Discord Banner Size 2026: Server 960 x 540, Profile 600 x 240, Splash 1920 x 1080

You want to add a banner to your Discord server. You search the size and find conflicting answers: 960 x 540, 600 x 240, 1920 x 1080, 1100 x 460. They are all real Discord sizes, but they are for completely different contexts. Using the wrong one results in a stretched, cropped, or rejected upload.

Discord has three distinct banner types. Each lives in a different place, has a different size requirement, and unlocks at a different boost or Nitro tier. This guide covers all three with the actual 2026 specs, what happens to your image after upload, mobile vs desktop crop behavior, and the rules for animated GIF banners.

Server Banner (960 x 540): the top header of your server

The server banner is the large image that appears at the top of your server when members open it. It is what people see first when they navigate to your community. Dimensions are 960 x 540 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), and the feature requires Level 2 server boost (7 boosts).

Format: PNG or JPG for static, GIF for animated (Level 3 boost required for animation). Max file size 10 MB. Discord re-encodes uploaded banners to a smaller served version, but you can upload up to 10 MB.

Why 960 x 540? It is a 2x version of 480 x 270, the smaller display size used in member-list collapsed views. The 16:9 aspect ratio is the same as YouTube and most video, so video stills and cinematic compositions work well as banners. To resize cleanly without thinking about the math, the Discord banner resizer is pre-set to 960 x 540.

Profile Banner (600 x 240): the top of your user profile

The profile banner is the personal banner shown at the top of YOUR user profile (visible when other users click your name to see your profile card). Dimensions are 600 x 240 pixels (5:2 aspect ratio). The feature requires an active Discord Nitro subscription.

Format: PNG, JPG, or GIF (animated banner is also Nitro). Max file size 10 MB. Discord serves the banner at higher resolution on Retina screens, so uploading at 1200 x 480 pixels (exactly 2x) produces sharper results on modern displays.

Profile banners are different from avatars in that they extend horizontally across the top of the profile card. Important design considerations: the avatar (your circular profile picture) overlaps the bottom-left of the banner area on the profile card. Plan your composition to keep important content above or to the right of the avatar overlap zone.

Invite Splash Screen (1920 x 1080): the full-screen welcome

The invite splash screen is the full-screen background image shown to people opening your server's invite link before they join. It is the marketing front of your server, often the most important visual asset for community growth. Dimensions are 1920 x 1080 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio, Full HD). The feature requires Level 1 server boost (2 boosts), the lowest tier of the banner-related features.

Format: PNG or JPG (animated splash not supported). Max file size 10 MB. Discord renders the splash at full screen but applies a dark gradient overlay at the bottom (where the join button and server info appear). Keep the bottom 30% of your splash relatively neutral or dark so the overlay does not look mismatched.

Why 1920 x 1080? Full HD is the standard desktop monitor resolution, and the splash is rendered at full window size. At 1920 x 1080, the splash looks crisp on every desktop screen. Mobile devices render a cropped center region but the source is the same.

Mobile vs desktop: how Discord crops banners differently

Discord renders banners at different aspect ratios on mobile vs desktop. The same upload is cropped to fit each device's display area. Understanding these crops prevents the 'looks fine on desktop, broken on mobile' problem.

The most dramatic crop is the server banner on mobile: the 16:9 desktop view is cropped to roughly 540 x 240, removing significant top and bottom areas. Design implication: keep important content (server name graphics, character art, key visuals) in the central horizontal band of the 960 x 540 design. Treat the top and bottom 150 pixels as decoration or safe-to-crop background.

Profile banner mobile crop is less aggressive because the 5:2 desktop aspect ratio is closer to mobile's rendering. Center your content horizontally and avoid placing text or logos in the outer 30 pixels on each side.

Invite splash on mobile is rotated to portrait orientation (1080 x 1920) by cropping a central vertical slice from your horizontal 1920 x 1080 source. The center 60% of your splash by width is what mobile sees. Place key elements (logo, server name, hero character) in the central horizontal band.

Server boost levels and what each unlocks

Banner-related features unlock at specific server boost tiers. Boosts come from Nitro subscribers spending their boost slots on your server (each Nitro user has 2 slots).

The full progression: at Level 1, you unlock the invite splash that markets your server to new joins. At Level 2, you add a server banner at the top of the server view. At Level 3, you can upgrade the server banner to animated GIF for visual distinctiveness.

