Kotbo 4 min read
How to do a giveaway on Discord, from launch to draw
Discord has no built-in giveaway tool: to run a giveaway on Discord you need a bot that posts the announcement, counts entries and draws on time. With Kotbo, one command or a dashboard form does it, and entry requirements keep out accounts created just for the prize
Included in every plan, with a 15-day trial and no credit card
Why use a Discord giveaway bot
You can always ask people to react under a message and draw a name by hand. It works for ten people, much less beyond that
- Nobody can check the draw was fair
- Alt accounts and accounts made yesterday get in like everyone else
- Someone has to remember to close it, and redraw if a winner left the server
- A bot draws at the set time, announces the winners and keeps the entry list
Starting a giveaway with Kotbo
From the dashboard, Giveaways page, the start button opens a form: prize, description, number of winners, duration or end date, channel. From Discord, it’s the /giveaway command
-
Pick the prize
Write what’s up for grabs, plus a description if you want to spell out the rules
-
Set the duration
In minutes with the command, in minutes, hours, days or as an end date from the dashboard
-
Pick the channel
The current channel by default, or the one you name. A default channel can also be set in the configuration
-
Start it
Kotbo posts the announcement with a join button. Members enter in one click, and clicking again withdraws them
-
Let it run
At the end, Kotbo draws, announces the winners in the channel and greys out the button
The /giveaway command and its subcommands
On an English Discord client the subcommands are start, end and reroll. A French client shows them as lancer, cloturer and relancer
/giveaway start prize:<prize> winners:<number> duration:<minutes>- Starts a giveaway. Extra options: channel, description, template to start from a saved template, validation to require staff approval before the prize is handed out
/giveaway end id:<id>- Closes a running giveaway and draws right away. The id is given when you start it
/giveaway reroll id:<id>- Draws a new winner for a finished giveaway, among entrants who haven’t won yet
Giveaway entry requirements
The Configuration tab of the Giveaways page sets who can click join. A refused member gets a message telling them why, and you can rewrite each of those messages
Required and excluded roles
Limit the giveaway to some roles, or keep some out. An excluded role always wins over a required one
Discord account age
A minimum number of days since the account was created, to keep out accounts made for the occasion
Time on the server
A minimum number of days since joining, for members who showed up just for the prize
Minimum level
The level reached with the Levels module, to keep the prize for active members
Read the article on levelsOne person, one entry
Accounts recognized as belonging to the same member only enter once
Read the article on alt accounts
The draw and the reroll
A few rules that head off arguments under the announcement
- An entrant who leaves the server is removed from running giveaways, so they can’t win a prize nobody can hand them
- Some roles can count several times in the draw, up to ten times. The best role applies, they don’t stack
- With validation on, winners stay pending: staff approve or reroll with the buttons under the announcement
- A reroll draws one new winner at a time, and the announcement is updated
Handing giveaways to your events team
By default, /giveaway is open to admins and members with Manage Server or Manage Messages. Add manager roles in the configuration and your events team runs giveaways without moderation rights. The Templates tab keeps your recurring giveaways, and a public page lists running giveaways with no login needed. The announcement’s look is set in the configuration too: colors, title, images, button label and color, the winners announcement and the replies to entrants. Each save is kept under a name, so you can go back to an older setup