Mod mode
Spot a raid early and stop it fast, all from one window.
What is Mod mode?
Mod mode is a separate moderator window for one community. It shows everything happening in your community live: who's joining, who's posting, messages as they arrive (including ones that get deleted) and what the rest of your mod team is doing.
When a raid starts, Mod mode helps you see it, select the accounts behind it and act on them all at once. You can ban, kick or delete messages in bulk, lock the community down, and save a report of what happened.
Mod mode is on the desktop app only. To moderate from your phone, see Kick or ban members. It's built for moderators who are online and ready to act. To protect your community when no one is around, use the Moderation App, a join limit and email verification.
Mod mode is experimental, so it may change as Root improves it.
Mod mode only watches a community while Root is running and that community is open. If you close Root, or haven't opened the community, you won't get raid alerts and automatic lockdown won't start.
Who can use Mod mode
You can open Mod mode if you're the community owner, have Community Full Control, or have View Action Log plus at least one of these:
- Kick Member
- Create Bans
- Delete Messages in at least one channel
Inside Mod mode, each action still needs its own permission:
| Action | Permission needed |
|---|---|
| Ban, Ban by phrase, Ban sync | Create Bans |
| Kick | Kick Member |
| Delete messages | Delete Messages in that channel |
| Lock chat | Manage Roles |
| Limit joins | Manage Community |
Moderators are never included when you select accounts or take bulk actions. Mod mode treats anyone with Kick Member, Create Bans, Manage Bans, Manage Roles, Manage Community or Community Full Control as a moderator, along with the owner, apps and bots.
Open Mod mode
- Right-click the community tab, or select the community image in the sidebar.
- Select Mod mode.
Mod mode opens in its own window. Each community has one Mod mode window, so opening it again brings the same window to the front.
Select the Mod mode icon (shield) at the top right of the community banner.
The first time you open Mod mode, a short tour shows you around. To see it again, select the Settings icon (gear), then Take the tour again.
When a raid starts
Act fast, then clean up. In Mod mode:
- Select Lock down (or press L) to stop chat and slow new joins. See Lock down your community.
- Let members know what's happening. Post a quick message from the box at the bottom of the feed, like "We're dealing with some spam, chat will be back shortly." The roles you chose under Roles that can still talk can keep posting during a lockdown.
- Select Select suspects in the red Possible raid banner (or press S). This selects the new accounts and spam accounts behind the raid.
- Select Ban in the bar at the bottom (or press B), choose how long, and leave Also delete their recent messages on.
- When things are calm, select Lift lockdown.
Select the Download icon to save an incident report before you close Mod mode. See Save an incident report.
Find your way around
| Area | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Threat level (top left) | CALM, ELEVATED or RAID, worked out live from message rate, joins, new accounts, spam and ghost pings. Beside it: Msg / sec, Joins / min, New accounts and Messages in view. |
| Joins (left) | A chart of everyone who joined in the last 10 minutes, colored by account age (Under an hour, Under a day, Under 30 days, Older). Below it, Recent joins lists each person with badges such as NEW, KICKED 2× TODAY or GONE. |
| Channels (left) | Messages per minute in each channel. Select a channel to focus the feed and the bubbles on it. |
| Voice channels (left) | Who's in each voice channel and for how long. You can server mute, server deafen or disconnect people from here. |
| Who's posting (center) | Each account is a bubble, grouped by the channel it posts in most. Bubbles grow as they post. A red ring means a new account or someone who just joined, and an amber ring means spam or ghost pings. |
| Mod log (center) | What you and the rest of your mod team have done, newest first. Use the chips to show only Bans, Kicks, Deletes, Roles or Other. |
| Copy-paste (center, beside Mod log) | Groups of accounts posting the same text, with a count on the tab. Each group has Select, and groups that look like spam also have Remove all and ban. Select the X to hide a group that isn't spam. |
| Feed (right) | Every message as it arrives, including ones that get deleted. Use Flagged, Deleted and Ghost pings to narrow it down. Post from the box at the bottom. |
A ghost ping is a mention that its author deletes within 5 seconds, so the person mentioned never sees who did it.
Select a bubble or a message to open that person's user card. In Recent joins, hover over a person and select the info icon. The card shows why the account stands out, for example how new it is, their recent messages, and a history of what you and other mods have done to them.
