How to Add Multiple Owners to a Discord Server Without Ownership Transfer

You want to give more than one person full administrative control over your Discord server, but the platform only allows a single server owner. The Owner role cannot be duplicated or shared, and transferring ownership removes your own access. This article explains how to create a custom role with all Owner-level permissions so multiple users can manage the server without you giving up ownership.

We cover the exact permissions to assign, how to avoid common pitfalls like role hierarchy issues and permission overwrites, and what actions the Owner role can still perform that your custom role cannot. By the end, you will have a secure, functional setup where multiple admins can run the server equally.

Why Discord Limits Server Ownership to One Person

Discord’s ownership model is designed for accountability and legal reasons. The server owner is the single point of contact for Discord support, billing, and server deletion requests. Ownership cannot be split or co-owned because the platform’s backend ties critical actions like deleting the server or transferring ownership to one user account.

However, you can mimic multi-owner functionality using roles. A role with every permission enabled gives a user the same day-to-day control as the owner, except for a few irreversible actions: deleting the server, transferring ownership, and managing the Server Insights subscription. This setup works for teams, communities, and business servers where multiple people need full admin access.

What the Owner Can Do That a Custom Admin Role Cannot

Even with all permissions enabled, a custom admin role cannot perform these owner-exclusive actions:

• Delete the server entirely
• Transfer ownership to another user
• Enable or disable Community features that require billing setup
• View and manage Server Insights if the server is a Community server
• Change the server’s region or boost settings that affect billing

These limitations ensure that no one except the original owner can permanently destroy or transfer the server.

Steps to Create a Full-Admin Role for Multiple Users

Follow these instructions to build a role that gives other users Owner-level permissions. You must be the server owner to perform these steps.

1. Open Server Settings
   Click your server name in the top-left corner of the Discord window. Select Server Settings from the dropdown menu.
2. Go to the Roles tab
   In the left sidebar, click Roles. This page shows all existing roles and their hierarchy.
3. Create a new role
   Click the Create Role button. A new role appears at the bottom of the list. Name it something clear like “Server Admin” or “Co-Owner.”
4. Enable all permissions
   Scroll through the permissions list. Turn ON every permission toggle. The most important ones are:
   – Administrator: Grants all permissions except owner-exclusive actions
   – Manage Server: Allows editing server name, region, and AFK channel
   – Manage Roles: Lets the user create, edit, and delete roles below their own role
   – Manage Channels: Allows creating, editing, and deleting channels
   – Kick Members and Ban Members: For user moderation
   – Mention @everyone, @here, and All Roles: Needed for announcements
5. Set role color and display options
   Optionally choose a color and enable “Display role members separately from online members” so admins appear in their own section in the member list.
6. Save changes
   Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the permissions page.
7. Move the role up in hierarchy
   Drag the new role upward so it sits directly below the server owner’s crown icon. The higher a role is in the list, the more authority it has over lower roles. Place it just under the Owner role to prevent lower-ranked roles from overriding its permissions.
8. Assign the role to users
   Go to the Members tab in Server Settings. Find each user you want to be an admin. Click the + icon next to their name and select the new admin role. Repeat for all intended users.

Once assigned, these users can manage every aspect of the server except the owner-exclusive actions listed earlier. They can kick, ban, edit channels, manage roles below theirs, and use all moderation tools.

Common Mistakes and Limitations When Setting Up Multiple Admins

Admins Cannot Edit Roles Above Their Own in the Hierarchy

Even with the Manage Roles permission, a user can only edit roles that appear below their highest role in the list. If your admin role is placed below a “Moderator” role, the admin cannot edit that Moderator role. Always keep the admin role second from the top to avoid this.

Permission Overwrites in Channels Can Block Admin Actions

If a specific channel has permission overwrites that deny certain actions (like Send Messages) to the admin role, the deny overwrite takes precedence over the role’s global permissions. Check each channel’s permissions and remove any deny overwrites for the admin role. Alternatively, ensure the admin role has the Administrator permission enabled, which bypasses all channel-specific overwrites.

Admins Cannot Delete the Server

This is by design. If you need to allow a trusted admin to delete the server in an emergency, you must transfer ownership to them temporarily. After deletion, you cannot recover the server. Consider using a backup bot like Xenon to save server data before any ownership transfer.

Admins Cannot Transfer Ownership to Another User

Only the original owner can transfer ownership. If you want another user to be able to transfer ownership, you must give them your account credentials, which violates Discord’s Terms of Service. Do not share your password. Instead, keep ownership yourself and trust your admins with the custom role.

Bot Permissions Can Override Admin Role Permissions

Some bots require their own role to be placed above the admin role to function correctly. For example, a moderation bot might need a role above all users to enforce timeouts. If a bot’s role is above your admin role, the bot can override admin permissions in certain situations. Review your bot documentation and adjust role hierarchy accordingly.

Comparison: Server Owner vs Custom Admin Role vs Admin Bot

Item	Server Owner	Custom Admin Role	Admin Bot (e.g., Dyno, MEE6)
Delete server	Yes	No	No
Transfer ownership	Yes	No	No
Manage all channels and roles	Yes	Yes	Limited to bot commands
Kick and ban members	Yes	Yes	Via commands
Edit server name and region	Yes	Yes	No
Use voice channel moderation	Yes	Yes	Via commands
View Server Insights	Yes	No	No

The custom admin role is the closest you can get to multi-owner functionality without ownership transfer. Bots can automate moderation but cannot replace full admin control.

You can now give multiple users full administrative control over your Discord server without transferring ownership. Create a custom role with all permissions enabled, place it directly below the Owner role in the hierarchy, and assign it to trusted users. Remember that only you can delete the server or transfer ownership, so keep your account secure. For advanced management, consider using a bot like Dyno to automate routine moderation tasks while your admins handle manual actions.