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Limit member joins

Control the rate at which new members can join your community to protect against spam and raids.

What is join throttling?​

Join throttling limits how many new members can join your community within a specific time window. When the limit is reached, additional join attempts are temporarily blocked until the window resets. This helps protect your community from coordinated spam attacks, bot raids, or sudden influxes of unwanted members.

How join throttling works​

Join throttling uses a time-windowed system:

  • Joins allowed: The maximum number of joins permitted per time window
  • Time window (minutes): The period over which joins are counted before the counter resets

For example, if you set 50 joins allowed with a 10-minute window, up to 50 members can join every 10 minutes. After 50 joins, new members must wait until the window resets.

Enable join throttling​

  1. Right-click the community tab, or right-click the community profile area in the left sidebar.
  2. Select Community settings.
  3. Select Protection from the left navigation.
  4. Toggle Join throttle on.
  5. Set Joins allowed (1-500): the number of joins allowed within the time window.
  6. Set Time window (1-60 minutes): the period over which joins are counted.
  7. Select Save changes.

Disable join throttling​

  1. Right-click the community tab, or right-click the community profile area in the left sidebar.
  2. Select Community settings.
  3. Select Protection from the left navigation.
  4. Toggle Join throttle off.

System messages and action logs​

When join throttle settings are changed, Root automatically:

  • Posts a system message in the system messages channel (if configured)
  • Records the change in the community action log

Leaders with access to the action log can see who changed the setting and when.

When to use join throttling​

Consider enabling join throttling when:

  • Your community is being raided and you need to slow down or stop the influx
  • You expect high growth and want to pace new member onboarding
  • You're running a limited event and want to control attendance
  • You need time to moderate new members before more join

Choose a preset based on your community size:

  • Large community: Best for communities expecting high growth or with established moderation teams
  • Medium community: Balanced protection for most active communities
  • Small community: Good for smaller or private communities that don't expect rapid growth
  • Strict: Maximum protection during active attacks or when you need to severely limit joins