diff --git a/disco/bot/bot.py b/disco/bot/bot.py
index 554db0c..50e518d 100644
--- a/disco/bot/bot.py
+++ b/disco/bot/bot.py
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ class BotConfig(Config):
         command parsing.
     commands_prefix : str
         A string prefix that is required for a message to be considered for
-        command parsing.
-    commands_prefixes : list[string]
+        command parsing.  **DEPRECATED**
+    command_prefixes : list[string]
         A list of string prefixes that are required for a message to be considered
         for command parsing.
     commands_prefix_getter : Optional[function]
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ class BotConfig(Config):
     http_port : int
         The port for the HTTP Flask server (if enabled).
     """
+    deprecated = {'commands_prefix': 'command_prefixes'}
+
     levels = {}
     plugins = []
     plugin_config = {}
@@ -93,8 +95,8 @@ class BotConfig(Config):
         'role': True,
         'user': True,
     }
-    commands_prefix = ''
-    commands_prefixes = []
+    commands_prefix = ''  # now deprecated
+    command_prefixes = []
     commands_prefix_getter = None
     commands_allow_edit = True
     commands_level_getter = None
@@ -283,7 +285,7 @@ class Bot(LoggingClass):
         else:
             self.command_matches_re = None
 
-    def get_commands_for_message(self, require_mention, mention_rules, msg_prefix, msg, prefixes=None):
+    def get_commands_for_message(self, require_mention, mention_rules, prefixes, msg):
         """
         Generator of all commands that a given message object triggers, based on
         the bots plugins and configuration.
@@ -295,12 +297,10 @@ class Bot(LoggingClass):
         mention_rules : dict(str, bool)
             Whether `user`, `everyone`, and `role` mentions are allowed. Defaults to:
             `{'user': True, 'everyone': False, 'role': False}`
-        msg_prefix : str
-            The prefix to check the message starts with.
+        prefixes : list[string]
+            A list of prefixes to check the message starts with.
         msg : :class:`disco.types.message.Message`
             The message object to parse and find matching commands for.
-        prefixes : list[string]
-            A list of prefixes to check the message starts with (combines with `prefix`)
 
         Yields
         -------
@@ -309,7 +309,6 @@ class Bot(LoggingClass):
         """
         # somebody better figure out what this yields...
 
-        prefixes = (prefixes or []) + [msg_prefix]  # don't break the tests and keep compatibility
         content = msg.content
 
         if require_mention:
@@ -346,18 +345,18 @@ class Bot(LoggingClass):
                     content = content.replace('<@{}>'.format(role), '', 1)
 
             content = content.lstrip()
-        else:
-            # Scan through the prefixes to find the first one that matches.
-            # This may lead to unexpected results, but said unexpectedness
-            # should be easy to avoid. An example of the unexpected results
-            # that may occur would be if one prefix was `!` and one was `!a`.
-            if not any([content.startswith(prefix) for prefix in prefixes]):
-                return []
-            else:
-                for prefix in prefixes:
-                    if prefix and content.startswith(prefix):
-                        content = content[len(prefix):]
-                        break
+
+        # Scan through the prefixes to find the first one that matches.
+        # This may lead to unexpected results, but said unexpectedness
+        # should be easy to avoid. An example of the unexpected results
+        # that may occur would be if one prefix was `!` and one was `!a`.
+        if any([content.startswith(prefix) for prefix in prefixes]) and not require_mention:
+            for prefix in prefixes:
+                if prefix and content.startswith(prefix):
+                    content = content[len(prefix):]
+                    break
+        elif not require_mention:
+            return []
 
         if not self.command_matches_re or not self.command_matches_re.match(content):
             return []
@@ -411,17 +410,14 @@ class Bot(LoggingClass):
         bool
             Whether any commands where successfully triggered by the message.
         """
-        if not self.config.commands_require_mention and self.config.commands_prefix_getter:
-            custom_message_prefixes = self.config.commands_prefix_getter(msg)
-        else:
-            custom_message_prefixes = []
+        custom_message_prefixes = (self.config.commands_prefix_getter(msg)
+                                   if self.config.commands_prefix_getter else [])
 
         commands = list(self.get_commands_for_message(
             self.config.commands_require_mention,
             self.config.commands_mention_rules,
-            self.config.commands_prefix,
+            custom_message_prefixes or self.config.command_prefixes,
             msg,
-            self.config.commands_prefixes + custom_message_prefixes,
         ))
 
         if not len(commands):
diff --git a/disco/util/config.py b/disco/util/config.py
index 30d2996..bed960c 100644
--- a/disco/util/config.py
+++ b/disco/util/config.py
@@ -10,6 +10,16 @@ class Config(object):
             k: getattr(self, k) for k in dir(self.__class__)
         })
 
+        # issue `DeprecationWarning`s
+        if hasattr(self.__class__, 'deprecated') and obj:
+            for deprecated_key, replacement in self.__class__.deprecated.items():
+                if deprecated_key in obj.keys():
+                    warning_text = '"{0}" is deprecated.'.format(deprecated_key)
+                    warning_text += ('\nReplace "{0}" with "{1}".'.format(deprecated_key, replacement)
+                                     if replacement else '')
+
+                    raise DeprecationWarning(warning_text)
+
         if obj:
             self.__dict__.update(obj)
 
diff --git a/docs/bot_tutorial/first_steps.md b/docs/bot_tutorial/first_steps.md
index 0479577..5ad77fe 100644
--- a/docs/bot_tutorial/first_steps.md
+++ b/docs/bot_tutorial/first_steps.md
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ Now let's setup the configuration file. To start off with we'll paste the follow
 ```
 
 {% hint style='tip' %}
-If you want to use a prefix, you add this into the `"bot"` dictionary:
+If you want to use a prefix (or even multiple), you add something this into the `"bot"` dictionary:
 ```json
 "requires_mentions": false,
-"commands_prefix": "!"
+"command_prefixes": ["!", "?"] 
 ```
 {% endhint %}