Configuration: Bot Token, Lavalink, and Permissions

You configure this bot in three places: a .env file for secrets, the Lavalink bootstrap in bot.py, and application.yml for the audio server itself. Understanding where each setting lives — and how they must stay in sync — helps you move the bot between machines or tune playback safely. For the full variable reference, see Environment Variables.

Environment Variables

The bot uses python-dotenv to load sensitive values from a .env file in the project root at startup. This keeps secrets out of source code and out of version control.

The .env file is listed in .gitignore and should never be committed to your repository. Anyone with your bot token can control your bot and potentially abuse your Discord application.

Required Variables

Variable	Description
`BOT_TOKEN`	Your Discord bot’s secret token. Required — the bot will not start without it.

How to get your token:

Go to the Discord Developer Portal
Select your application (or create one) and open the Bot tab
Click Reset Token to reveal a fresh token, then copy it immediately
Paste it into your .env file as shown below

Example .env file:

BOT_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token_here

Lavalink Connection (bot.py)

The bot establishes its connection to the Lavalink audio server inside the on_ready event in bot.py. The URI and password are currently hard-coded:

node: wavelink.Node = wavelink.Node(uri="http://127.0.0.1:2333", password="youshallnotpass")
await wavelink.Pool.connect(nodes=[node], client=bot)

Parameter	Default Value	Description
`uri`	`http://127.0.0.1:2333`	The address of the Lavalink node. Port `2333` must match `server.port` in `application.yml`.
`password`	`youshallnotpass`	The shared secret used to authenticate with the Lavalink node. Must match `lavalink.server.password` in `application.yml`.

Running Lavalink on a remote server: If your Lavalink node is hosted on a separate machine (for example, a VPS), update the uri to point to that server’s IP or hostname:

node: wavelink.Node = wavelink.Node(
    uri="http://your-server-ip:2333",
    password="your-custom-password"
)

Make sure the remote server’s firewall exposes port 2333 and that application.yml on that server uses the same password you set here.

Changing the password in application.yml without updating the matching password argument in bot.py (or vice versa) will cause the bot to fail authentication against the Lavalink node and audio will not work. Always update both values together.

Lavalink Server Configuration (application.yml)

The application.yml file is mounted into the Lavalink Docker container and controls the audio server’s behaviour. It is located in the project root and passed to Docker via the volume definition in docker-compose.yml.

Server Settings

server:
  port: 2333
  address: 0.0.0.0

Setting	Value	Description
`server.port`	`2333`	The port Lavalink listens on. Must match the port in `bot.py`’s `uri`.
`server.address`	`0.0.0.0`	Binds Lavalink to all network interfaces so Docker can route traffic to it.

Authentication

lavalink:
  server:
    password: "youshallnotpass"

This password must match the password argument in bot.py. See the warning above before changing it.

Audio Sources

lavalink:
  server:
    sources:
      youtube: false      # Handled by the YouTube plugin instead
      soundcloud: true
      scSearch: true
      local: false
      http: true
    bufferDurationMs: 400

Source	Enabled	Notes
`youtube`	`false` (via native)	YouTube is handled by the external plugin below — the built-in source is disabled
`soundcloud`	`true`	Enables SoundCloud track streaming
`scSearch`	`true`	Enables SoundCloud search queries
`http`	`true`	Enables streaming from direct audio URLs (MP3, etc.) — required for 24/7 stream URLs
`local`	`false`	Local file playback is disabled
`bufferDurationMs`	`400`	Audio buffer size in milliseconds; increase if you experience dropouts on slow connections

YouTube Plugin

YouTube support is provided by the youtube-plugin rather than Lavalink’s built-in YouTube source, which gives more reliable access:

lavalink:
  plugins:
    - dependency: "dev.lavalink.youtube:youtube-plugin:1.18.1"

plugins:
  youtube:
    enabled: true
    allowSearch: true
    allowDirectVideoIds: true
    allowDirectPlaylistIds: true

Setting	Value	Description
`enabled`	`true`	Activates the YouTube plugin
`allowSearch`	`true`	Allows searching YouTube by keyword (e.g., `/play lofi hip hop`)
`allowDirectVideoIds`	`true`	Allows playing tracks via a direct YouTube video URL
`allowDirectPlaylistIds`	`true`	Allows enqueueing an entire YouTube playlist via its URL

Memory Allocation

The Docker container is configured to allocate a maximum of 512 MB of RAM to the Java process:

# docker-compose.yml
environment:
  - _JAVA_OPTIONS=-Xmx512M

This is suitable for a small to medium-sized server. If you run many simultaneous streams or notice Lavalink being terminated by the OS, increase this value (e.g., -Xmx1G for 1 GB).

Discord Bot Permissions

When inviting the bot to your server, grant the following permissions. All of these are required for normal operation: Voice Permissions:

Connect — allows the bot to join voice channels
Speak — allows the bot to transmit audio into a voice channel

Text Permissions:

Send Messages — required to post Now Playing embeds and command responses
Embed Links — required to render rich embeds with artwork and track details
Read Message History — required so the bot can locate and edit its persistent Now Playing message

Gateway Intents: The bot enables the message_content privileged intent in code:

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

You must also enable Message Content Intent in the Discord Developer Portal under your application’s Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents section, otherwise Discord will silently deny the intent and certain bot behaviours may not function correctly.

Environment Variables

Review the exact .env values the bot reads at startup.

Lavalink Setup

Follow the Docker guide for the audio node that your config points to.

Bot Setup

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Configuration: Bot Token, Lavalink, and Permissions

Environment Variables

Required Variables

Lavalink Connection (bot.py)

Lavalink Server Configuration (application.yml)

Server Settings

Authentication

Audio Sources

YouTube Plugin

Memory Allocation

Discord Bot Permissions

Environment Variables

Lavalink Setup

Bot Setup

Quickstart

​Environment Variables

​Required Variables

​Lavalink Connection (bot.py)

​Lavalink Server Configuration (application.yml)

​Server Settings

​Authentication

​Audio Sources

​YouTube Plugin

​Memory Allocation

​Discord Bot Permissions

​Related Topics

Environment Variables

Lavalink Setup

Bot Setup

Quickstart

Environment Variables

Required Variables

Lavalink Connection (bot.py)

Lavalink Server Configuration (application.yml)

Server Settings

Authentication

Audio Sources

YouTube Plugin

Memory Allocation

Discord Bot Permissions

Related Topics