Is Discord safe for my child?

Discord can be a reasonably safe place for a teenager, if they’re 13 or older and you set it up together. Discord says the minimum age in most countries is 13 (Discord), and Internet Matters advises making sure your child is 13+ and mature enough to use it safely (Internet Matters). It isn’t designed for younger children. For teens, the main things to manage are who can message them, what images they see, and which servers they join. Discord’s free Family Center lets you see who they’re talking to without reading their messages.

What is Discord?

Discord is a chat app, launched in 2015, that’s especially popular with gamers. People gather in servers, which are communities with their own text channels (marked with a #) and voice channels, where members can type, talk, listen and watch each other’s live video (Internet Matters). A server might be a few school friends, a fan group for a game, or a huge public community with strangers. Users can also send direct messages (DMs) to one another.

For a lot of teenagers it’s simply where they chat with friends while they play games together, a bit like a group call that runs in the background.

What are the risks?

Internet Matters lists a few things for parents to know about, and notes that children of any age are likely to come across some risks on the platform (Internet Matters):

• Contact from strangers, especially in large public servers or through DMs.
• Inappropriate language and images. Some servers contain adult content. These should be labelled as 18+, and anyone opening one is asked to confirm they’re over 18.
• Live video and location. These are opt-in, but worth knowing about.
• Spending. Discord has a paid subscription called Nitro, plus paid servers and donations.

None of this means your teen shouldn’t use it. It means it’s worth agreeing a few ground rules and settings at the start.

Age checks in the UK

Internet Matters reports that, as part of the UK’s Online Safety Act, Discord introduced age checks in July 2025, working with a company called k-ID. Users in the UK may be asked to do a face scan or ID scan so the system can estimate whether they’re an adult (Internet Matters). Internet Matters is clear that age checks can’t replace parental controls and regular conversations. Our guide to what age children can join social media covers the wider picture.

How Discord’s Family Center works

Family Center is Discord’s free parent tool. Both you and your teen have to agree to connect, and you’ll need your own Discord account and the Discord mobile app to finish setting it up (Discord).

To connect, Discord’s help page describes these steps:

1. On your teen’s device, they go to User Settings > Family Center and show the QR code there.
2. On your phone, open the Discord app, tap your profile picture to open User Settings, then the Family Center tab and My Family.
3. Scan your teen’s QR code. Once your teen accepts, you’re connected.

Once linked, the Activity tab shows the last seven days of (Discord):

• new friends they’ve added
• who they’ve messaged and called
• total minutes on voice and video calls
• their top five people and servers
• new servers they’ve joined, and servers they’ve been active in
• total purchases, including Nitro

You also get a weekly summary by email. Discord’s list of what parents can see doesn’t include the content of messages, so Family Center gives you a sense of who and where, rather than what was said. Many families find that a fair balance for a teenager.

You can also change some of your teen’s safety settings from Family Center, including (Discord):

• Sensitive content filters: whether sensitive images are blurred, blocked or shown. For UK teens, the choice is limited to blur or block.
• Friend Requests: who can send them one (everyone, friends of friends, or server members).
• Server Direct Messages: whether people in shared servers can DM them.
• Message Requests: on by default for teens, so messages from people who aren’t their friends go into a separate folder.

Settings to go through together

Even without Family Center, Internet Matters suggests a few settings in Discord’s Privacy & Safety menu (Internet Matters):

1. Safe Direct Messaging: choose Keep me safe, which scans direct messages from everyone for explicit content.
2. Server DMs: turn off Allow direct messages from server members to stop strangers in big servers messaging them directly. You can also do this one server at a time in that server’s settings.
3. Who can add you as a friend: narrow this down so random people can’t send requests.

And make sure your teen knows how to block someone: click their name and select Block. Discord asks teens to use the in-app report option if they come across something that breaks its rules (Discord). If something upsetting does happen, our guide on what to do if your child sees something upsetting online can help.

What to do next

• Check the age first. If your child is under 13, Discord isn’t meant for them yet. Internet Matters suggests younger children use apps designed for their age instead.
• Set it up side by side. Sit with your teen, go through Privacy & Safety together, and turn on Keep me safe for direct messages.
• Suggest Family Center as a deal, not a punishment. Explain that you’ll see who they’re talking to, not their messages, and agree when you’ll review it.
• Agree a simple rule about servers: small servers with people they know in real life are a good start; ask before joining big public ones.
• Keep talking. Ask what servers they’re in and what they enjoy about them. A child who chats about it at dinner is more likely to come to you if something goes wrong.

Every teenager is different, and you know yours best. With the right settings and an open door, Discord can be just another place they hang out with friends.