If your Discord server got nuked, stop the attacker first, then rebuild. Remove the account or bot that did it, pause invites, secure the owner account, unban the people the attacker banned, restore channels and roles from a backup, and only then bring members back. Discord does not undo a nuke for you. What comes back is what you saved before it happened.
This is for an owner or admin looking at a server with missing channels, missing roles, or a ban list full of real members. The limit that decides how much you get back: a backup has to exist from before the nuke, and members can only be added back if they verified with a restore tool before the nuke.
What does nuked mean on Discord?
A nuked Discord server is one where someone with admin power deleted channels and roles, banned or kicked members, or deleted the server outright, usually in a few minutes. The account that did it is often a compromised staff account, a staff member who turned, or a bot that had Administrator.
The damage decides the fix. A server that still exists can be rebuilt in place. A server that was deleted cannot be reopened, so you rebuild into a new one. Discord’s own guide to raids, How to Protect Your Server from Raids 101, covers the mass-join kind of attack. A nuke is different: it comes from inside, with permissions you granted.
Stop the damage first
Remove the attacker’s power before you rebuild anything. If you rebuild while they still have a role with Administrator, they can delete it again.
- Kick or ban the account that did it, or take its roles away.
- Kick any bot you do not recognize, and any bot that had Administrator but did not need it.
- Pause invites. Discord’s Activity Alerts and Security Actions article says Security Actions let you “pause invites” and pause DMs between members who are not friends. The Pause Invites FAQ puts the button under Server Settings, then Invites, for anyone with Manage Server.
- Look at who still has Administrator and Manage Server. Keep that list short.
If you can no longer open Server Settings at all, the owner account itself is the problem. Go to the next step first.
Secure the owner account
If the owner’s account was taken, reset the password, turn on Multi-Factor Authentication, and remove apps you do not recognize under User Settings, then Authorized Apps. Those are the steps in Discord’s My Discord Account was Hacked or Compromised article, updated May 27, 2025. It also says to check your email for the “Discord Email Address changed” message, which has a link to change it back, and to file a ticket at dis.gd/hackedaccount if you still need help.
Please note that if you fail to secure your account and it is compromised, Discord may be unable to assist in its recovery.
The same article warns that Discord staff will never contact you in the Discord app about support. Anyone who DMs you offering to “recover” the server is not Discord.
If your VaultCord account was also exposed, account recovery can change the email or turn off 2FA after you prove ownership. VaultCord support does not ask for a recovery key, a password, or a session token.
Find who did it
Open Server Settings, then Audit Log. Look at the channel deletions, role deletions, and bans, and note which account or bot made them. That tells you who to remove, and whether a bot was the way in.
If a bot did it, kick the bot. If it was your own bot, reset its token in the Discord Developer Portal before you add it back, because whoever ran the nuke may still hold the old one.
Undo the mass bans
Unban the real members the attacker banned. A ban stays until you lift it, and nothing else on this page reverses it.
This matters for the restore later. When VaultCord pulls members into a server, it skips anyone still on that server’s ban list. If you restore into the same server without unbanning first, those people are left out.
Restore channels and roles
A backup taken before the nuke rebuilds the layout. Without one, you rebuild by hand. There is no Discord button that undeletes a channel.
In VaultCord, open the backup in the dashboard, choose Restore Server, and pick the server to restore into. The VaultCord bot must already be in that server. The screen then gives you:
- Delete ALL channels/roles, ticked by default. It wipes what is there now before the backup goes in. After a nuke, that clears the attacker’s leftovers. Untick it if you want to merge instead.
- Roles, Channels, Messages, Automod Rules, Emojis/Stickers, Bans, and Server name/picture.
Free restores roles, channels, AutoMod rules, and the server name and picture. The restore screen says Free users cannot restore messages, emojis and stickers, or bans. Premium and Plus back up up to 350 of the latest messages per channel, not the full history. Plan details are on the upgrade page, read November 8, 2026.
If you have not picked a backup tool yet, Discord backup bot compares what VaultCord, Xenon, and marCloudBackup each save.
Bring members back
Members come back two ways: they rejoin through an invite, or a restore tool adds the ones who approved it earlier.
Post a fresh invite and an announcement wherever your community also lives. That reaches everyone, verified or not.
VaultCord adds members back only if they verified before the nuke. Verifying means approving Discord’s authorization screen, which includes permission for the app to add them to servers later. In the dashboard, open Pull Members, choose the server, choose the roles to give, and press Start Pulling. People who never verified, or who removed VaultCord from their Authorized Apps, are not in the list. The full walkthrough, including what gets skipped and why, is How to restore Discord members.
Turn invites back on once the server is clean. A server that keeps invites paused is also a server new members cannot find.
If the server was deleted
A deleted server cannot be reopened. Create a new server and restore the backup into it. The How to make a Discord server guide covers the first screen if you need it.
Then invite the VaultCord bot to the new server, run the restore, and pull members in. The pull uses the same verified list, so the new server gets the same people who would have been added to the old one.
How it works
- 1Lock it down
Remove the attacker and their bots, pause invites, and secure the owner account.
- 2Restore the layout
Unban real members, then restore channels and roles from a backup made before the nuke.
- 3Pull members back
Add back the members who verified before the attack. Everyone else gets a new invite.
Where this goes wrong
- Rebuilding before removing the attacker. They delete it again. Remove access first.
- Restoring before unbanning. VaultCord skips members who are still banned in that server.
- No backup from before the nuke. A backup taken afterward saves the wreckage. Save one now, while the server is fine.
- Expecting everyone back. Only members who verified before the nuke can be pulled. Plan on an invite for the rest.
- Too many bots with Administrator. One leaked token is enough. Give each bot only the permissions it uses.
Frequently asked questions
Can Discord support restore a nuked server?
Not in a way you should plan around. Discord’s hacked-account article says Discord may be unable to help if the account was not secured. Rebuild from your own backup.
Can I recover a deleted Discord server?
No. A deleted server is gone. You can create a new server and restore a backup into it, then add back members who verified.
Will all my members come back?
No. A restore tool adds only members who approved it before the nuke and have not revoked it. Everyone else has to rejoin through an invite.
Does VaultCord stop a nuke from happening?
No. VaultCord backs up the server and restores verified members. It does not watch for staff deleting channels. Limiting Administrator and requiring 2FA on staff accounts is the prevention. For tools that try to stop a nuke in progress, see Best Discord anti-nuke bot.
Do I need to pay to restore after a nuke?
Free restores channels, roles, AutoMod rules, and the server name and picture, and can pull verified members with a 10 hour wait between pulls. Messages, emojis and stickers, and bans need Premium or Plus. Checked November 8, 2026.
Sources and verification
Features and limits were checked against the pages below on the dates shown. Recheck a plan before you pay.
Keep reading
More guides for running a Discord server you can restore.
