General group settings

Set up in the Mini App#

Open Settings in your private chat with @defendy_bot, select the group under My groups and check its name at the top.

1. Open General settings for the selected group.
2. Select Group time zone and choose the appropriate UTC offset. The choice saves immediately.
3. For a shared destination topic, open that topic in Telegram and send /settopic. Return to the Mini App and check the current topic.

Switches and selectors save when changed. In a separate form with a Save button, save before leaving. If a request fails, reopen the section to check its actual values.

In short#

This page explains the group-level controls that other features use. The most important setting is the default bot topic for Telegram forum groups.

How it works#

1. Defendy reads the selected Telegram group and shows its ID and forum status.
2. The group timezone becomes the reference for schedules such as night mode.
3. The default bot topic is used whenever a feature has no topic of its own.

Every setting explained#

Group ID#

Read-only.

Telegram group identifier shown for support and diagnostics.

Topics enabled#

Read from Telegram settings.

Read-only flag that shows whether the group uses Telegram forum topics.

Group time zone#

Default: UTC (+0).

Controls local time for night mode and scheduled actions. The picker offers whole-hour offsets from UTC−12 through UTC+12; choose the group's time, not necessarily the administrator's current location.

Default bot topic#

Default: Not set.

Topic where bot messages are sent unless a feature has its own topic.

Set topic command#

Command: /settopic.

Send this command in the target forum topic to bind it as the default bot topic.

Practical example#

A Minsk-based community chooses UTC+3. The administrator sends /settopic in the “Bot messages” topic. Captcha and greetings use that topic until a separate module topic is configured.

Recommendations#

• A feature topic overrides the default bot topic only for that feature.
• If topics are disabled in Telegram, topic controls are hidden in Defendy.

Troubleshooting#

• Check that Defendy is still an administrator in the group.
• Refresh the settings panel and make sure you are editing the correct group.
• If a setting is saved but does not work, check the bot permissions in Telegram.
• If logging is connected and the relevant category is enabled, check the event record. The log cannot show events that were not recorded.