Discord to Index Public Server Messages for Search Engines

Discord is changing its privacy policy to make conversations from its largest public servers discoverable in search engines. The new policy applies to Discoverable Servers, defined as communities with at least 1,000 members listed in the public directory that do not require an invitation to join. Starting November 16, every Discoverable Server will have a web page that may include summaries of public channel discussions. Beginning in mid-December, individual messages posted in eligible channels on these servers may appear in web search results.

Discord stated that the shift of online communities from message boards to its servers made useful answers harder to find, prompting this change. The platform hosts over 63,000 total discoverable servers. To opt out, users must go into User Settings and switch off the option to show message content from Discoverable channels on web pages. This setting only affects future messages; past messages that became public cannot be retracted. Users who want an eligible message removed must delete it from Discord, though search engines may retain cached copies for some time.

The feature will be disabled by default for users in Australia, the EU, the European Economic Area, the UK, Canada, Brazil, and South Korea. Teen users are also excluded from having their messages indexed. Server administrators can prevent messages from individual channels or entire servers from appearing on public web pages through Server Settings. Discord is currently piloting Community Messages and Server Web Pages in the NBA 2K, Rust, and Dead by Daylight gaming groups.