Rythm bot commands now all start with a forward slash. Rythm dropped its old ! prefix, so typing !play or !skip does nothing today. Instead, type / in any server where Rythm is installed and pick the command from Discord’s menu. The four you will use most are /play to queue a song, /skip to vote past it, /nowplaying to see what is on, and /disconnect to send the bot away.
This guide lists every command in Rythm’s official command documentation as of October 2026, grouped by what you want to do. It also maps the old 2021 commands to their new equivalents, because a few of them now behave very differently.
Do the old Rythm ! commands still work?
No. Rythm’s own troubleshooting page states that the bot no longer supports the legacy ! prefix. Every command now runs as a Discord slash command, which is a command you pick from a pop-up menu after typing / rather than one the bot reads from chat.
The good news for returning users is that most command names survived. /play, /playtop, /seek, /loop and /shuffle work the way !play and friends used to. A handful were renamed, merged or quietly changed meaning, and those are covered in the old versus new table further down.
What happened to Rythm between 2021 and now
Rythm went offline for almost three years before coming back as a licensed service. If your server still has the 2021 version of the bot listed and it never responds, this history explains why.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Yoav Zimet, known on Discord as ImBursting, launches Rythm. |
| 15 September 2021 | Rythm shuts down after receiving a cease-and-desist notice from Google, YouTube’s owner. At the time it was installed on more than 20 million servers. |
| 11 June 2024 | Rythm returns as a Discord Activity with a licensed catalogue of around 50 million songs, a free tier and a Premium plan priced at USD 4.99 a month at launch. |
| October 2026 | Rythm’s documentation lists four ways to use it: the Discord bot, the Discord Activity, a desktop app for Windows and macOS, and a web app at app.rythm.fm. |
The 2021 shutdown came a few weeks after YouTube forced Groovy, another large music bot, offline. Both bots relied mainly on YouTube for audio, which YouTube treated as a breach of its terms of service, as 9to5Google reported. The 2024 relaunch works differently: Rythm shares Premium revenue with record labels and publishers, according to AlternativeTo’s coverage of the relaunch.
How to start playing music with Rythm
Getting the bot into a voice channel takes under a minute once it is on your server. These steps follow Rythm’s getting started guide.
- Add Rythm to your server using the official invite link at rythm.fm/invite. You need the Manage Server permission on a server to add any bot to it.
- Join a voice channel. Rythm plays into the channel you are in, so join one first.
- Type
/playfollowed by a song name or link. Rythm joins your voice channel on its own if it is not there already. - Set up the server with
/settingsif you are an admin. This is where you choose a DJ role, song announcements and other defaults. - Run
/startor/help./startposts a short tutorial with starter music, and/helplists every command.
/play accepts links from YouTube, YouTube Music, Spotify and SoundCloud. Spotify and SoundCloud links must point to single tracks, so pasting a Spotify playlist link will not queue the whole playlist.
Rythm commands for playing music
These commands start, find and stop music. “DJ” means the command needs DJ permissions, which anyone with the Manage Server permission has by default.
| Command | What it does | Aliases | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|---|
/play <song> | Searches for a song or takes a link and adds it to the queue. With no song while music is paused, it resumes playback. | /p | Everyone |
/playtop <song> | Adds a song at position 1 so it plays next. | /pt | Everyone |
/playskip <song> | Stops the current track and plays your request straight away. | /ps, /pskip, /playnow, /pn | DJ |
/search <query> | Shows five matching tracks in a dropdown. A Queue All button adds several at once. | None | Everyone |
/join | Brings Rythm into your current voice channel. | /summon | Everyone |
/pause | Pauses the current track, or resumes it if already paused. | None | DJ |
/resume | Resumes paused music. | None | DJ |
/nowplaying | Shows the track, a progress bar, who added it and the voice channel. | /np, /current | Everyone |
/disconnect | Makes Rythm leave the voice channel and clears the queue. | /dc, /leave, /stop | DJ |
Watch out for /stop. In the 2021 bot, !stop simply paused the music. Today /stop is an alias for /disconnect, so it ends the session and wipes the queue.
Rythm queue commands
Queue commands reorder or trim the list of songs waiting to play. All of them need DJ permissions, which stops one member from rearranging everyone else’s picks. Positions are the numbers shown next to each song in the queue.
| Command | What it does | Aliases |
|---|---|---|
/move <from> [to] | Moves a song to a new position. Leave out the second number and it goes to the top. | /m |
/remove <position> | Removes the song at that position. | /rm |
/clear | Empties the queue but keeps the song that is playing. | None |
/skipto <position> | Jumps to that position and starts playing it. | /st |
/shuffle | Puts the queue in random order. | None |
/removedupes | Deletes duplicate songs, keeping the first copy. | /rmd, /rd, /drm |
/leavecleanup | Removes songs added by people who have left the voice channel. | /lc |
/skipto has one detail worth knowing. With queue loop off, every song it jumps past is removed for good. With queue loop on, those songs move to the end of the queue instead.
Rythm playback control commands
Playback commands control the track that is already playing: skipping it, jumping within it, repeating it or changing its volume.
| Command | What it does | Aliases | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|---|
/skip | Starts or adds to a vote to skip the current track. | /voteskip, /s, /vs, /next | Everyone |
/forceskip | Skips the track immediately, with no vote. | /fs, /fskip | DJ |
/seek <time> | Jumps to a point in the track. | None | DJ |
/rewind <time> | Goes back by a set amount, for example /rewind 30s. | /rwd | DJ |
/forward <time> | Goes ahead by a set amount, for example /forward 1m. | /fwd | DJ |
/replay | Restarts the current track from the beginning. | None | DJ |
/loop | Repeats the current track until you turn it off. | /repeat | DJ |
/queueloop | Repeats the whole queue after the last song. | /qloop | DJ |
/volume [1-200] | Sets the volume, or shows the current level if you leave the number out. | /vol | DJ |
Vote skipping needs half the people in the voice channel, rounded up and not counting the bot. In a channel of five listeners, three votes skip the song. If you are alone, /skip works instantly.
