Why a ladder beats a single ban button
When the only tool is a ban, admins hesitate, and rule breakers learn that nothing happens until suddenly everything happens. A ladder of steps is easier to apply and easier to accept. A member who gets a warning knows exactly what the next one will cost.
Give reasons different weight
Not every rule break is the same. Posting off topic is not a scam attempt. The warnings module in BotLaunch counts points per warning, and you can set how many points each reason carries: a small number for off-topic posts, more for advertising, the most for scams or harassment. The total decides what happens next.
Set the levels and what they trigger
Each level is a number of points and an action. A common setup: at the first level the member gets a reminder of the rules, at the next a mute for an hour, then a mute for a day, and finally a ban. You choose whether the member and the admins are told when a level is reached, and what the message says.
Let warnings expire
A warning from six months ago should not count the same as one from yesterday. Set warnings to expire after a number of days, and members who change their behaviour get a clean record. It keeps the system about current behaviour, not old grudges.
Automatic warnings for the obvious cases
Spam, floods and forbidden links are easy to detect. The module can warn for them automatically, so the anti-spam and anti-flood modules feed the same ladder. Admins then only handle the cases that need judgement.
Appeals and history
Mistakes happen, including the bot's. Members can be allowed to appeal a warning, with a cooldown so it does not turn into a stream of requests, and admins can see each member's warning history before deciding. That record is what makes the system feel fair rather than random.