Set permissions to "DENY" file and folder deletion in Windows 2016 Server

Question

I am trying to deny or just keep users from a specific group the ability to delete files and subfolders within a shared folder. Whenever I set the advanced permissions to DENY file and subfolder deletion and/or I set all permissions to active, except for the ability to delete files and subfolders(I leave those two permissions unchecked), my users are left with not being able to open files, make changes to any files or otherwise access the files and subfolders. I've tried different combinations of share and ntfs permission settings, I've tried inheritance, removing inheritance, I've tried everything short of fixing it with a hammer. Please let me know if you have any advice to offer or need more information to help understand what I am doing wrong or failing to do.