Guides

Sessions

How to set up, run and customize ER:LC sessions with Grande, and where to find every option.

Last updated: October 28, 2026

1. Where everything is

Sessions live in two places:

• Panel Settings (/panel): in the left sidebar, open Sessions. It has two pages: Overview (analytics and session history) and Settings (channel, polls, automatic options and messages).
• Moderator Panel: in the Actions on the left, press Manage Session. It opens a large window with the session controls (start, schedule, poll, boost and full messages, shutdown) next to the analytics and history, so staff can run a session without leaving the panel.

The sidebar can be collapsed to icons with the button at the top of it. Pressing Sessions opens its first page, Overview.

2. Who can do what

• Manage Sessions is a role permission. It lets someone start, schedule and shut down sessions, create polls, send boost and full messages and see voters. It does not include Session Settings.
• Manage Server is needed for Session Settings (everything on the Settings page, including editing messages).
• Panel owners and Grande admins have every permission.

Give a role these permissions in Roles by opening the role and turning on Manage Sessions.

3. First-time setup

1. Open Sessions › Settings and pick the Sessions channel. Grande posts every session message there, so it needs permission to view the channel, send messages and embed links.
2. Optional: choose Roles to ping for the startup message, polls and boosts.
3. Optional but recommended: link your ER:LC server key in ER:LC. This lets Grande fill in the server code, join link and player numbers and record analytics.
4. Press Save changes in the bar that appears at the bottom.

4. The Overview page

The Overview page in Panel Settings is for looking at numbers only, it has no session controls. To start, schedule or shut down a session, press Manage Session in the Moderator Panel. There, the right-hand card shows the session status. With no session running it has Start session, a clock button to schedule, and Create poll. While a session is running it becomes the active session card (see Running a session).

On the left is Analytics Overview. Pick 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or 90 days to change the range. Each card shows a total and a chart for Unique Players, Mod Calls, Mod Commands, Sessions, Peak Players and Session Time. Numbers only count while a session is running and an ER:LC key is linked. Below the charts is Session History.

5. Session analytics

The charts under Analytics Overview add up everything that happened in the range you picked. Hover a chart to see the value for that moment. Use Learn more about Session Analytics under the charts to come back to this page.

6. Session history

Session History lists the sessions that have ended, newest first, each with its date and time. Press one to open it. You will see:

• Players and Staff Shifts graphs for that session. Staff Shifts stays flat until shifts are added to Grande.
• Unique Players, Mod Calls and Mod Commands, each compared with the session before it.
• View # ER:LC logs, which opens Game Logs: every command, join and leave, kill and !mod call saved during that session. Search it by username. A mod call shows who responded to it.
• Session Logs: when the session was started (and after how many poll votes), the startup, boost, full and shutdown messages, and who ended it.

Grande saves the graphs and ER:LC logs while a session runs and keeps them for 90 days. Sessions that ended before this was added only show their totals.

7. Starting, scheduling and polling

Start a session

Press Start session. Grande posts the startup message and pings the roles you chose. If you ran a poll first, everyone who voted is mentioned too (you can turn that off in Settings).

Schedule a session

Press the clock button, choose a date and time. You can schedule up to 3 days ahead, never in the past. Grande posts a scheduled message and starts the session automatically at that time. Press the clock again to clear it.

Create a poll

Press Create poll and choose:

• Votes Required: from 1 to 49.
• Scheduled Start Time (optional): when set, the session starts at that time once enough people have voted.
• Start automatically: when on, the session starts as soon as the vote target is reached. When off, Grande sends you a direct message when the target is reached, and you start the session yourself.

Members vote with the Vote button under the poll message. The button shows the number of votes, such as (3) Vote, and pressing it again removes the vote. When a session starts after a poll, Grande deletes the poll message.

From Discord: /session manage

Anyone with the Manage Sessions permission can also run /session manage in your Discord server. It opens a control card with Start Session, Schedule Session and Create Poll. Start Session posts the startup message, and turns the card into an Active Session card with Shutdown Session, Post Boost Message, and Post Server Full Message. Create Poll opens a form for the votes required, an optional auto-start time (like 30m, 2h, 1d or 2026-10-30 18:00, in UTC) and whether to start automatically when the votes are met. People without the permission are told no. Everything you do from the card works the same as on the panel and shows in your audit log.

