To build engaging Discord bots, you need a way to store data across restarts. Whether it’s tracking coins in an economy system, experience points (XP) for leveling, or custom user descriptions, persistent storage is a core requirement.

Bot Designer for Discord (BDFD) / Bot Creator solves this natively with its built-in database variables. In this guide, we will cover how to declare variables, read and write values for users or servers, and build a fully functional profile command.

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🗄️ Understanding Variable Scopes

Before writing code, it’s vital to choose the correct scope. BDFD variables can be scoped differently depending on whose data you are tracking:

Scope	Function Pair	Target Type	Use Case
User Scope	$getUserVar / $setUserVar	A specific user globally or per server.	Economy balances, leveling XP, custom titles.
Server / Guild Scope	$getVar / $setVar	The current Discord Server (Guild) context.	Custom server prefixes, logging channels, server settings.

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1. Setting Up Variables in the Panel

Before calling any database variable in your BDFD scripts, you must first register the variable in the Bot Creator / BDFD web panel:

1. Open your bot dashboard.
2. Navigate to Variables (often in the sidebar or under Settings).
3. Click Create Variable.
4. Set the Name (e.g., money, level, xp, prefix).
5. Set the Default Value (e.g., 0 for numbers, or none for text).
6. Click Save.

[!WARNING] Calling a variable in your code that hasn’t been registered in the panel will cause compilation errors or return an empty string.

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2. Managing User Variables ($getUserVar / $setUserVar)

Writing Data ($setUserVar)

Saves a value to the database linked to a specific user.

$setUserVar[variableName;newValue;userID]

• variableName: The exact registered name of the variable.
• newValue: The string or number to store.
• userID: (Optional) The target user. Defaults to $authorID if omitted.

Reading Data ($getUserVar)

Retrieves the saved value from the database.

$getUserVar[variableName;userID]

• variableName: The exact registered name of the variable.
• userID: (Optional) The target user. Defaults to $authorID if omitted.

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3. Building an Economy: A Concrete Example

Let’s build a classic !daily reward command that adds 500 coins to a user’s balance:

Command: !daily

• Prerequisite: A registered variable named money with a default value of 0.

$cooldown[24h;⏱️ You can only claim your daily rewards once every 24 hours! Come back in %time%.]

$var[currentMoney;$getUserVar[money]]
$var[newMoney;$calculate[$var[currentMoney] + 500]]

$setUserVar[money;$var[newMoney]]

$title[💰 Daily Reward Claimed!]
$color[#10b981]
$description[
Greetings $username! You have claimed your daily allowance of **500 coins**!
* **Old Balance**: `$var[currentMoney]` coins
* **New Balance**: `$$var[newMoney]` coins
]
$addTimestamp

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4. Managing Guild Settings ($getVar / $setVar)

To configure server-wide preferences (like custom command prefixes), use server scope:

Command: !setprefix

• Prerequisite: A registered variable named prefix with a default value of !.

$nomention
$onlyPerms[administrator;❌ Only administrators can change the prefix on this server!]

$if[$message==]
  ❌ Please specify a prefix. Example: `!setprefix ?`
$else
  $setVar[prefix;$message]
  $title[⚙️ Prefix Updated!]
  $color[#3b82f6]
  $description[The command prefix for this server has been changed to: **`$message`**]
$endif

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🛠️ Advanced Best Practices

A. Performing Math on Variables

To add or subtract, always retrieve the variable first, compute it inside $calculate, and write it back:

$setUserVar[xp;$calculate[$getUserVar[xp] + 25]]

B. Safe String Validation

If a text variable is blank or has its default value, validate it before displaying:

$if[$getUserVar[bio]==none]
  This user has not set a bio yet! Use `!setbio` to update it.
$else
  $getUserVar[bio]
$endif

C. Server-Scoped User Variables

By default, $getUserVar stores the value globally across all servers. If you want server-specific profiles (e.g., leveling system unique to each server), append the $guildID to the variable’s key internally or configure its settings if your platform features localized scopes.