Common errors when hosting a Discord bot

Each section below starts with the exact message you see in the log. On Hyze Cloud, logs are in the app under Observability → Console. If the deploy failed before the bot started, check the Deployments tab.

Used disallowed intents (discord.js)

Error: Used disallowed intents

In older discord.js versions, the same failure shows up as Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted. Cause. Your code requests a privileged intent that is turned off in the Developer Portal. There are three privileged intents: GuildMembers, GuildPresences and MessageContent. Fix.

Open the Discord Developer Portal, pick your bot and go to Bot.
Under Privileged Gateway Intents, turn on the intents your code requests: Server Members Intent, Presence Intent or Message Content Intent.
Save and restart the bot.

If the bot does not use one of those intents, remove it from the intents list in new Client(...).

TokenInvalid: An invalid token was provided (discord.js)

Error [TokenInvalid]: An invalid token was provided.

Cause. client.login() received a wrong or empty token. On a host, the most common reason is a missing environment variable: process.env.DISCORD_TOKEN arrives as undefined. Fix.

Check that the DISCORD_TOKEN variable exists in the app, with that exact name. On Hyze: Settings → Environment variables.
Check that the code reads the same name: client.login(process.env.DISCORD_TOKEN).
Paste the token without quotes and without leading or trailing spaces.
If you generated a new token in the portal, the old one no longer works. Update the variable.
After changing the variable, restart the app. Environment variables are read when the process starts.

PrivilegedIntentsRequired (discord.py)

discord.errors.PrivilegedIntentsRequired: Shard ID None is requesting privileged intents that have not been explicitly enabled in the developer portal.

Cause. Same problem as Used disallowed intents: the code turns on intents.members, intents.presences or intents.message_content, but the intent is off in the Developer Portal. Fix. In the portal, under Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents, turn on the intents your code uses and restart the bot. If the bot does not need one of them, set it to False in your code.

LoginFailure: Improper token has been passed (discord.py)

discord.errors.LoginFailure: Improper token has been passed.

Cause. The token passed to client.run() is wrong, was reset in the portal or has extra spaces or quotes. If the variable does not exist at all, the error changes: os.environ["DISCORD_TOKEN"] raises KeyError, and os.getenv("DISCORD_TOKEN") returns None, which discord.py rejects. Fix.

Copy the token again under Bot → Reset Token in the Developer Portal.
Store it as DISCORD_TOKEN in the app’s environment variables, without quotes.
Read it with os.environ["DISCORD_TOKEN"]. If it is missing, the log names the variable right away.
Restart the app after changing the variable.

Missing Access and Missing Permissions

DiscordAPIError[50001]: Missing Access
DiscordAPIError[50013]: Missing Permissions

In discord.py, the same errors show up as discord.errors.Forbidden: 403 Forbidden (error code: 50001): Missing Access and (error code: 50013): Missing Permissions. Cause.

Missing Access (50001): the bot cannot see the channel or the server. It happens when the bot lacks the View Channel permission, when it tries to use a channel from another server, or when it registers slash commands in a server it joined without the applications.commands scope.
Missing Permissions (50013): the bot can see the channel but lacks the permission for the action. Examples: sending a message, deleting a message, assigning a role. To assign or remove a role, the bot’s role must sit above that role in the server’s role list.

Fix.

In the portal, under OAuth2 → URL Generator, select the bot and applications.commands scopes and the permissions the bot uses.
Open the generated link and invite the bot again. It does not leave the server; it just gets the new permissions.
Check the channel permissions: a channel override can deny what the role allows.
To manage roles, drag the bot’s role above the roles it assigns.

Cannot find module (dependency missing from package.json)

Error: Cannot find module 'discord.js'
Require stack:
- /app/index.js

With import (ESM), the message is Error [ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND]: Cannot find package 'discord.js'. In Python, the equivalent is ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'discord'. Cause. On your PC the library exists in the node_modules folder, but it is not in package.json. On a host, dependencies are installed from scratch based on the manifest, so anything not declared does not exist. Other causes that produce the same message:

package.json is inside a folder in the ZIP. The install step cannot find the manifest. Put the files at the root of the ZIP.
Upper and lower case in paths. require("./Commands/ping") works on Windows and macOS with a commands folder, but fails on Linux. Use the exact folder and file name.
In Python, the library is not in requirements.txt. Watch the name: the package is discord.py, but the import is import discord.

Fix.

npm install discord.js   # installs and saves to "dependencies" in package.json

In Python, add the library to requirements.txt, one per line (for example, discord.py>=2.4). Upload the updated package.json and package-lock.json (or requirements.txt) and deploy again. Do not upload the node_modules folder: Hyze installs dependencies from the manifest.

Bot is online but does not respond to messages

No error shows up. The bot is online in the server, but commands like !ping do nothing. In discord.py, the log usually shows this warning:

Privileged message content intent is missing, commands may not work as expected.

Cause. The Message Content intent is missing. Without it, Discord delivers messages with empty text, and the bot has nothing to match against the command prefix. The intent must be on in two places: in your code and in the Developer Portal. Fix.

In the portal, under Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents, turn on Message Content Intent.
Request the intent in your code:

const { Client, GatewayIntentBits } = require("discord.js");

const client = new Client({
  intents: [
    GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
    GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
    GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent,
  ],
});

import discord
from discord.ext import commands

intents = discord.Intents.default()
intents.message_content = True

bot = commands.Bot(command_prefix="!", intents=intents)

Deploy again.

Slash commands (/ping) do not need the Message Content Intent. If the bot only uses slash commands, you can leave that intent off.

If you turned the intent on in code but forgot the portal, the error becomes Used disallowed intents (discord.js) or PrivilegedIntentsRequired (discord.py). Both sections are at the top of this page.

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Common errors when hosting a Discord bot

Used disallowed intents (discord.js)

TokenInvalid: An invalid token was provided (discord.js)

PrivilegedIntentsRequired (discord.py)

LoginFailure: Improper token has been passed (discord.py)

Missing Access and Missing Permissions

Cannot find module (dependency missing from package.json)

Bot is online but does not respond to messages

Next steps

Bot online 24/7

View app logs

​Used disallowed intents (discord.js)

​TokenInvalid: An invalid token was provided (discord.js)

​PrivilegedIntentsRequired (discord.py)

​LoginFailure: Improper token has been passed (discord.py)

​Missing Access and Missing Permissions

​Cannot find module (dependency missing from package.json)

​Bot is online but does not respond to messages

​Next steps

Bot online 24/7

View app logs

Used disallowed intents (discord.js)

TokenInvalid: An invalid token was provided (discord.js)

PrivilegedIntentsRequired (discord.py)

LoginFailure: Improper token has been passed (discord.py)

Missing Access and Missing Permissions

Cannot find module (dependency missing from package.json)

Bot is online but does not respond to messages

Next steps