Bubbles moving too much to click? Press F to freeze them in place, and F again to unfreeze.
Select accounts
Select accounts first, then act on all of them at once. You can:
- Shift-click a bubble to add or remove it.
- Drag around bubbles in Who's posting to select everyone inside.
- Select a person in Recent joins.
- When many accounts post the same text, open the Copy-paste tab beside the Mod log and select Select on that group.
- Select Select suspects in the Possible raid banner, or press S.
- Select Find similar accounts on a user card to add accounts created around the same time, in the same join wave or posting the same text.
The bar at the bottom shows how many accounts you've selected. Press Esc to clear your selection.
Hold Shift while you drag around bubbles to add them to what you've already selected, instead of starting again.
Ban, kick or delete messages
You need Create Bans to ban, Kick Member to kick, or Delete Messages to delete.
- Select the accounts.
- In the bar at the bottom, select Ban, Kick or Delete messages.
- For a ban, choose how long in Ban for: Permanent, 1 hour, 1 day or 7 days. You can also add a reason.
- For a ban or kick, leave Also delete their recent messages on to remove what they posted, or turn it off.
- Select Ban, Kick or Delete messages to confirm.
Kicked accounts can rejoin with an invite. Banned accounts can't. To undo a ban you just made, select Undo next to it in the Mod log.
You can also ban or kick one person from their user card, or right-click one of their messages.
When many accounts post the same text, open the Copy-paste tab beside the Mod log and select Remove all and ban on that group. It bans everyone who posted it and deletes their messages. You confirm first.
Lock down your community
A lockdown stops chat and slows new joins until a moderator lifts it. You see exactly what will change before anything happens.
You need Manage Roles to lock chat, and Manage Community to limit joins.
- Select Lock down at the top right of Mod mode, or press L.
- Under What to lock, choose Chat and joins, Chat only or Joins only.
- Under Roles that can still talk, check the roles that should keep chatting, like your moderators.
- Check What will change to see exactly what the lockdown does.
- (Optional) Check Use these settings next time to save these choices.
- Select Lock down now.
A lock icon and Locked until lifted show at the top of Mod mode.
What a lockdown changes:
- Chat: everyone except the roles you chose stops being able to send messages, react, attach files or mention people.
- Joins: new joins slow to one every 24 hours. See Limit member joins.
A lockdown has no timer. It stays on until a moderator lifts it.
Set up your Lockdown preset in settings now, with the roles that can still talk. Then Lock down opens with your choices already filled in, so you only need to select Lock down now.
Lift the lockdown
- Select Lift lockdown at the top right of Mod mode.
Chat permissions and the join limit go back the way they were. If you only have one of the two permissions, Mod mode lifts the part you can and tells you what's still locked.
Clean up a join wave
Remove a whole wave of accounts that joined together. You need Delete Messages, and Create Bans if you want to ban them too.
- In Joins, drag across the chart to cover the time the wave joined.
- In Clean up a wave, check the accounts to clean up.
- Turn Also ban these accounts on to ban them permanently as well, or off to only delete their messages. It's already on when most of the wave are new accounts.
- Select Clean up.
Their recent messages are deleted.
Not sure yet? Select Watch this wave instead. Mod mode remembers those accounts for 30 days and warns you if they start posting together.
Ban by phrase
Ban everyone who recently posted the same text or link. You need Create Bans.
- Select the Search icon (magnifying glass) at the top right of Mod mode.
- Enter a word, phrase or link. Type at least 3 letters.
- Choose Last 5 min, Last 15 min or Last 30 min.
- Check the accounts to ban. New accounts are checked for you.
- Leave Also delete their recent messages on, or turn it off.
- Select Ban matches.
These bans are permanent. Mod mode matches whole words only, so "cat" doesn't match "category". Moderators are never included.
Ban sync
Ban accounts that were just banned in your other communities, before they reach this one. You need Create Bans.
- Select Ban sync at the top right of Mod mode.
- Choose Last 24 hours or Last 7 days.
- Check the communities to copy bans from.
- Select Pre-ban.
These bans are permanent. Mod mode checks up to 40 of your other communities.
If one of your other communities banned several accounts today, Mod mode may suggest a ban sync for you. Select Review to see them.
