are Discord Servers?

Discord is the app as a whole while Discord servers are the independent rooms where the action happens. 

Here’s where Discord differs from most social media platforms. Everyone can’t see everything on the app. It’s not an open free-for-all where you can search for topics and they’ll appear. 

All the content is locked in Discord servers, most of which are independently operated. It’s similar to subreddits on Reddit, except you can’t search for topics on servers you aren’t a part of, and many servers are private, so they don’t appear in searches. 

You must join the server before you can see any of the content or engage with the community. Although some allow anyone to join, others are invite-only. 

How to Use Discord Servers

Each server has its own set of rules, so be sure to read them before interacting. If you have questions, reach out to the server’s moderators or admins. 

Discord itself doesn’t make the rules for its servers, though it does monitor for illegal activity and ban people who engage in it, everything else is a free-for-all. Some servers allow self-promotion, and others will ban folks for trying. Some encourage explicit content, while others stay family-friendly. 

Once you get into the server and agree to the rules, you’re welcome to start engaging! 

If you’re on a desktop, you’ll find all the channels on the left-hand side. Most servers feature a general chat for random conversation and a wide range of niche-specific channels for anything from memes to Q&A to discussions on specific topics. 

This photo showcases the layout of most Discord servers:

The server owner creates the channels based on their desires for their community. 

The Best Discord Servers

The best Discord server varies based on what you want. The app features thousands of servers in nearly any topic you can imagine. 

You’ll find Discord servers dedicated to all your favorite games, like Destiny, Among Us, or Rainbow Six, along with servers for specific genres, like Esports or MMOs. 

But it offers far more than gaming. You’ll find fan communities for all sorts of celebrities and influencers, finance communities, art communities, education communities, and more on the platform. 

If you’re interested in a topic, there’s probably a Discord server for it, and if it’s your favorite subject, you’ll probably think that’s the “Best Discord server.”

The Biggest Discord Servers

Those new to Discord might prefer a large, active server with lots of engagement where they can get their feet wet. 

There are huge Discord servers on a variety of different topics.  Here’s a small list of popular Discord Servers across various niches. 

• Midjourney – 2 million+ members (art and AI)
• Marvel Rivals – 3 million+ members (gaming)
• Genshin Impact – 2 million+ members (gaming)
• Minecraft – 1 million+ members (gaming)
• Memology – 600 thousand+ members (memes & entertainment)
• Lofi Girl – 900 thousand+ members (music)
• Study Together – 700 thousand+ members (studying & productivity)
• Anime Soul – 700 thousand+ members (anime)

All the servers on this shortlist are public. You can find them on Discord’s Discover page. 

Although gaming servers are still the most popular, there are plenty of communities dedicated to other topics with thousands of members. 

How Do I Find Discord Servers to Join?

Finding the right discord server can be difficult, especially since many are private. 

Start by searching for public Discord servers on the Discover tab. On Desktop, you’ll find a little compass on the far left-hand side of your screen, below any servers you’re currently in. When you click that, you’ll go to the Discover page where you can search for public servers. 

The tabs at the top show popular categories, like gaming, music, and entertainment, but you can also use the search box. Try putting in your favorite game, television show, or a topic you’re interested in. 

Lists of Discord Servers

Some websites provide running lists of thousands of public Discord Servers. The advantage of using these lists over the Discord Discover page is that Discord only promotes servers in its community program, so you will only find the biggest, most popular servers there. 

Websites like Discordservers.com feature millions of servers looking for new members. Any community owner can list their server on the website, but that means you won’t find a server if the owner didn’t manually update it. 

You can browse the list of popular servers, or use the search feature to find communities based on topics you’re interested in. The website shows you the server name, a brief description (if the owner added one), and the number of people in the server. 

Unfortunately, you will have to join each server to see if it’s the community you were looking for, but you can easily leave if you find it doesn’t meet your needs. 

