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System messages channel

Pick a channel where Root posts automatic updates about your community.

What is the system messages channel?​

The system messages channel is a text channel that automatically receives notifications when important events happen in your community. These system messages help members stay informed about community activity without requiring manual announcements.

How it works​

You can turn this feature on or off and change the channel at any time in community settings. After changing channels, new system messages go to the new channel. Messages already sent to the previous channel remain there.

If you turn off system messages, automatic notifications are not sent anywhere. Events still happen normally (members can still join, messages can still be pinned) but no automatic messages announce these events.

Turning on the system messages channel only affects future events. System messages are only created when events happen while the feature is turned on. You won't see messages for events that happened before you enabled the feature or while it was turned off.

What messages appear?​

The system messages channel receives automatic notifications for:

EventExample message
Member joined"Alex joined the community!"
Member left"Alex left the community!"
Member kicked"Jordan kicked Sam"
Member banned"Jordan banned Sam"
Message pinned"Jordan pinned a message"
Message unpinned"Jordan unpinned a message"
Channel name changed"Jordan set the channel name to announcements"
Channel description changed"Jordan set the channel description to Important updates"
Community name changed"Jordan set the community name to Gaming Hub"
Other community setting changed"Jordan turned on age restriction"
Core added"Alex powered up the community with a core"
Core removed"A core from Alex was removed from the community"
App suspended"Polls has been suspended due to insufficient cores"
Added to channel visibility"Jordan added @Moderators"
Removed from channel visibility"Jordan removed @Moderators"

System messages appear inline with regular messages and are visually distinct from user-sent messages.

Best practices​

Consider these recommendations when setting up your system messages channel:

  • Think about visibility. System messages follow the same permissions as regular messages in that channel. If you want all members to see system messages, designate a channel that everyone can access. If system messages contain sensitive information, consider limiting access to community owners or moderators.

  • Use a dedicated channel. Don't mix system messages with regular conversation. Create a separate channel specifically for system messages so they don't get lost in chat.

  • Make it read-only. Restrict posting permissions so only system messages appear. This keeps the channel clean and makes it easy to scan for important events.

Enable or disable system messages​

You can enable or disable system messages at any time. When turned off, no system messages are sent to any channel. New communities have system messages turned on, sent to the Text channel. You can pick another channel at any time.

Required permissions
  • Manage CommunityChange community settings
  1. Right-click the community tab, or select the community image in the sidebar.
  2. Select Community settings.
  3. Select the Engagement category.
  4. Turn System messages on or off.
  5. If it's on, choose the text channel that should receive system messages under Channel.
  6. Select Save changes.