/seek is flexible about time formats. /seek 1:30, /seek 2m45s and /seek 3 minutes 10 seconds all work.
Library, settings and utility commands
The newer Rythm builds a personal music library that follows you across the bot, the Activity and the apps. These commands manage that library, the server’s settings and the bot itself.
| Command | What it does | Aliases | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|---|
/like | Likes or unlikes the current track and adds it to your liked songs. | /heart, /love, /grab | Everyone |
/liked | Opens your liked songs, with playback options. | /likes, /favorites, /favourites | Everyone |
/history [guild] | Shows your recent tracks. Add true to see the whole server’s history. | /hist, /recent | Everyone |
/effects | Opens the effects studio, with presets such as bass boost and nightcore. | None | DJ, Premium |
/control | Opens the music controls panel. | None | Not stated |
/settings | Changes server settings such as the DJ role and song announcements. | /setting | Admin |
/premium | Shows your Premium status and how to subscribe. | None | Everyone |
/start | Posts a guided tutorial with starter music. | None | Everyone |
/help | Lists every command, with support and invite buttons. | /aliases | Everyone |
/ping | Shows how quickly the bot responds to Discord. | None | Everyone |
“Admin” here means the Manage Server permission. Premium commands only work when someone in the session has Rythm Premium.
Old Rythm bot commands and what replaced them
If you used Rythm before September 2021, this table translates your muscle memory. It covers the commands whose name or behaviour changed; anything not listed here works under the same name with a / in front.
| Old command (2021) | Use now | What changed |
|---|---|---|
!pause or !stop | /pause | /stop now disconnects the bot and clears the queue. |
!grab | /like | Used to DM you the song. Now it saves the song to your liked songs. |
!soundcloud | /play with a SoundCloud track link | The separate command is gone. |
!loopqueue or !lq | /queueloop or /qloop | Renamed. |
!search | /search | Shows five results in a dropdown instead of ten. |
!settings <option> | /settings | One command opens all server settings. |
!effects, !bass, !nightcore, !slowed, !speed | /effects | Merged into one effects studio. Premium only. |
!playskip | /playskip | Now needs DJ permissions. |
!lyrics, !queue, !sotd, !prune, !shard | Run /help to check | Not in the command list we could confirm in Rythm’s docs in October 2026. |
What Rythm Premium adds
Rythm Premium is a paid subscription that improves playback for you and for everyone in a session you join. According to Rythm’s Premium page, it adds:
- Higher audio quality at 320kbps
- Crossfade between tracks
- The audio effects studio (bass boost, nightcore and custom effects)
- Unlimited autoplay and unlimited queue length
- Premium benefits for everyone in your session while you are in it
Rythm says these perks currently apply to the Discord bot only, with other platforms to follow. Premium launched at USD 4.99 a month in 2024; run /premium or open the subscribe page to check today’s price. You can pay through Stripe or the Discord Store, and billing support for each goes through a different route.
Why Rythm commands are not working, and how to fix it
Most “Rythm is not responding” problems come down to three things: the old prefix, a missing permission, or a Discord display setting. Rythm’s troubleshooting guide covers each of them.
- You typed
!instead of/. Rythm ignores prefix commands. Type/, then pick the Rythm command from the menu. - The slash commands do not appear. Your role needs the Use Application Commands permission in that channel. Also check that Use the legacy chat input is turned off under Settings, then Appearance.
- Rythm shows as offline. That usually means an outage on Rythm’s side. Its support Discord server is the place to report it.
- Rythm sends blank messages. Go to Settings, then Chat, and turn on embeds and link previews.
- The Activity is missing from your list. Rythm may not be available in your country yet. The company says it is expanding to new regions.
- You can hear nothing in the Activity. The Activity pauses when you are the only listener, so you need at least one friend in the session.
If Rythm’s commands still show after you removed the bot, it is probably authorised on your account rather than the server. Remove it from Settings, then Authorised Apps.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can add the Rythm bot and use its core commands, such as /play, /skip and /nowplaying, without paying. Rythm Premium is optional. It lifts the free tier’s limits on queue length and autoplay, and adds 320kbps audio, crossfade and the effects studio.
Not from a playlist link. Rythm’s documentation says Spotify and SoundCloud links are supported for single tracks only. You can still paste individual Spotify track links into /play, or search for songs by name.
It shares the name, the founder and many command names, but it runs differently. The old bot streamed mainly from YouTube without a licence. The current service uses licensed music, runs on slash commands, and also works as a Discord Activity and a standalone app.
No. Rythm has dropped prefix commands entirely, so there is no prefix setting to change. Slash commands are now the only way to control the bot in a text channel.
The short version
Treat every Rythm command you remember as a slash command, and most of them will work as before. The exceptions are the ones that changed meaning, especially /stop, which now ends the session rather than pausing it. If a command you relied on seems to have vanished, /help inside your own server shows the up-to-date list.
Running a bigger server with more than one bot? Our list of Tatsumaki bot commands covers the levelling and economy side of Discord.