AutoMod blocks strings. Your problem stopped being strings.
Keep AutoMod for the things it's genuinely good at — invite links, hard-banned words, mention floods. Put everything that needs a second look somewhere that can read pictures, follow links, and remember what your mods decided last time.
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Wordlist / AutoMod
Blocked
Exact match. AutoMod does its job.
Wardn
Removed
Same intent, same fake-giveaway shape, same brand-new account. The spelling was never what gave it away.
AutoMod is free, native and fine — until the file gets long.
Everyone starts here. The question isn't whether AutoMod works, it's what you're doing at the point where maintaining it has become someone's unpaid second job.
Invite-link blocking, mention spam limits, the short list of words that are never acceptable in your server no matter who says them.
The 400-line keyword file. The regex someone wrote in 2023 that nobody dares touch. The 'temporary' rule that's been quietly deleting a regular's messages for months.
Every decision that needed a mod to look at context — the image, the link destination, the account age, the channel, the history — and make a judgment call.
Six things no keyword rule can see.
These aren't gaps you close by adding more entries. They're the categories a string match has no access to.
Anything inside an image
A banner with a scam URL painted on it is, to AutoMod, a file with a name. The words in the picture are not text as far as any keyword rule is concerned.
Where a link actually goes
A shortener passes the domain check. Three redirects later it's a wallet drainer. AutoMod reads the string, not the destination.
Who is talking
A ten-month regular and an account created this morning get the same treatment, because a rule can't weigh reputation.
What was said before it
'do it then' is a joke or a threat depending on the previous four messages. Rules see one message at a time.
Names and nicknames
The message can be spotless while the display name is an advert or a slur. That's a different surface, and it isn't covered.
Whether it was even wrong
AutoMod can't tell you it made a mistake, and it can't learn from the one time you unblocked something. Every false positive repeats forever.
Two of those — images and links — are worth their own read: what a phishing link looks like three hops in.
What moving off a keyword file actually looks like.
Nobody deletes their filters on day one. This is the order we do it in.
We read your current rules
Including the ones nobody remembers adding. Half of them are usually dead — matching nothing, or matching a member's name.
Wardn watches without permissions
About a week, in parallel with AutoMod. Everything it would have done is recorded, nothing is done.
You compare the two side by side
Same week, same traffic. Where AutoMod fired and Wardn didn't, and the far longer list of the reverse.
We switch off the overlapping rules
Only the ones Wardn now covers, so you never get two bots acting on one message.
AutoMod keeps the short, hard list
The absolutes stay native and instant. Everything with a judgment in it moves.
The practical stuff.
Can we run both?
Yes, and you should for the first couple of weeks. We only recommend turning a native rule off once Wardn has demonstrably covered it.
Does this break our existing bots?
No. Levels, tickets, roles and welcome flows are untouched — we take moderation decisions, not your utilities.
What does it cost?
There's a setup fee and an ongoing fee, quoted per server. Volume, integration and how you want it wired up all move the number, so we quote after we've looked.
When can we start?
We onboard five servers per batch so each one gets a real tuning pass. Getting in touch early is how you get into the next one.
Send us your keyword file.
Genuinely — paste it in the notes. We'll tell you which rules are dead, which ones are quietly hurting real members, and what's left for us to do.
Related reading
Discord moderation bot →
What a moderation bot has to get right in 2026 — and where the classics stop.
AI Discord moderation bot →
The training loop: every override your mods make becomes a rule you never write.
Discord spam bot problems →
The overnight wall of garbage, and how to stop rewriting filters for it.
Discord scam & phishing protection →
Unmasking redirect chains, fake giveaways and QR drainers before members click.
Discord content moderation →
NSFW, gore and slurs handled the same way at 3am as at 3pm.
Discord self-promotion bot →
Telling the artist sharing work apart from the person farming your members.