Bridging Discord Servers: Message Mirror Cog Documentation

Making Discord Servers More Active

Introduction

I’ve been thinking about ways to make Discord servers feel alive. You know when you join a server and it’s dead?

People see that and they usually leave, or just lurk without saying anything. That’s the bandwagon effect or social proof in action.

When people see activity, they’re way more likely to join in.

So I’m planning a Red Discord Bot cog that bridges activity across multiple servers. Basically, it mirrors messages between linked channels, so if someone posts in Server A, it can show up in Server B and vice versa.

The idea is to keep things alive and active, without making it spammed or abused

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What It Does

This cog is all about **mirroring messages (safely) between approved servers.

Core Features

Two-Way Message Relay

• Posts in one server get mirrored to linked servers after a delay.
• Replies in mirrored channels also come back to the original server.
• Supports multiple channels and servers (#general, #memes, etc.)
• Handles text, images, gifs, and videos.

Reference repo: Discord-Bridge

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To Do (Future)

Delay System

• Configurable delays, like 60–120 seconds for text or instant if needed.
• Longer delays for videos/media (e.g., 1 hour) to give moderators time to catch anything problematic.

Content Handling

• Supports text, embeds, attachments, and optional stickers.
• Ignores the bot’s own messages to prevent loops.
• Handles embeds that can’t forward cleanly with fallback formatting.

Identity Presentation

• Can show the original sender’s name/avatar, or a lightweight format like [User from Server A]: message.

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Moderation & Safety

Filter Layer

• Word blacklist to block bad content.
• User blacklist to stop certain people from having their messages mirrored.
• If someone is banned in one server, they’re just blacklisted from mirroring, not banned from other servers.

Deletion Sync

• Messages deleted before the delay won’t get mirrored.
• Optionally, edits in the original message update the mirrored one.

NSFW/18+ Rules

• No NSFW channels mirrored into safe channels.
• NSFW → NSFW mirroring only.

Approval & Collaboration

• Anyone can propose a link with -collab request.
• Requests go into a pending state and are logged in a channel for transparency.
• Only staff can approve or deny with -collab approve.
• Both sides have to approve before links go live.
• Approvals can expire if unanswered, like after 7 days.

Privacy & Transparency

• All linked servers must opt-in.
• Logs of requests, approvals, and active links stored in a “collab-log” channel.

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Admin & Config Controls

• -collab list → see linked channels.
• -collab unlink → break a link.
• -collab settings → adjust delays, filters, and other options.
• Handles rate limits to avoid breaking Discord rules.
• Logs mirrored content for moderation teams.

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Scalability & Edge Cases

• Efficient queue system to handle high-volume servers.
• Prevents message loops by ignoring mirrored messages.
• Deals with attachments or embeds that don’t forward cleanly.
• Blacklists override mirroring even if content comes from linked servers.

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Conclusion

This cog is meant to keep servers alive, make communities feel active, and give people a reason to participate. Right now, I can start with the basics using an existing repo. Later, the plan is to add all the advanced features: delays, approvals, NSFW safety, logging, and full moderation controls. This blog is basically the roadmap and the documentation for what’s planned, so anyone like developers, server admins, or readers see what’s coming and what can be done now.