---
title: "Discord nuke: protect your server from a hacked account · Orion Shield"
description: "What a Discord nuke is, how to prevent it with the right permissions and how an anti-nuke stops a hacked account deleting channels, roles and members."
url: https://orion-shield.com/en/guides/discord-nuke-hacked-account
language: en
alternates:
  fr: https://orion-shield.com/guides/nuke-discord-compte-pirate
---

Guide

# Discord nuke: protect your server from a hacked account or a rogue moderator

In a few minutes, a single account with the right permissions can delete all your channels, wipe your roles and ban your members. That’s called a nuke. Here is how to limit the risk, and how to stop it if it happens.

Published on October 24, 2026

## What is a Discord nuke?

A nuke is a server destroyed from the inside by an account with the permissions to do it. Unlike a raid, the attack doesn’t come from outside: it comes from a member of your team.

Three scenarios come up again and again: a rogue moderator or administrator, a hacked staff account, or a bot with too many permissions that gets compromised.

## The first line of defence: permissions

- Give the Administrator permission to as few people as possible.
- Create moderation roles with only the permissions they need: manage messages, time out members…
- Keep “Manage Channels”, “Manage Roles” and “Ban Members” for trusted people.
- Put sensitive roles at the top of the hierarchy: a member can’t edit a role above their own.
- Require two-factor authentication for moderation actions.
- Only add well-known bots, and remove the ones you no longer use.

## Why permissions aren’t enough

Even when set up well, permissions trust the role, not the person behind the account. If a moderator gets their account stolen, the scammer inherits all their rights. The audit log will tell you what happened, but only afterwards.

So you need a protection that judges behaviour: a legitimate moderator doesn’t delete ten channels in two minutes.

## How an anti-nuke works

An anti-nuke counts each member’s sensitive actions over a period of time, and steps in as soon as a threshold is crossed.

**With Orion Shield ·** Orion counts, over 15 minutes, the channels and roles each member deletes or edits, and their bans and kicks. Above the limit, it stops the member and applies the sanction you chose. The sensitivity is set in /settings.

[Anti-nuke →](https://orion-shield.com/en/anti-nuke)

## If your server was nuked

- Remove the responsible account’s roles right away, or kick it.
- Check the audit log to list what was deleted or edited.
- Unban members banned by mistake from the ban list.
- Recreate the deleted channels and roles, then check their permissions.
- If the account was hacked, ask its owner to change their password and turn on 2FA before giving their roles back.

## Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a raid and a nuke?

A raid comes from outside: dozens of accounts join the server to spam it. A nuke comes from inside: an account with permissions deletes channels and roles or bans members.

How do I keep a moderator’s account from being hacked?

Require two-factor authentication for moderation, teach your team never to scan a QR code or log in from a link they received, and keep each role’s permissions to the strict minimum.

## Protection

[**Anti-nuke** Orion’s anti-nuke counts each member’s actions over 15 minutes and stops whoever deletes channels, roles or bans in a row. Built for hacked accounts.](https://orion-shield.com/en/anti-nuke) [**All guides** Raids, nukes, scams: how to recognize threats on Discord and protect your server and your members.](https://orion-shield.com/en/guides)

## Protect your server with Orion

Anti-raid, anti-nuke, anti-scam and AI moderation: add Orion to your Discord server and set everything up with /settings.

[Add bot](https://orion-shield.com/invite) [Discord Server →](https://discord.gg/BC3rE6f7GB)