How to Use Giveaway Bot - Discord Giveaway Management
Complete guide on how to use Giveaway Bot to create, manage, and track giveaways in your Discord server with advanced features like weighted entries and role requirements.
Who it's for: Discord server administrators who want to host and manage giveaways with advanced features like weighted entries, role requirements, and automatic winner selection.
Outcome: You will know how to create giveaways, set requirements, view entries, reroll winners, configure settings, and use all advanced features of the bot.
Prerequisites
- Discord server with admin permissions
- Giveaway Bot already added to your server
- You have "Manage Server" permission
- Bot has required permissions (Send Messages, Embed Links, Use External Emojis, Read Message History)
Installation
- 1
Create a basic giveaway
Use the `/giveaway create` command to start a new giveaway. You'll need to provide the prize (what you're giving away, max 2000 characters), duration (how long it runs, e.g., `7d` for 7 days, `2h` for 2 hours, `30m` for 30 minutes), and number of winners (1-50). The bot will create an embed with a "Join Giveaway" button.
/giveaway create prize:Nitro Boost duration:7d winners:1 - 2
Create giveaway with requirements
Add requirements to prevent abuse and customize your giveaway. You can require specific roles, blacklist roles, set minimum account age, add weighted roles for extra chances, add images, and set reminders. All options are optional.
/giveaway create prize:VIP Role duration:3d winners:2 required_role:@Member min_account_age:30d - 3
Create giveaway with weighted roles
Give specific roles better chances to win. Format: `role:weight,role:weight` for custom weights (1-10x), or just `role,role` for default 2x weight. Users with multiple weighted roles get the highest weight.
/giveaway create prize:Special Prize duration:5d winners:1 weighted_roles:@VIP:5,@Member:2 - 4
View active giveaways
Use `/giveaway list` to see all active giveaways in your server. This shows giveaway IDs, prizes, channels, hosts, end times, and entry counts. You'll need these IDs for other commands like ending, rerolling, or viewing entries.
/giveaway list
Configuration
- 1
View giveaway entries
See who entered a specific giveaway using the giveaway ID or message ID. This shows all participants with their join times, sorted by when they joined (oldest first). Limited to 60 entries per embed. You can use either the giveaway ID from `/giveaway list` or the message ID from the giveaway embed.
/giveaway entries giveaway_id:123 /giveaway entries message_id:456789012345678901 - 2
Get detailed giveaway information
View detailed information about a specific giveaway including all settings, requirements, entry count, and status. You need the message ID from the giveaway embed.
/giveaway info message_id:456789012345678901 - 3
End or cancel a giveaway
End a running giveaway early to select winners immediately, or cancel it without selecting winners. Both commands require confirmation dialogs to prevent accidents. You can use either the giveaway ID or message ID. Giveaways also end automatically at their scheduled time.
/giveaway end giveaway_id:123 /giveaway cancel message_id:456789012345678901 - 4
Reroll winners
If you need to select new winners for a finished giveaway, use the reroll command. This selects new winners from eligible entries, excluding previous winners. An announcement is sent to the channel. You can use either the giveaway ID or message ID.
/giveaway reroll giveaway_id:123 - 5
View statistics
Check your server's comprehensive giveaway statistics. Shows total giveaways (active, ended, cancelled), total entries and winners, average entries per giveaway, and the most popular giveaway by entries.
/giveaway stats - 6
Configure server settings
Configure bot settings for your server. Set a log channel where giveaway results (winners, cancellations) are posted, and toggle whether winners receive DMs when they win.
/giveaway config set-log-channel channel:#giveaway-logs /giveaway config toggle-dm-winners - 7
Get help
View help information and command reference with a link to detailed documentation. Use this if you need a quick reminder of available commands and options.
/giveaway help
Verification
Test the complete workflow: create a giveaway, have users join it, view the entries, and optionally end it early or wait for it to end automatically. Check that winners are selected and announced correctly.
/giveaway create prize:Test Prize duration:5m winners:1
/giveaway list
/giveaway entries giveaway_id:your-idExpected output:
✅ Giveaway created successfully! 🎁 Giveaway ID: 123 📅 Ends: 2025-01-23 15:05:00 👥 Entries: 0 📋 Active Giveaways: 1. ID: 123 - Test Prize (5 minutes remaining)
Common Errors & Quick Fixes
❌ Bot doesn't respond to commands
Fix: Check that the bot is online (green status in your server). Wait 5-15 minutes after bot startup for command registration. Refresh Discord (close and reopen). If issues persist, contact support.
❌ Permission denied or Missing permissions
Fix: Ensure you have "Manage Server" permission. Check bot has: Send Messages, Embed Links, Use External Emojis, Read Message History. Verify bot's role position is high enough.
❌ Giveaways don't end automatically
Fix: Check that the bot is online (green status). Ensure the bot has permission to send messages in the channel. If giveaways consistently don't end automatically, contact support.
❌ Cannot find giveaway
Fix: Use `/giveaway list` to see all active giveaways and their IDs. Make sure you're using the correct giveaway ID or message ID. Verify the giveaway hasn't already ended or been cancelled.
❌ Rate limit errors
Fix: The bot has built-in rate limiting to prevent spam. Wait a few seconds between commands. Don't spam commands rapidly. If you continue to see rate limit errors, wait longer between commands.
❌ Invalid duration format
Fix: Duration must be in format like: `30m` (30 minutes), `2h` (2 hours), `7d` (7 days), `2d4h30m` (2 days, 4 hours, 30 minutes), `1w` (1 week), `1y` (1 year). Use `s` for seconds, `m` for minutes, `h` for hours, `d` for days, `w` for weeks, `y` for years. Minimum: 1 minute, Maximum: 365 days.
❌ Reminders not working
Fix: Check that reminder_minutes was set correctly (1-1440 minutes). Verify the bot can DM you (check Discord privacy settings). Ensure the bot is online when the reminder time arrives. If issues persist, contact support.
❌ Entry count not updating
Fix: Refresh the message to see updates. Check that the bot has permission to edit messages in the channel. Verify the giveaway is still active. If the issue persists, contact support.
❌ Cannot create giveaway (limit reached)
Fix: Each server can have up to 20 active giveaways at once. End or cancel existing giveaways before creating new ones. Use `/giveaway list` to see all active giveaways.
Important Notes
- →Use weighted roles to give VIP members better chances to win (format: `@VIP:5,@Member:2` or just `@VIP,@Member` for 2x)
- →Set minimum account age to prevent alt accounts (format: `7d`, `30d`, `1y`)
- →Add reminder_minutes when creating giveaways to get DM notifications before they end (1-1440 minutes)
- →Set up a log channel using `/giveaway config set-log-channel` to track all giveaway results
- →Use required_role to limit giveaways to specific member groups
- →Use blacklist_role to exclude certain roles (like staff or bots)
- →Add images to giveaway embeds using the image option with a URL
- →Remember: Up to 20 active giveaways per server, 1-50 winners per giveaway
- →Duration can be from 1 minute to 365 days (format: `30m`, `2h`, `7d`, `2d4h30m`, `1w`, `1y`)
- →Rate limits: 30 seconds between creating giveaways, 2 seconds between joining, 1 second between commands
- →Use `/giveaway help` to see all available commands and options