Discord Verification Levels Explained: None vs Low vs Medium vs High vs Highest
For most servers, Medium is the right verification level: it blocks brand-new throwaway accounts without phone-gating real members. Pick Low for small private communities, and use High or Highest only when you are actively being raided.
Discord's server-wide verification level is one of the simplest safety settings you have, and one of the most misunderstood. It is not a bot, it is not AutoMod, and it does not read messages. It is a single gate that decides how established an account has to be before it can talk in your server. Choosing the right one is mostly about matching friction to risk. This guide explains exactly what each of the five levels does, how it affects new members, and which one fits your server.
Where verification levels live and what they do
You set the verification level in Server Settings → Moderation → Verification Level. It applies to the entire server, not per-channel, and it controls one thing: whether a new account has cleared a waiting requirement before it can send messages or DM other members.
It is a coarse filter. It does not look at usernames, message content, or behavior. It only checks account-level facts: how old the account is, whether the email is verified, whether a phone number is attached, and how long the user has been a member of your server. Because it is so blunt, verification level works best as the outer layer of defense, with smarter tools handling everything inside it.
Here are the five levels, from least to most strict.
1. None
Who it lets in: Everyone, immediately. A brand-new account created seconds ago can join and post right away.
There is almost no good reason to run a public server on None. It removes the one free speed bump that stops the laziest spam and raid accounts, which are typically minutes old. The only defensible uses are a tiny private server where you personally vet every invite, or a temporary state while you debug something. If your server has a public invite link anywhere, move off None today.
2. Low
Who it lets in: Accounts with a verified email on file.
Low is the lightest real filter. It stops accounts that never bothered to confirm an email, which knocks out some of the cheapest disposable accounts. Most legitimate users already have a verified email, so the friction for real people is close to zero. They will not even notice it.
Low is a fine choice for small, mostly private communities, friend servers, and niche hobby groups that get few unwanted joins. It will not stop a determined raider, because verifying an email is trivial to automate, but it is strictly better than None and costs nothing.
3. Medium
Who it lets in: Accounts that have been registered on Discord for at least 5 minutes (and have a verified email).
Medium is the everyday default and the level most public servers should run. The five-minute account-age requirement is small enough that real people barely feel it, but it breaks a large share of automated raid tooling, which spins up fresh accounts and fires them at servers within seconds. By the time a brand-new account clears five minutes, your moderation tools and rate limits have a chance to catch it.
If you are not sure what to pick, pick Medium. It is the best balance of "real members get in fast" and "throwaway accounts get a speed bump" for the average growing community.
4. High
Who it lets in: Members who have been in your server for more than 10 minutes (on top of the Medium requirements).
High changes the shape of the gate. Instead of only checking account age on Discord, it makes every new joiner wait ten minutes inside your server before they can talk. You will see the "this user needs to wait" notice under new members.
This is genuinely effective against raids, because raid accounts almost never sit and wait. They want to dump their payload and leave. The trade-off is real friction for honest newcomers, who land in your server and find they cannot say anything for ten minutes. That can hurt a community where people join specifically to ask a question or jump into a voice chat right away.
Run High when you are getting hit with coordinated joins and you would rather frustrate a few real users than let a raid through. For day-to-day operation in a calm server, it is usually heavier than you need.
5. Highest
Who it lets in: Accounts with a verified phone number attached to them.
Highest (also labeled "Phone Verification") is the strongest level. It requires every member to have a real phone number tied to their Discord account before they can post. Phone numbers are far harder and more expensive to farm at scale than emails, so this stops the bulk of alt accounts and bulk-registered raid accounts.
The cost is steep on the human side. Many privacy-conscious users simply refuse to give Discord a phone number, and some have none attached at all. Turning on Highest will silently lock out a portion of your real audience, and you will never see the people who bounced. Reserve Highest for active emergencies, high-value or high-drama communities that are constant targets, or servers where you genuinely accept losing some real signups in exchange for near-zero alts.
How each level affects new-member friction
Every step up the ladder trades growth speed for safety. It helps to picture the actual experience of a real person joining:
- None: Joins, talks instantly. Zero friction, zero protection.
- Low: Joins, talks instantly if their email is verified (almost always true). Effectively zero friction.
- Medium: Talks instantly unless their account is under 5 minutes old. Real people almost never hit this wall.
