How to Create and Manage Channels on Your TeamSpeak Server
Channels are the backbone of your TS3 server layout. Learn how to create permanent and temporary channels, use spacers for organization, control who can make sub-channels, and password-protect rooms.
Creating a Channel
Right-click anywhere in the channel list → Create Channel. A dialog opens with several tabs — Name, Standard, Codec, and Permissions.
Give your channel a name, pick a type (explained below), and configure the rest as needed. Hit OK and it appears in the list immediately.
Channel Types
This is the most important setting when creating a channel:
Permanent — the channel exists indefinitely, even when no one is in it. Use this for your main community channels: General, Gaming, AFK, etc.
Semi-permanent — the channel persists as long as at least one client is connected. Once everyone leaves, it disappears. Good for long-running temporary rooms.
Temporary — deleted automatically when the last client leaves. Perfect for user-created gaming sessions or party rooms. Users create them, play their game, leave, and the channel cleans itself up.
Channel Settings Worth Knowing
Description — shown in the channel info panel. Good for rules, Discord links, or channel purpose.
Password — optional. Clients need the password to enter. Set it in the Channel dialog or by right-clicking an existing channel → Edit Channel → Password tab.
Max Users — cap how many clients can be in the channel at once. 0 = unlimited.
Codec — leave this on Opus Voice for voice channels. Only switch to Opus Music if you're running a music bot in that channel and want higher audio fidelity.
Codec Quality — scale of 1–10. Default is 6, which sounds good and uses around 14 Kbps per active talker. Quality 10 sounds noticeably better but hits ~64 Kbps per talker. Unless you're running a music bot or have a particularly audio-focused community, 6 is fine.
Sub-Channels
Right-click an existing channel → Create Sub-Channel. Sub-channels appear indented under the parent channel and can be collapsed. This is useful for organizing game-specific rooms under a parent like "Squad Games" or separating staff channels under an "Admin" parent.
To reorder channels, drag and drop them in the client. You need the appropriate permission (i_channel_move_power) to do this.
Spacers
Spacers are non-joinable channels used purely for visual organization. Create a channel with a special naming prefix:
[cspacer]── GAMING ── (centered text)
[lspacer]── GAMING ── (left-aligned text)
[rspacer]── GAMING ── (right-aligned)
[spacer] (blank spacer line)
Spacers appear as dividers in the channel list. Use them to break your layout into sections like Community, Gaming, Staff, etc. Clients can't join them — they're decorative only.
Letting Users Create Temporary Channels
The cleanest way to handle user-created rooms:
- Create a permanent channel called something like "Create Room" or "Lobby"
- Grant the Member server group
i_channel_create_temporary= 75 (or whatever value your channel requires) - Set
i_channel_needed_create_temporaryon that parent channel to 75
When a member joins "Create Room," they can right-click it and create a temporary sub-channel. It disappears when they leave. No admin intervention required.
Channel Permissions vs. Group Permissions
You can set permissions directly on a channel (right-click → Edit Channel → Permissions tab) that override group-level settings for everyone in that channel. This is useful for making a channel talk-only, restricting who can enter, or giving specific users elevated access in one room without changing their global group.
For the full breakdown of how channel permissions interact with server groups, see Understanding the TeamSpeak 3 Permission System.