If you’ve stumbled upon this article, you’ve probably been trying to spark activity within your groups. The daily “hi” isn’t workin’, and you’ve run your collection of icebreakers dry. What’s a community leader (or just a friend) to do?
We’ve got a few ideas for ya. In this blog, we’ll be sharing a few ideas to bring some life back into your Discord server, including a few third-party apps to check out and how to enjoy games and Activities with your friends, directly in Discord.
Do you like to “@everyone” whenever possible? Yeah, I BET you do. Have you ever wanted to ping “@todos?” Share a message to “@tout le monde” or even “@みんな?” Well, none of those variations of the @everyone ping will actually work in Discord, but after learning a new language with Memrise, you’ll be able to talk to anyone and @everyone, no matter what language they speak!
Using Memrise, you’ll be able to learn both a new language solo or with your server friends! Use the /learn solo command to start a private exchange to practice your language skills.
Once you’re ready to show what you’ve learned, or you’ve become an expert and want to talk with a friend who’s learning a language, the /learn together command will create a Thread so you and your fellow language learners can complete a challenge together.
There’s a lot to learn and enjoy with Memrise, so check the app out on the App Directory.
It’s a scientific fact that spending time with good friends brings good vibes. But sometimes, it’s worth an extra bump of encouragement when the vibes need a bit of uplifting.
That’s where Motivation comes in. By using Motivation’s aptly-named “/motivation” command, you’ll be able to share a bit of inspiration in the form of a motivational quote. That quote is then shared directly in the server for everyone to see, uplifting everyone’s mood and bringing just a bit more happiness to your friends, and depending on how big your server is, the world!
You can also use the /sendquote command to send a motivational quote to a friend via Direct Message, or schedule motivational quotes using /reminder. It’s like a surprise present of positivity!
Your daily dose of affirmations and positive vibes starts with Motivation, over in the App Directory.
Sharing how your day’s been is something that sounds easy on paper, but when there’s over 20 Discord channels in your server, each with their own ongoing conversations, you might think to yourself: where do I even begin? Will my friends also share their days? And how do I jumpstart the conversation?
With a freshly-brewed Cappuccino of course!
Cappuccino is an app that prompts everyone with a specific question to answer. Their answers are called “beans,” and once everyone answers the question, these beans are brewed together in one summary written just for your community, called a “cappuccino!”
Use the /cappuccino command to ask everyone a question of your own, or use the /coffee-break command to ask everyone what they've been up to. Don’t know what to ask? Brew up a /randomccino to ask the community a random question that’s collected and turned into a summary.
So whether you're a coffee connoisseur or just looking for a fun and engaging way to connect with others, Cappuccino has something for everyone; just grab a cup of your favorite brew and start up some coffee-fueled conversations!
Open up your cafe and add the app to your server now.
Sometimes, it’s not a story or a motivational quote that sparks thrilling conversation among your friends. It’s something that you’re born with: your ✨astrological signs ✨.
Channel your birth charts with CHANI: use it to know what the future holds by analyzing your birth chart, “Big Three” signs (your Sun, Moon, and rising signs), and how the current sky affects you and your friends that day. Use the /birth-chart, /current-sky and /big3 commands to learn everything you could ever want about your friends.
Comparing birth charts and big three placements in Discord is a great way to learn more about the people you talk to, game, or hangout with every day. Whether you believe in astrology or not, you’ll spark crazy conversation simply by going “...yeeaaah that makes sense for you.”
Add the app to your server here, unless you’re a Capricorn, in which case you’ve likely already added the app to all of your friends’ servers by now…
Checkers, word games, checkers, minigolf, checkers… did I mention checkers? I like checkers, especially when I can play it directly in Discord!
Activities are a selection of a ton of fun and — depending on who you play with — casual games and shared experiences that anyone can launch at any time. Next time you’re on a call in either a server or in DMs, use the rocketship button to choose between over a dozen Activities to play, directly within Discord.
.png)
What exactly is available? You’ll find the full list of Activities over at the dedicated Activities blog. It’s always updated with the latest releases, so take a peek once in a while and see what’s new in the world of Activities on Discord.
Activities are supported on both desktop and mobile, so you’ll be able to start a game of Checkers with your friends on the go. And other games I guess, but ya’know… checkers is cool.
Remember those Activities we just mentioned? One of them is called “Watch Together,” a way to enjoy YouTube videos with your friends. To Watch Together with your friends on Discord, use that same rocketship button we mentioned previously, right next to your Video and Screenshare buttons.
Whoever starts the Watch Together activity becomes the Host and has the virtual remote, deciding what to watch. Everyone’s YouTube video is automatically synced together, so there’s no need to count to three loud in the call to make sure everyone’s on the same spot in the video.
The Host can also share control with everyone in the Activity, allowing participants to freely queue up their picks on what should play next. First a 30-second cat clip, then a three hour video essay, followed by a 2 minute video about how to best brew a cup of coffee. What chaos ensues will likely be really telling about what you and your friends are like.
Like all Activities, Watch Together is available to anyone on Discord. Try it out in a Discord call next time you’re looking for something to watch!
While we’ve shared a few ideas on what to do on Discord, we understand that you might be looking for something else. A way to post cats, throw a cake at your friends, or buff up your moderation abilities. You’ll find these and a nearly-endless amount of possibilities over in the App Directory.
From image generation to community moderation, if there’s something you’ve ever wanted to do in Discord, you’ll likely find it in the App Directory. To explore what’s available, simply head into any server, then select the server’s name and open “App Directory.", or check it out here.
You’ll be able to explore the options within any server, but you can only add apps to servers that you have the right permissions for. If you don’t have the perms, consider asking a moderator in the server you’re in to add it!
The applications and bots mentioned above are created by independent developers and dev teams for millions of Discord users to enjoy in their communities. If you’ve got an idea for an app and you’ve got some coding know-how, you can build the app of your dreams. Check out discord.com/build to learn what’s possible. Memrise, Cappuccino, CHANI, and Motivation all brought their apps to Discord, and so can you!
Not to toot our own horns here, buuuuut… the Discord Blog is a pretty great place to learn about what you can do on Discord! *wink wink nudge nudge* Explore our How to Discord section to get the basics down, then keep an eye out at our Product & Features category to stay up to date on the newest Discord features.
