Fix "PrivilegedIntentsRequired" and "Used disallowed intents" on a Discord bot

Two errors stop a Discord bot right after it logs in:

discord.py: discord.errors.PrivilegedIntentsRequired: Shard ID None is requesting privileged intents that have not been explicitly enabled in the developer portal.
discord.js: Error [DisallowedIntents]: Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted., or the gateway closing with code 4014 Used disallowed intents.

Both mean the same thing: the code asks Discord for a privileged intent, and the bot’s application does not have that intent switched on.

The three privileged intents

Intent	What it gives the bot	Typical use
Message Content	The text of messages	Prefix commands (`!help`), moderation filters, chat games
Server Members	Member joins, leaves and the member list	Welcome messages, role syncing, leaderboards
Presence	Online status and activities	Status boards, “who is playing” features

Slash commands, buttons and embeds need none of them. A bot that only uses slash commands can leave all three off.

Switch them on

Open the Discord Developer Portal and pick the application.
Bot in the left menu.
Under Privileged Gateway Intents, switch on the ones the code asks for, and Save Changes.
Restart the bot from its page on FadeHost. No redeploy is needed; the setting lives on Discord’s side.

A bot in more than 100 servers has to be verified by Discord before privileged intents can stay on; below that, the switch is all it takes.

Ask only for what you use

The error also appears when the code asks for everything by habit:

# discord.py: asks for all three privileged intents, and fails without them
intents = discord.Intents.all()

# asks only for what a slash-command bot needs
intents = discord.Intents.default()
intents.message_content = True   # only if you read message text

// discord.js: the intents list is explicit
const client = new Client({
  intents: [GatewayIntentBits.Guilds, GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages, GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent],
})

Requesting an intent you do not use costs events and memory on every message and member update. Cut the list to what the code reads and the bot runs lighter.

Still failing

The token in the app’s environment variables belongs to a different application than the one you edited. Check the application name at the top of the portal against the bot’s name.
The change did not apply: portal changes take effect on the next login, so restart the bot rather than waiting.
The console on the bot’s page prints the exact error and the crash doctor names the intent; read that line before changing code.