Save an incident report
Save a record of a raid to share with your team or with Root support.
- Select the Download icon at the top right of Mod mode.
- Choose where to save the file.
The report is a Markdown (.md) file. It includes the threat level timeline, the evidence, spam posted by many accounts, ghost pings, recent joins with account ages, and the mod log.
Practice a raid
Try Mod mode on a fake raid before you need it. Practice uses fake accounts and your real tools, but nothing you do reaches your community.
- Select the Settings icon (gear) at the top right of Mod mode.
- Next to Practice a raid, select Practice.
- Choose a scenario, then select Start practice.
| Scenario | Level | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Join flood | Warm-up | New accounts pour in and keep posting the same giveaway link. |
| Ping storm | Medium | Accounts spam @everyone, mention your regulars and ghost ping you. |
| Sleepers | Hard | Accounts that joined earlier chat like regulars, then all start spamming at once. |
The raid starts after a 5 second countdown, and you have 3 minutes to deal with it. A PRACTICE badge shows the whole time. To stop early, select End practice.
When the raid is over, you get a score and a breakdown: raiders removed, spam cleaned up, how quickly you acted and locked down, regulars hit by mistake, and kicked raiders who came back. Tips show what to do better next time. Select Run again to try again, or Back to live to go back to your community.
If a real raid starts while you are practicing, Mod mode tells you. Select Go to live view to deal with it.
Ask each of your mods to run Join flood once. Then the first real raid isn't the first time they use Mod mode.
Raid alerts and settings
Root can alert you when a raid starts, even when Mod mode is closed. The alert has buttons to Open Mod mode or Lock down.
To change your settings, select the Settings icon (gear) at the top right of Mod mode.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Raid alerts | Watches this community in the background and alerts you when a raid starts | On |
| Send a test alert | Shows a raid alert now, so you can see what one looks like | |
| Take the tour again | Replays the Mod mode tour | |
| Practice a raid | Runs a raid fire drill with fake accounts. See Practice a raid. | |
| Lock down automatically | Applies your lockdown preset as soon as a raid is detected. It stays on until a moderator lifts it. When Mod mode is closed, this also needs Raid alerts on. | Off |
| Lockdown preset | What to lock and which roles can still talk, used by automatic lockdowns and as the starting point for Lock down | Chat and joins |
Select Save to keep your changes. Your settings are saved on this computer, so set them up on each computer you use.
Raid alerts and automatic lockdown only work while Root is running with the community open. Alerts don't show while Streamer mode is on.
Keyboard shortcuts
These keys work in Mod mode whenever you're not typing in a text box.
The shortcuts are listed along the bottom of the Mod mode window.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| B | Ban the selected accounts |
| K | Kick the selected accounts |
| Delete | Delete the selected accounts' recent messages |
| S | Select suspects |
| L | Lock down |
| F | Freeze or unfreeze the bubbles |
| / | Jump to the message box |
| Esc | Close the user card, or clear your selection |
| Ctrl + W | Close Mod mode |
FAQs
Why can't I see Mod mode in the menu?
You need View Action Log plus at least one of Kick Member, Create Bans or Delete Messages. Owners and members with Community Full Control always see it. See Who can use Mod mode.
Does automatic lockdown work when my computer is off?
No. Raid alerts and automatic lockdown only work while Root is running with the community open. To protect your community when no one is around, use the Moderation App, a join limit and email verification.
Is Mod mode on mobile?
No, Mod mode is on the desktop app only. To kick or ban from your phone, see Kick or ban members.
Can I lock down without locking out my mods?
Yes. When you lock down, check your mod roles under Roles that can still talk. They can keep chatting while everyone else is locked.
How do I let members know about a lockdown?
Post a message from the box at the bottom of the feed, like "We're dealing with some spam, chat will be back shortly." Your mods can keep posting during a lockdown if their roles are checked under Roles that can still talk.
Can practice affect my real community?
No. Practice uses fake accounts, and nothing you do during practice reaches your community. See Practice a raid.
Will other mods see what I do in Mod mode?
Yes. Your bans, kicks and deleted messages show in their Mod log and in the History on that person's user card. If you lock down, their Mod mode shows that the community is locked and who locked it.