Anti-Nuke

What is Anti-Nuke For?New to this? Learn about nukes and raids, how they happen, and how to prevent them on a general basis.

Anti-Nuke helps limit the damage when a staff account is compromised, a trusted person turns against the server, bots are compromised, or there are mistakes in the permission setup. It watches for unusually destructive changes, responds when your chosen limits are crossed, and gives your team a clear place to review what happened.

It complements careful staff permissions and account security; it does not replace them.

Before you enable it

Archivian needs time to learn the shape of your server and create a usable backup before Anti-Nuke can be enabled. This normally becomes available within 24 hours of adding Archivian. The dashboard will tell you when the server is ready.

For Anti-Nuke to stop a staff member, Archivian’s Discord role must be above the roles it may need to remove or restrict. Keep that role at the top of your server’s role list, and make sure Archivian has Administrator permissions.

Only the server owner can change Anti-Nuke settings. Other staff may be allowed to inspect its status, logs, and requests.

A safe way to get started

Start with Learning Mode. Archivian records what would have triggered Anti-Nuke without taking protective action. This lets normal staff activity build a useful baseline before you turn on live protection.

After the learning period:

1. Review the suggested trigger settings.
2. Check that normal staff work would not cross the limits too easily.
3. Apply the suggestion, or adjust it before enabling Anti-Nuke.
4. Keep an eye on the Anti-Nuke status and logs during the first few days.

You can return to Learning Mode later if your server or staff workflows change significantly, or manually tweak thresholds.

What Archivian watches

You choose limits for actions that can seriously change a server, including changes to:

• vanity invite code,
• channels and categories,
• roles and important permissions,
• bans and other large moderation actions,
• webhooks,
• server settings and appearance,
• emojis, stickers, and soundboard sounds,
• Discord’s AutoMod rules.

Some especially dangerous changes are treated as urgent, while repeated lower-risk actions can be allowed until they reach the limit you set. The logs explain what Archivian observed and whether it counted toward a trigger.

Instant triggers

When enabled, these protections do not wait for someone to repeat the action. A single action can trigger Anti-Nuke immediately:

• changing or removing an existing vanity invite code,
• giving elevated permissions directly to the @everyone role,
• giving elevated permissions directly to the quarantine role,
• giving @everyone elevated permissions in a channel or category,
• giving the quarantine role elevated permissions in a channel or category,
• deleting the quarantine role,
• removing the quarantine role from someone who is currently quarantined without an authorized release.

Creating a vanity invite code when the server did not already have one does not trigger this protection. When an existing vanity code is changed or removed, Archivian immediately tries to restore the previous code to reduce the chance of someone taking it.

What happens when Anti-Nuke triggers

Archivian can isolate the responsible member, notify your staff, and begin recovery from a server backup. The exact response depends on the options you enable and what Discord allows Archivian to change.

Anti-Nuke also protects a few critical permission boundaries. For example, it prevents broad, powerful permissions from being left on the @everyone role or the quarantine role.

The Anti-Nuke system can be triggered by members, bots, and staff. Only the server owner and those who have bypasses cannot trigger it.

Quarantine

Quarantine isolates a suspected attacker so they cannot continue using their elevated access. Archivian removes the member’s other roles for the quarantine period and assigns the server’s quarantine role. If no quarantine role has been selected, Archivian can create one when it is first needed.

You can choose whether quarantine ends automatically after a set time or remains until an authorized person releases the member. Quarantine managers should be a small group of highly trusted people. They can handle releases without giving every staff member that power.

Caution

Discord’s role order still applies. Archivian cannot manage a member whose highest role is at or above Archivian’s own role.

There are three ways a quarantined member can be released:

• The easiest is having the server owner or a configured quarantine manager unassign the Quarantine role from the member in Discord,
• or one of those people use the “Release” button in the Anti-Nuke Status page of the dashboard,
• or it is removed automatically if quarantine was configured to be temporary.

However the release happens, Archivian lifts the quarantine and restores the roles it removed when the member was quarantined.

If a staff member is quarantined, their permissions for Archivian are severely limited, to the point of being useless, so Archivian cannot be used as a proxy for further actions.

Planned work and bypasses

When doing planned work, Archivian has a formal system that can be used for temporary exemptions.

Anti-Nuke is intentionally suspicious of rapid administrative changes. When a staff member is about to reorganize channels, replace roles, or make another large planned change, use a temporary bypass rather than weakening your trigger limits or giving a permanent bypass that you remove manually later.

Temporary bypass requests

When bypass requests are enabled, staff can request a bypass for a limited period with the /anti-nuke request command. A configured reviewer approves or rejects it. Approved requests expire automatically and can be revoked early.

Planned Premium Feature

When a request is approved, Archivian will take a fresh backup before handing over the bypass.

Staff can check their own request with /anti-nuke mine; reviewers can manage the queue from the Anti-Nuke status page or the related commands.

Use a duration that covers the planned task, and revoke the bypass when the work finishes.

Permanent exemptions

You can permanently exempt selected users, roles, or Archivian staff titles. Keep this list as small as possible: exempt activity is still activity that Anti-Nuke will not stop.

Usually you want to add trusted bots that regularly make changes to your server, for example an on-demand Voice Channel bot, or a Ticket bot.

Backups and recovery

If automatic rollback is enabled, Archivian can use a suitable backup from before the incident to restore supported server structure and settings. You can also inspect backups and start a rollback manually when you want more control.

Recovery is best effort. Discord does not let bots restore everything exactly as it was. Read Server Backups: what a rollback cannot guarantee before relying on automatic rollback.

Recommended setup

• Use Learning Mode before enabling live protection.
• Keep Archivian’s role above staff roles it may need to manage.
• Require two-factor authentication for moderators where possible.
• Give staff and bots only the permissions they need.
• Use temporary bypasses for large planned changes.
• Keep permanent exemptions rare.
• Check the Anti-Nuke status page and logs after unusual activity.
• Review your backup list occasionally so you know recovery points are being created.

For broader prevention advice, see Nukes & Raids.