Check out this short video to learn how to find Discord servers on Discord itself. You can ignore the second half focused on top.gg, as the website no longer features a repository of servers (though it’s still a good place to look for Discord bots!):

 

Finding Small Discord Servers to Join

Small, niche Discord servers are often the best ones. They’re hyper focused on a topic, and because there are fewer people, it’s easy to engage. 

Unfortunately, these communities are the hardest to find. However, it gets easier when you know where to look. 

Start by networking on social media with content creators in the niche. Many of them own servers, and would be happy to have new members. Most streamers and YouTubers who are trying to grow a business have fan servers you can find on their profiles. Joining the server allows you to support them and become a member of their community. 

The people you meet on Discord will likely know of other unique servers you can join. These fun word-of-mouth communities aren’t usually on the mega-lists, but they offer a better sense of community and make networking easy. 

Finally, look on social media or Reddit. Ask folks interested in similar topics if they know of any Discords you can join. 

You’ll be amazed at how quickly you discover new servers once you dive in and start networking. 

How Do I Make My Own Discord Server?

If you can’t find the right server for your needs, why not make your own?

Discord allows anyone to build a server for free. And because it’s yours, you can do anything you want with it. 

To create your own discord server, scroll down the left-hand list of servers and click the “plus button” icon. When your mouse hovers over it, you will see the small text “Add a server.”  When you click the plus sign, a pop-up will appear, allowing you to create a Discord server. 

Discord offers a variety of templates that you can choose from, or you can start from scratch and make it entirely your own.

Creating a server is the easy part. Next, you’ll have to create channels and add bots to make the blank-slate server a home. 

Check out our guide on making a Discord server for help. 

What are Discord Bots?

Every good server needs Discord bots, which are scripts that add functionality. 

Bots do everything from helping you moderate your box to letting you play music. Some connect an RSS feed, while others let community members play games. There is a bot for nearly anything you need. 

MEE6 reigns supreme as the best Discord bot for moderation. It provides help with moderation, keeps track of user statistics, offers welcome messages, and creates simple commands. 

What Are Discord Emotes?

Emoticons make Discord servers fun and engaging. You can react to messages with various Discord emotes, or use them in the general chat. 

Discord allows you to upload your own emotes, giving server members a unique way to engage. These are great if you’re building a business and want to create a brand, or if you want your server to have something unique. 

Though most people can only use your emotes in your server, Discord Nitro (Discord’s premium offering) allows members to use any emoji in any server – so if you make fun emojis, your fans can spread them around the app. 

Problems with Discord

Nothing is perfect, and Discord is not without its problems. The biggest issue with Discord is that it can be misused. Because the servers are private, they can be a hotbed for illegal activity. 

Because server owners can do whatever they want, some people use the app as a breeding ground for extremism. Others use it as a tool to groom children. 

However, these problems aren’t specific to Discord. Most apps have similar concerns, and Discord works tirelessly to root out problems. The company regularly publishes transparency reports showing the actions against users and communities who violate their terms of service. 

The other problem with Discord is the lack of age verification, which makes it easy for tech-savvy children to wander into places they don’t belong. Discord features a wide range of legal NSFW servers, but because the platform is anonymous, server owners might not realize there is a child in their midst. 

This problem isn’t limited to Discord either, as children can easily consume adult content on YouTube and Twitch as well. Parents should monitor their children’s use of the platform to ensure they aren’t accessing content that’s inappropriate for their age. 

Discord Versus Social Media: Which Should I Use?

Although Discord is often lumped in with social media platforms, it’s slightly different. It’s more comparable to Skype and Slack. At its core, Discord is a chat app that allows you to host video calls, both one-on-one and group calls. 

Because it’s so different from other social media platforms, most people don’t choose one or the other; rather, they use both. Discord is better for community building and privacy, while social media is better for building a brand and engagement. 

Check out the infographic for a full comparison of Discord versus traditional social media.

Get Started with Discord

Now that you know everything you ever wanted to know about Discord servers (and more!), what are you waiting for? 

Head to Discord to create your free account, and start collaborating with like-minded folks today!