A Discord moderation bot that never asks for Administrator.
Most moderation bots ask for Administrator because it is one click and it removes every permission problem in advance. Nemesis does not request it, so every feature had to work inside a narrower set of permissions.
Why bots ask for Administrator
Administrator is a single permission that overrides every channel override and grants every other permission in the server. A bot with it can read every private channel, delete channels and roles, change server settings, and remove members. It is the easiest way for a bot developer to ship a feature without working out which permissions that feature needs.
The trade is real: if that bot is ever compromised, or its token leaks, or a bug runs a command on the wrong id, there is no permission boundary left to stop it. Discord shows a red warning when the Administrator permission is requested, and many server owners have learned to refuse it on sight.
What Nemesis asks for instead
Nemesis requests 22 individual permissions across nine groups on the invite screen, and Administrator is not one of them. Four groups are marked required and five are optional. The groups are read and send messages, manage messages, kick and ban members, timeout members, manage roles and nicknames, view audit log, manage channels and server, voice connect, mute and move, and manage webhooks.
Each group exists because a module uses it. Turn the module off and the permission goes unused. If a channel is hidden from the bot, /setup names the channel and the permission that is missing rather than failing silently.
| Group | What it is for | Which module |
|---|---|---|
| Read and send messages | Answer slash commands and post log entries | All |
| Manage messages | Delete filtered messages and purge | Filter, Moderation |
| Kick and ban members | Carry out kick and ban actions | Moderation, Quick Mod |
| Timeout members | Apply timed mutes, including Quick Mod ladders | Moderation, Quick Mod |
| Manage roles and nicknames | Role management, level roles, nickname requests | Roles, XP |
| View audit log | Attribute an action to the staff member who did it | Logging |
| Manage channels and server | Raid lockdown and invite tracking | Raid, Logging |
| Voice connect, mute and move | Join-to-Create rooms and voice moderation | Voice |
| Manage webhooks | Dashboard chat in tickets appears under your name | Tickets, Watch |
Where this falls short
No Administrator does not mean "cannot cause damage". Manage Channels still lets a bot delete a channel, and Manage Server still lets it change server settings. What it means is that the permission set is bounded and visible: you can read the nine groups before you authorise anything, and you can remove any one of them afterwards.
Never grant Administrator to a bot you do not trust, and never grant it to a bot whose developer has not explained why. If a bot says it cannot work without it, ask which permission is actually missing.
How to check any bot before you add it
Open the invite link and read the permission list before you press Authorise. Discord shows every permission the bot is asking for, and the URL itself carries the permission integer if you want to decode it. A bot asking for Administrator when its features do not need server-wide overrides is a bot that has not done the work.
- Administrator is one permission that grants all other permissions and bypasses channel overrides.
- Nemesis requests 22 specific permissions across nine groups and never Administrator.
- Permissions map to modules, so unused modules leave permissions unused.
- Read the list on the invite screen before authorising any bot.
Common questions
Does Nemesis need Administrator to work?
No. It requests 22 individual permissions across nine groups, covering messages, moderation, roles, the audit log, channels, voice and webhooks.
Can a bot with Administrator-only permissions still be moderated?
A bot with Administrator outranks normal role hierarchy, so a server cannot restrict what it does through channel permissions. That is the difference this design avoids.
Is the free plan the same permission set?
Yes. The invite asks for the same permissions whether the server stays on Free or upgrades.
Try it on one server.
The free plan does not expire and does not ask for a card.