If you are planning a server boost campaign, the most visible per-boost return is at Level 1 (invite splash) because new joiners see it first. Level 2 (server banner) is the second most impactful. Level 3 (animated banner) is mostly for visual distinctiveness and brand polish.

Animated banner rules (server and profile)

Both server banners (Level 3 boost) and profile banners (Nitro) can be animated GIFs. The 10 MB upload cap is the same as static. Discord re-encodes GIFs to a more efficient format internally but the upload limit is GIF size on your end.

Practical tips for animated banners:

• Keep the loop short. 3-6 seconds is plenty. Long loops bloat file size and become repetitive.
• Use limited frame rate. 15-20 fps is plenty for a background banner. 60 fps wastes file size.
• Use color palettes that compress well in GIF. Solid color blocks compress better than gradients with similar hues. Indexed color modes can reduce file size dramatically.
• Test that the loop endpoint matches the loop start. A jarring start/end transition is more visible in a constantly-displayed banner than in a one-shot GIF.
• Consider whether motion adds value. A subtle floating particles background reads as 'living' without being distracting. Rapid kinetic animation in a banner becomes visual noise that members tune out.

If your GIF is over 10 MB after export, compress it to fit Discord's upload cap. Reducing frame count and color depth usually fits comfortably under the limit without visible quality loss.

Profile banner avatar overlap

On the user profile card, the profile picture (avatar) overlaps the bottom-left of the profile banner. The avatar is displayed as a 80 x 80 circle, with its center positioned approximately 80 pixels from the left and 40 pixels above the bottom of the 600 x 240 banner area.

What this means practically: the bottom-left ~120 x 120 region of your profile banner is partially covered by your avatar. Avoid placing important content there. Center your design or place key elements in the right portion of the banner where the avatar does not interfere.

What Discord does to your banner after upload

Discord is gentler with banner re-encoding than most platforms. Static banners (PNG, JPG) are served at near-original quality if uploaded at the recommended size and under file caps. The platform does NOT aggressively re-compress static banners that are already at correct dimensions.

Animated GIF banners are re-encoded internally to a more efficient format for serving, but the visual quality is preserved. Discord generates multiple display resolutions: a full-resolution version for desktop, a downscaled version for mobile, a thumbnail for collapsed views. Uploading at exactly the recommended size (or 2x for Retina) provides the cleanest source for each downscale.

Color space: Discord assumes sRGB. If you export from Photoshop with a wide-gamut profile (Adobe RGB, ProPhoto), Discord converts to sRGB at upload, which can shift saturated colors. Always export banners as sRGB.

Common banner upload errors

Banner option does not appear in server settings

Your server has not reached the required boost level. Server banner requires Level 2 (7 boosts). Invite splash requires Level 1 (2 boosts). Animated server banner requires Level 3 (14 boosts). Profile banner requires Nitro on the USER side, not the server. Check your server's current boost level in Server Settings > Overview.

Upload fails silently or hangs

Usually the file is too large or the format is unsupported. Server and profile banners cap at 10 MB. If your file is under 10 MB but still failing, check the format: PNG, JPG, GIF supported. APNG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP are not supported for banners. Convert to JPG (static) or GIF (animated) and retry. If still failing, try a different network connection - Discord uploads sometimes fail on unstable WiFi.

Banner looks stretched or low-quality

Wrong dimensions. Discord stretches banners that do not match the expected aspect ratio. Server banner: must be 16:9 (1.78:1). Profile banner: must be 5:2 (2.5:1). Splash: must be 16:9. If your aspect ratio is different, Discord stretches or crops to fit. Re-export at exactly the recommended dimensions and the stretch goes away.

Animated banner not animating

For profile banner: check your Nitro subscription is active and the file is a real GIF (not an MP4 with .gif extension renamed). Open the file in a browser to verify it animates. For server banner: animated GIFs require Level 3 boost. Check your server is at Level 3, not just Level 2.

Bottom line

Three Discord banner sizes for three contexts: Server Banner 960 x 540 (Level 2 boost), Profile Banner 600 x 240 (Nitro), Invite Splash 1920 x 1080 (Level 1 boost). Use the right one for the right context. Mobile crops the server banner aggressively (keep content centered). Avatars overlap the profile banner bottom-left. Animation is supported but adds file-size pressure.

Use the Discord banner resizer for the 960 x 540 server banner default, or change to custom dimensions for the other two. If you are also setting up other Discord assets, the Discord image size guide covers avatars, emojis, server icons, and splash screens, and the Discord sticker size guide covers the separate sticker requirements.