How to read your Discord bot's console and logs

The Console shows everything your bot prints, from the moment the server starts. It is the first place to look when something is wrong.

Open it

Open your server in the panel and click Console, or use the smaller console on Overview. Start the server and the lines appear as they happen.

The first lines

On a bot server you see the type and then a start line from the platform. The line [PlayNHost] Starting your bot means the server finished its preparation and handed over to your code. Lines before it are package installs or a git download. If you see Your bot is not set up yet, the main file was not found: check Main file under Settings, Game Settings and that the file is in the root folder.

Reading an error

An error looks like a message followed by several lines starting with at (Node.js) or File "..." line N (Python). Read in this order:

1. The message on the first line says what went wrong.
2. The first line that mentions your own file (not node_modules or a library) shows where.
3. The line number tells you which line of your code to open.

Common messages are listed in Common Discord bot errors and what they mean.

Add your own log lines

console.log in Node.js and print in Python appear here. Log when the bot connects and inside each command to see what runs.

The console is empty or cut off

A very long output scrolls. Use Files to open a log file if your bot writes one. If the server stopped without any message, it may have run out of memory: Why your Discord bot keeps stopping.

Send commands

The input box at the bottom of the console sends text to your program's standard input. Most Discord bots do not read it, so typing there usually does nothing.