Deploy Discord.js Bot

Deploy and Host Discord.js Bot on Railway

A current discord.js v14 slash-command worker. JavaScript first, Node 20+, package-lock.json committed, no dummy marketing homepage.

This listing replaces rotting marketplace clones such as railwayapp-templates/discordjs (discord.js ^13.6.0, September 2022, health 0). The image is pinned, slash commands register on boot, and Railway healthchecks hit /health so a bad token cannot take the deploy down.

Source: leoisadev1/railway-template-discord-js-bot

About Hosting Discord.js Bot

Railway runs a single worker that logs into the Discord gateway and serves a tiny /health JSON endpoint for deploys. There is no public website to configure. Paste DISCORD_TOKEN at deploy time, invite the bot, and slash commands (/ping, /help) register on ClientReady.

What you get

• discord.js 14.27.0 (current stable; v15 is still pre-release)
• Node 22.23.2 Alpine, engines >=20
• Slash-command scaffold: drop a file in src/commands/
• Worker process with /health for Railway healthchecks
• Required DISCORD_TOKEN (you paste a real bot token; nothing is generated)

Why Deploy Discord.js Bot on Railway?

Railway keeps the gateway worker running, injects PORT for healthchecks, and rebuilds from the pinned Dockerfile when you push. You do not manage Node, Docker, or a VPS. Vertical scaling is one click if the bot grows.

Rotting clones die on invalid tokens and ship discord.js 13. This template stays SUCCESS via /health, pins 14.27.0, and treats DISCORD_TOKEN as a required secret.

Common Use Cases

• One-click slash-command Discord bot for a community server
• Starter for moderation, welcome, or utility commands in JavaScript
• Always-on discord.js worker without a dummy HTTP marketing site

Dependencies for Discord.js Bot Hosting

Deployment Dependencies

• A Discord application with a Bot token
• OAuth2 invite with scopes bot and applications.commands
• No volume, no database, no extra Railway services

Variables

There are no generated secrets. Do not bake a dummy token into the service.

Ports, volumes, health

A public domain is optional and only useful if you want to curl /health yourself.

One-click deploy

1. Click Deploy on Railway.
2. Paste your Discord bot token into DISCORD_TOKEN (required).
3. Deploy. Railway builds the Dockerfile, starts the worker, and waits for /health → 200.
4. Invite the bot to a server (see below). Slash commands appear after the first successful login.

Create a bot token and invite it

1. Open Discord Developer Portal → Applications and create an application.
2. Bot → Reset Token → copy into Railway DISCORD_TOKEN.
3. Bot → enable Privileged Gateway Intents only if you add message-content features later. This starter uses Guilds only.
4. OAuth2 → URL Generator: scopes bot + applications.commands. Copy the URL and open it to invite the bot.
5. Redeploy or wait for the running worker to log in. /ping and /help register as global application commands (can take a minute to show in Discord).

Add a slash command

Create src/commands/echo.js:

const { SlashCommandBuilder } = require("discord.js");

module.exports = {
  data: new SlashCommandBuilder()
    .setName("echo")
    .setDescription("Repeats your text.")
    .addStringOption((option) =>
      option.setName("text").setDescription("What to say").setRequired(true),
    ),
  async execute(interaction) {
    await interaction.reply(interaction.options.getString("text", true));
  },
};

Redeploy. Commands in src/commands/ are loaded and registered on ClientReady.

Local run

cp .env.example .env   # set DISCORD_TOKEN
npm ci
npm start

GET http://127.0.0.1:3000/health should return 200.

Why this is healthier than the 2022 clones

Pin the Docker tag, keep the lockfile, and treat DISCORD_TOKEN as a required secret.