- High: Must wait 10 minutes after joining before the first message. Noticeable friction for everyone.
- Highest: Blocked entirely unless a phone number is attached. Permanent friction for phone-less users.
The key point: friction at Low and Medium falls almost entirely on bad actors, while friction at High and Highest falls on everyone, including the members you want. That is why most servers should live at Low or Medium and only climb higher in response to an actual threat, then climb back down.
Pairing levels with AutoMod and a verification gate
Verification level alone is a blunt instrument, and leaning on Highest as your only defense quietly costs you real members. The better setup is layered: a moderate verification level on the outside, smarter tools doing the precise work inside.
A practical stack looks like this:
- Verification level Medium as the cheap outer filter that stops seconds-old raid accounts.
- A verification gate so new members click a button or pass a check to unlock the rest of the server. This catches accounts that cleared the age requirement but still are not real participants. Our walkthrough on how to set up a Discord verification gate shows the full reaction-role and button-role setup.
- AutoMod plus a moderation bot reading actual message content, so spam, slurs, and link-dumps get caught regardless of how old the account is. See the best Discord AutoMod settings for a starting configuration.
- Anti-raid automation that detects join spikes and reacts in real time, which native verification levels cannot do. We cover this in how to prevent Discord raids.
This is where a capable bot earns its place. PeakBot is a free, AI-powered Discord bot whose context-aware AI moderation reads message intent and adapts per channel instead of matching a fixed keyword blocklist, so it catches the messages that slipped past a verification level without flooding you with false positives. Its built-in anti-raid and anti-nuke protection watches for the coordinated join patterns that a static verification level is blind to, and reaction-role gating handles the verification step itself. All of that, plus XP, tickets, welcome messages, and logging, is free with no time limit. If alt accounts are your specific worry, our guide to the best Discord verification bot to block alt accounts goes deeper on detection.
The point is not to crank verification to Highest and call it done. It is to keep verification moderate so real members get in, and let smarter, content-aware tools handle the threats that account age never could.
Which level to pick for your server size
Server size is a useful proxy for how much unwanted attention you attract. Bigger and more public means more bots, more raids, more alts.
- Private / friends server (under ~50 members): Low. You vet invites yourself; you just want the email filter for free.
- Small public community (50–1,000): Medium. The default sweet spot. Real members breeze in, fresh raid accounts get stopped.
- Growing public server (1,000–10,000): Medium, paired with a verification gate and a moderation bot. Do not jump to High unless you are seeing real raids; the new-member friction is not worth it otherwise.
- Large or high-target server (10,000+): Medium as your baseline, High or Highest as an emergency toggle. Keep it at Medium day to day, raise it temporarily when a raid is in progress, then lower it again. Living permanently on Highest will cost you a steady stream of real signups.
A good rule: choose the lowest level that keeps your server quiet, and treat High and Highest as a fire alarm you pull during an active attack, not a setting you leave on forever. PeakBot is already powering 500+ Discord communities with exactly this layered approach: a moderate gate outside, smart automation inside.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Discord verification level for most servers?
Medium is the best default for most public servers. It requires accounts to be at least five minutes old, which blocks the bulk of automated raid accounts while real members barely notice any delay. Move up to High or Highest only during an active raid.
Does a higher verification level stop alt accounts?
Highest (phone verification) is the only level that meaningfully slows alts, because it requires a real phone number, which is hard to farm at scale. The lower levels only check email and account age, which alts clear easily. For reliable alt-blocking without locking out real members, pair a moderate verification level with a dedicated verification bot and AutoMod.
Will a high verification level scare away real members?
High and Highest do create real friction. High forces a 10-minute wait before anyone can talk, and Highest blocks every account without a phone number on file, which quietly turns away privacy-conscious users. That is why most servers should stay at Low or Medium and only raise the level temporarily during an attack.
Does verification level replace a moderation bot?
No. Verification level only checks account-level facts like age and phone status; it never reads messages or detects raid patterns in real time. You still need AutoMod and a content-aware AI moderation bot to catch spam, scams, and bad behavior from accounts that already passed the gate.
How do I change my server's verification level?
Open Server Settings, go to Moderation, then Verification Level, and select one of None, Low, Medium, High, or Highest. The change applies server-wide and takes effect immediately for new and existing members.
