Unlike the General Assembly, the Security Council, in theory, functions continuously at the seat of the United Nations and is prepared to act as soon as there is a threat to world peace.

The President or any member of the Council may initiate a meeting. The preparatory work for the official meetings is conducted as informal meetings. Each formal meeting covers only one topic. 

Any member of the Security Council may submit proposals and draft resolutions, though these may be put to a vote only at the request of a representative of the Council. Nowadays, it is customary for the three Western permanent members - France, the United Kingdom and the United States (P3) to submit a draft resolution. Their UN Ambassadors or other representatives meet every day to discuss the issues on the Security Council agenda and to agree on the texts of the draft resolutions. This procedure is followed by consultations in the permanent five (P5) group and among the other groups within the Council. It is important to have gained broad support when the draft resolution is submitted before the official meeting.  

The Security Council members may have to consult their national groups in the General Assembly. The representatives meet at closed informal meetings at the UN Headquarters. It is in the informal consultation chamber, next to the Security Council chamber, that the travaux préparatoires of the Council (working papers, draft resolutions etc.) are completed. While formal meetings do not last very long, an informal consultation on the whole can last for several hours and may run into several sessions. When a given resolution or action has been agreed upon, the consultation is adjourned and the members move next door to open a formal session of the Council. 

Finally, when the formal meeting takes place, it is often very brief without long discussions or a voting procedure. Security Council resolutions are usually adopted by a recorded vote, i. e., a vote which clearly identifies the stand that a Council member took on the issue under discussion. Any member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council may be invited to participate as the result of a decision of the Security Council, without any vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council. This takes place when the Security Council considers that the interests of that member are specially affected, or when a member brings a matter to the attention of the Security Council. 

The formal meetings are the only official meetings of the Security Council. They are open to all to observe, but only Council members are allowed to vote or make statements.