Modmail

Pro

Members DM the bot to start a case. The bot opens a private channel in your Support Inbox that both the member and your staff use to continue the conversation.

Open Ticket Settings →

DM-Initiated Cases

For members who do not know which channel to post in, or who need a private place to raise something. They DM the bot, the bot creates a private channel where the member and staff continue the conversation together.

What is this?

A Pro feature that lets any member of your server start a support case by direct-messaging the bot. The bot creates a private channel in your Support Inbox category, gives the member access to it, and pings them to continue the conversation there. Staff and the member talk directly in that channel; default @everyone is denied so nobody else can see it.

Why you might want it

For sensitive topics (harassment reports, payment issues, account problems) members do not want to ask in public. For new members who do not know your server's case-panel exists. For staff who want every conversation captured as a case with transcripts and audit trail, regardless of where it started.

Setup time: under a minuteDifficulty: Easy. Most users get through it first try.

How Modmail Works

A member sends the bot a direct message from any context (not in a channel — straight to the bot's DMs). What happens next:

The bot DMs the member a server picker listing every server the member shares with the bot. The member always picks which server the modmail is for, even if they only share one server with the bot.
If the picked server has modmail enabled, the bot creates a private channel in that server's Support Inbox category named like MM-1-username.
The bot adds a permission overwrite that gives the member read and write access to that channel, along with the support role. @everyone stays denied.
The bot pings the member in the channel asking them to continue the conversation there. The member can switch over and reply directly.
If the member keeps DMing the bot anyway, those subsequent DMs are relayed into the channel as embeds attributed to them (the bot reacts with ✉️ to confirm receipt). Staff still see them in the channel; the member sees their own replies as channel messages.

⚠️

Warning

The case channel is NOT staff-only. The member who opened the modmail has full read and write access to it. Treat everything you post in the channel as visible to the member — it is. If you need to discuss something privately among staff, use the internal-notes prefix ?note your message and the bot will mark it as a staff-only transcript entry.

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Note

Once a modmail exists, it behaves like any other case in your Support Inbox: same lifecycle, same dashboard view, same close flow, same transcript. The only thing special about it is how it was opened (DM) and that the member is a permission overwrite on the channel.

Setup

Enable modmail

Dashboard → Support Inbox → Ticket Settings. Toggle Modmail on. Pro is required.

Confirm your Support Inbox category exists

Modmail cases land in the same category as button-opened cases. If you ran the setup wizard with Support Inbox selected, this is already done. Otherwise create one in Settings → Channels.

Testing It Yourself

Before sharing modmail with your members, run the full path with a second account:

Use a test account that shares your server

A separate Discord account that is a member of your server (not staff, not admin). If you do not have one, ask a trusted friend.

DM the bot from the test account

Right-click the bot in any channel of your server → Message. Send any message.

Pick your server in the picker

The bot replies with a dropdown listing every server you share with it. Pick the one you want to test. Disabled servers (no Pro, or modmail off) appear in the dropdown but cannot be selected.

Confirm the case channel was created

Switch to your admin account. Check the Support Inbox category. A new private channel named MM-1-username (or similar) should appear with both you (as staff) and the test member having access.

Verify the member can see and post in the channel

Switch back to the test account. Open the new channel in Discord. Confirm the member can read it and post a message. That message should appear in the channel for staff.

Reply from the case channel as staff

Switch to admin. Post a reply in the case channel. Switch to the test account — the message should be visible there immediately. No DM relay; the member is just reading the channel they have access to.

Close the case

Click Close in the case channel (or from the dashboard). The channel is archived and the transcript is preserved.

What Members See

From the member's side:

They DM the bot. The bot DMs back a server picker.
They pick a server. The bot tells them a modmail has been opened and pings them in the new channel.
They click into the channel inside your server. From there it looks and behaves like a normal private text channel — they read what staff post and reply directly.
If they DM the bot again instead of using the channel, the bot relays their message into the channel and reacts with ✉️ to confirm receipt. Either path works.

ℹ️

Note

Members do not see staff-only notes (?note prefix), other case channels, or transcripts. They only see the modmail channel they were granted access to.

The Server Picker

The bot always shows a server picker when a member starts a new modmail, even when the member only shares one server with the bot. This is deliberate: it forces the member to confirm which server the message is about, which avoids accidentally routing a DM to the wrong place when the bot is in many servers.

The picker lists every server the member shares with the bot, up to 25 (Discord's select-menu limit). Servers without modmail enabled appear in the list but cannot be selected — the member sees why their preferred server is unavailable instead of getting a silent fallback.

Limits and Edge Cases

Modmail is a Pro feature. Toggling it on requires an active Arkanis Pro subscription; Free guilds cannot enable it.
Member must share at least one server with the bot. Strangers DMing the bot are ignored.
Member must have DMs allowed from server members (a Discord privacy setting). If closed, the bot cannot send the picker and the modmail flow fails silently.
Attachments are forwarded both ways within Discord size limits when DM-relay is used; in-channel posts work natively.
One open modmail per member per server. A second DM while a case is open relays into the existing channel; it does not open a fresh one.
The per-user open-case cap (max_open_per_user in Ticket Settings, default 3) applies to modmails too. A member already at the cap on other case panels cannot open a new modmail until one of them closes.

Troubleshooting

Member DM'd the bot but nothing happened:

Confirm your guild is Pro. Modmail is a Pro feature and the toggle refuses to save on Free guilds with PREMIUM_REQUIRED.
Confirm modmail is enabled (Ticket Settings).
Confirm the member shares your server with the bot and that you appear in the picker. Members who left cannot start new modmails.
Confirm your Support Inbox category exists and the bot can see and write to it.
Confirm the member is not already at max_open_per_user (default 3) on existing case panels. The bot rejects with a DM along the lines of You have reached the maximum of N open cases.

Member can't see the modmail channel after creation:

Confirm a category override is not denying the member view-channel. Channel-level overwrites can grant view, but a category-level deny that takes precedence will hide it.
Confirm the member is still a server member. Leaving the server revokes the per-channel overwrite Discord-side.

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