Guides

Temporary voice channels in Discord: join-to-create and auto-delete

Permanent "Squad 1" to "Squad 12" voice channels clutter every server. Temporary voice channels are created when someone needs one and deleted when they are done. Here is how they work, and how to set them up.

What temporary voice channels are

A temporary voice channel is created by a bot on demand and deleted once it has been empty for a while. Your channel list then only ever shows channels people are actually using, instead of a wall of empty rooms. Discord does not do this by itself; it needs a bot with permission to create, move members into, and delete voice channels.

Two ways to create them

Join-to-create

You make one voice channel — often called something like “➕ Join to create” — and set it as the hub. When a member connects to it, the bot creates a fresh voice channel and moves them into it. It is the fastest option, but the bot has no idea what the channel is for: it is just a room.

From an LFG panel

The member presses a button on a panel, picks the game details from dropdowns, and the bot creates the voice channel together with a lobby post describing it. Other players can see what the group is doing and how many spots are left before they join. This is better when people are looking for strangers to play with rather than moving their own friends into a room.

LobbyForge supports both. The hub is optional and set alongside the other channels; the panel is described in the LFG setup guide.

How LobbyForge handles the voice channel

• Sized to the party. The channel’s user limit is set to the party size, so Discord itself stops a full lobby from being overfilled.
• You are moved in. If you are already in voice when you open a lobby, you are moved straight into it. If not, you are pulled in the moment you connect to any voice channel in the server.
• A live roster. The lobby post lists who is in the voice channel and updates as people join and leave.
• Deleted when empty. Once the channel has been empty for its timeout, the channel and its lobby post are removed. Each layout sets its own, from 30 seconds to 5 minutes; hub channels use the 5-minute default.
• Hub manners. Rejoining the hub while friends are still in your lobby puts you back with them instead of creating another channel. Rejoining it from an empty lobby of your own replaces that lobby rather than leaving it behind.
• Spectator seats (Premium). Extra voice slots for spectators, coaches or substitutes, kept separate from the player spots so they never take a player’s place.
• Private lobbies (Premium). The voice channel is hidden, and the post’s Join button is what gives a player access.

Setting it up

1. Create a category for the temporary channels, for example “Lobbies”.
2. If you want join-to-create, create one voice channel to be the hub.
3. Sign in to the dashboard, invite the bot to your server, and under channel routing choose the category, the hub, and the channel for lobby posts. Or run /lb_setup in Discord.
4. Connect to the hub (or press the panel button) and check that a channel appears, you are moved into it, and it disappears after you leave.

Permissions the bot needs

Creating and cleaning up voice channels needs Manage Channels, and moving people into them needs Move Members; Connect and View Channels let the bot work with the channels it made. LobbyForge also asks for Send Messages, Embed Links and Read Message History to post and update lobby posts, and Manage Roles for private lobbies and notification roles. It never asks for Create Instant Invite or Administrator. If channels are not appearing, the most common cause is the bot’s role lacking Manage Channels on the lobby category.

Wondering what a bot like this can see? See what an LFG bot needs access to.