Move to a New Server
How to migrate a Discord server: copy its channels and roles to a new server with a snapshot, then move your verified members over with Pull Members.
To move a Discord server, copy its structure into a new server with a snapshot, point your RestoreCord server at the new server, then pull your verified members into it. This page is for a planned move, such as a rebrand, a fresh start or merging communities. If your server was deleted or terminated, follow Server Deleted or Terminated instead.
Go to General › Discord Server
Everything here works on every plan, including Free: snapshots, restores, relinking and pulls. Higher plans keep more snapshots, restore more messages per channel and unlock extra pull options.
What carries over
Your verified members and settings belong to your RestoreCord server, not to the Discord server it is linked to. When you change the linked Discord server, they stay where they are. The Discord side is copied by a snapshot, and members come across in a separate pull.
| What | How it moves |
|---|---|
| Verified members and their authorizations | Stay on your RestoreCord server. Pull them into the new server. |
| Member roles | Saved by the snapshot restore for 7 days, when the snapshot captured them. Restore them after pulling. |
| Channels, categories, roles and permission overwrites | Copied by the snapshot restore. |
| Server settings | Copied by the snapshot restore. |
| Message history | Copied by the snapshot restore, up to your plan's messages per channel. Messages are posted again, so they don't keep their original author and date. |
| Attachments and emojis | Copied when the snapshot captured them. Attachments need Business or higher; emojis need Enterprise. See Pricing and limits. |
| RestoreCord settings, firewall rules and passwords, sub-users | Stay on your RestoreCord server. |
| Tracking links and their counts | Stay. The Verify link formats keep working; copy the Direct link (Discord) format again, because it contains the Discord server ID. |
| Reviews and your Discovery listing | Stay. The feedback page lives at /evaluate/<Discord server ID>, so share its new address. |
| Snapshots and migration history | Stay. |
What doesn't carry over:
- Members who never verified through RestoreCord, or who removed your bot under Authorized Apps. Only members who still authorize your bot can be pulled.
- Links that contain the old Discord server ID. Verify buttons already posted in the old server,
/verify/<old server ID>links and direct tracking links stop working once you change the linked server. Your/verify/<server name>link keeps working. - Settings that point at a role or channel in the old server, such as the Unverified Role, the vouch channel, firewall password roles and firewall rules that use a Discord role. Restored roles and channels get new Discord IDs, so pick them again.
- Discord-side things RestoreCord doesn't manage, such as the old server's ID, its invite links and other bots. Invite other bots to the new server yourself.
Before you start
- Your RestoreCord server has a custom bot with a working token. Members can only be pulled by the bot they verified with, so keep using the same bot.
- Join Servers For User was on when your members verified. Without it, Discord won't let your bot add them.
- You are the RestoreCord server owner. Only the owner can change Discord Server.
The full checklist for pulls is in Before You Pull.
Move step by step
Plan and announce the move
Tell your members the move is coming and ask everyone who hasn't verified yet to verify now. Only verified members can be pulled, and once you link the new server, the verify button in the old server stops working.
Post the new server's invite link in the old server and anywhere else you reach your community, so members who can't be pulled can still find you.
Snapshot the old server
On Servers, click Create Backup on your server's card. Give the snapshot a clear name, such as Before move, and set Messages per Channel as high as your plan allows. Wait for it to finish.
Then use Pin backup on the Snapshots page, so scheduled backups never rotate it out. Free keeps 1 snapshot per server, Premium 5, Business 30 and Enterprise 50, so delete an older one first if you are at the limit. See Create a Snapshot.
Click Preview on the snapshot to check that the channels and messages you need are there before you restore it.
Create the new server and invite your bot
Create the new server in Discord with the account that should own it. Leave it empty: the restore builds the channels and roles.
Invite the same bot your RestoreCord server uses. Invite Bot is on the bot's card on the Bots page and in the Pull Members popup. In Discord, drag the bot's role to the top of the role list and keep invites enabled, because pulls are refused while invites are disabled.
Restore the snapshot into the new server
Snapshots can be restored into any Discord server your bot is in, not only the one they were taken from. On Snapshots, open your snapshot and choose Restore. In Restore Backup:
- Choose Bot: your server's bot.
- Choose Server: the new server. Refresh the list if you just invited the bot.
- Messages per Channel: up to your plan's limit (50 on Free, 200 on Premium, 500 on Business, 2,000 on Enterprise).
- Clear server before restore: removes the default channels Discord creates in a new server. It deletes everything already in the destination, so only tick it for the new, empty server.
The bot's own role needs Administrator for a restore. If it's missing, the dialog shows Administrator Permission Required with an Open Admin Invite button. Large restores take a while because of Discord rate limits. Full controls are in Restore a Snapshot.
Link your RestoreCord server to the new server
Keep your existing RestoreCord server and change which Discord server it is linked to. Don't create a second RestoreCord server: your verified members are saved on this one, and a new one would start with none.
On the General tab, pick the new server under Discord Server. This resets Verified Role to No Role, so pick the restored verified role (and the Unverified Role, if you use one), then press Save.
Go to General › Discord Server
If you already added the new Discord server to RestoreCord as its own server, saving opens Server Already Registered. To link it here, use Verify Server Ownership to confirm you manage the Discord server. See Discord Server.
Then go through your other tabs and pick again any setting that points at a role or channel in the old server.
Pull your members
On Servers, click Pull Members on your RestoreCord server. In Migration:
- Select Server: the new server. It starts on the linked Discord server, so it is already selected after the previous step.
- Add roles on join: your verified role, so pulled members don't have to verify again.
- Pull amount: leave it empty (Unlimited) to pull every eligible member.
Members are added one at a time, so a large pull can take hours. Follow it on the Migrations page. Pulling has no RestoreCord cooldown or member cap on any plan. See Pull Members.
Leave Leave server after migration off. It makes your bot leave the destination server, which is now your main server.
Restore member roles
After the restore, the Snapshots page shows a Pending Role Restore banner with the members and role assignments it saved. Once your members are in, click View Details, then Restore Roles.
- Pull first. Discord can only give roles to members who are already in the server.
- The saved roles expire 7 days after the snapshot restore. Members who join later have to get their roles by hand.
- The bot needs Manage Roles, and its role must be above every role it gives.
Details are in Restore member roles.
Publish the verification message
On the General tab, pick a Verification channel in the new server and press Save. Saving posts the verification message there. The channel picker only appears once the new Discord Server is saved. You can also run /setup in the channel instead.
Go to General › Discord Server
The snapshot restore copied your channel permissions, but check that unverified members can only see the verification channel. Set Up Verification Channels can apply the permissions for you. Then test verification with an account that has no staff roles.
Retire the old server
Keep the old server open until the pull and role restore have finished. Then post a final message pointing to the new server, and archive or delete the old server in Discord when you are ready.
Don't delete your RestoreCord server. Delete Server permanently removes all of its verified members and their authorizations, along with its tracking links, firewall rules, reviews and Discovery listing.
Keep the pinned snapshot of the old server, and take a new snapshot of the new server once it is settled.
Merging several servers into one
To consolidate communities, repeat the pull for each RestoreCord server, picking the same new Discord server under Select Server each time.
- Each pull uses that RestoreCord server's own bot, so invite every one of those bots to the new server.
- A Discord server can only be linked to one RestoreCord server. Link the one you want members to verify with from now on; the others keep their members and can still pull.
- Member lists aren't merged. Each RestoreCord server keeps its own verified members.
- Restore only one snapshot into the new server, unless you want the channels and roles of several servers side by side.
For a wider look at moving a community, including the manual options, read How to Migrate a Discord Server Without Losing Members.