8. Running a session

The active session card shows who started it, the players online, unique players, mod calls, and mod commands.

• Send Boost Message nudges people to join.
• Send Full Message announces that the server is full.
• See Voters (only if the session came from a poll) lists everyone who voted, with their nickname and Discord username.
• Shutdown Session ends the session and posts the shutdown message.

When a session is shut down, Grande deletes that session’s startup message and any full and boost messages it sent, so the channel only keeps the shutdown message. Messages from before this feature existed are not removed.

9. Session Settings

Open Sessions › Settings. Changes are only applied when you press Save changes; Discard throws them away. Each card on the page has a Learn more link that opens the matching part of this guide beside the page.

Sessions channel

The channel where Grande posts session startup, poll, boost and shutdown messages. Grande needs the View Channel and Send Messages permissions there. This card also has Kick players while the session is down: when no session is running, Grande kicks regular players who join the ER:LC server.

Session startup

Posted when someone starts a session. Pick the roles to ping and, with Grande+, customize the message (see Customizing messages).

Session poll

Staff can ask the community whether to run a session. People vote with a Vote button on the poll message. Staff choose how many votes are needed when they create a poll. Set the roles to ping and whether voters are pinged in the startup message when the session starts.

Scheduled session

The message posted when staff schedule a session for later. With Grande+ you can customize it.

Full session

Automatic Full Message posts the Full message once when the in-game server reaches its player limit. Remove Full Message When Not Full deletes that message after the server has been below full with nobody in the queue for 5 minutes; it is posted again the next time the server fills up. Messages that staff send by hand are never removed automatically, and a new one replaces the old one. With Grande+ you can customize the message.

Session shutdown

What happens when a session ends. Grande can end the session automatically when the server has been empty for 3 minutes, and can shut down the ER:LC server ten seconds after sending an in-game message. The in-game message can only be changed on Grande+ servers, and the shutdown message in Discord can be customized with Grande+.

Session boost

Lets staff nudge people to join a running session. Pick the roles to ping.

Boosts, hand-sent Full messages and polls have no cooldown. Grande+ servers can set their own in the Cooldowns card of the session settings.

10. Customizing messages

Without Grande⁺, Grande sends its default messages. With Grande⁺, every message has a Customize message button.

The editor opens full screen. Drag the bar at the very top down to close it. The left side is where you edit and the right side is a live preview.

• Use Components V2 switches between the modern builder and classic embeds.
• In the builder, use the add buttons under the list to add a Container, Text display, Separator, Media gallery (images by link) or Link buttons.
• Reorder with the arrows, or drag a component by the grip on its left. Components can also be dragged inside a container.
• Click a variable to insert it where you are typing.
• Test message sends the message to your direct messages, never to the sessions channel, so you can check it safely.
• Restore message default brings back the original message.

Press Continue to keep your edits, then Save changes on the Settings page.

11. Variables

Variables are replaced with real values when a message is sent.

• {user}, {servername}, {panelname}, {time}, {votes} and {votesrequired} are filled in by Grande. The editor only lists the ones that make sense for the message you are editing.
• {scheduledtime} and its variants show a scheduled start time.
• {code}, {joinlink}, {players} and {maxplayers} come from your linked ER:LC server. If no ER:LC key is linked, these variables are not offered, and a link button that depends on {joinlink} is left out.

Time variables end in a letter that sets the format: {timeR} is relative (“2 minutes ago”), {timeF} is long date and time, {timeT} is long time, and so on.

12. If something does not work

• Nothing is posted: check the sessions channel is set and Grande can view and send messages there.
• The Join button is missing: the join link needs a linked, working ER:LC server key. Check it under ER:LC.
• I do not see Session Settings: you need Manage Server.
• I cannot start a session: you need Manage Sessions.
• Test message did not arrive: allow direct messages from server members in your Discord privacy settings.