How to Report a Discord Server

Discord is one of the most popular tools for gamers seeking a free text and VoIP service. The platform’s growth has seen the rise and fall of many server-based gaming communities. Discord allows all of its members to create their own servers and foster growth based on members’ needs. Unfortunately, some users take advantage of this freedom and create servers that violate Discord’s Terms of Service.

Discord doesn’t monitor every server for violations. This means it’s up to the users to report a server. This article will teach you how to report a server on Discord and some other helpful tips along the way.

Report A Discord Server

The process for reporting servers is essentially the same as if you were to report an individual user or message. You will just need a little bit of extra information. Before you can have Discord’s Trust & Safety team begin an investigation on the issue, there are a few things you’ll have to do.

Things to Know

To avoid running the risk of reporting a server that is still well within the guidelines, you should first give them a once-over. Reporting a server that has continued to follow the guidelines could be seen as targeted harassment, and you may find yourself in the hot seat. So, do yourself a favor and do a bit of light reading first. You can find the full and updated list of Community Guidelines here.

For a quick rundown of things that Discord deems intolerable:

• Harassment
• Spam messages
• Violating IP rights
• Sharing child pornography
• Glorifying or promoting suicide or self-harm
• Distributing viruses
• Threatening another user
• Sharing images of gore or animal cruelty

You should also make sure that this is a server-wide problem rather than an individual user or two. Reporting an entire server for only a few of its members’ indiscretions is a tad extreme. Of course, if they are okay with it or happen to be participating, then reporting the server seems far more justified.

Before filing a report, the following information will be needed:

• The server IDs for every server you plan on reporting. Each server has its own ID, so be sure to document which ID belongs to which server to avoid confusion when presenting it on the report.
• Message links encouraging the activity taking place, which violates the community guidelines set forth by Discord. Acquire them from all servers that you’re reporting, similar to the server IDs. Three per server should do the trick, but the more, the merrier.
• The User IDs of those engaging in the activity. This is not to be confused with the Username+Tag. The User ID is a permanent fixture and can’t be changed, unlike the Username.
• To provide a brief explanation of what the server is doing to violate guidelines. This step is technically not mandatory, but it couldn’t hurt to point them in the right direction, especially if the issue has been happening for a long time.

Evidence is important, so regardless of what you’ve seen, read, or heard on the server, you’ll need to comb through it all. This is so you can collect each ID for the users and messages involved. The more evidence to back up your claims, the better. Be sure to hold onto all the messages, images, and IDs until after you’ve added them to your report.

Before you can grab the IDs, you’ll need to turn on Developer Mode.

Enabling Developer Mode

To report a server, Developer Mode must be turned on. This section will teach you how to enable Developer Mode so you can copy the Server ID and Message IDs of any chats you want to report.

To enable Developer Mode on PC (Desktop or Web app):

1. Head to User Settings by clicking on the gear-shaped icon next to your screen name located at the bottom left-hand corner.
   
2. Then select the Advanced tab from the menu on the left.
   
3. Toggle the switch next to Developer Mode.
   

To enable Developer Mode on iOS devices:

1. Tap the Menu icon (three vertically stacked lines) in the screen’s top-left corner.
   • If you can already see the server icons to the left, you’re already on the correct window.
2. Tap the gear-shaped icon (User Settings) located to the right of your screen name toward the bottom of the screen.
3. Swipe up to the App Settings section and tap on Appearance.
   
4. In the Advanced section, tap the toggle switch next to Developer Mode.
   • The toggle should show blue when the mode is enabled.

To enable Developer Mode on Android devices:

1. Tap the Menu icon (three vertically stacked lines) in the screen’s top-left corner.
   • If you can already see the server icons to the left, you’re already on the correct window.
2. Tap your profile icon (User Settings) to the right of your screen name, toward the bottom of the screen.
3. Swipe up to the App Settings section and tap on Behavior.
   
4. Tap the toggle switch next to Developer Mode.

Obtaining The Necessary IDs for Reporting

Now that Developer Mode is enabled on your device; it’s time to dig a little deeper and gather up all of the necessary IDs. The process for each ID will vary slightly depending on the ID you need and the app used.

SERVER IDS

To acquire a Server ID using a PC (Web or Desktop app):

1. You’ll need to right-click the server’s name which can be found above the channel list.
2. At the bottom of the list, select Copy ID to add it to your clipboard. The ID will be a long string of numbers.
   
3. Paste it to Notepad or a Word document.

To acquire a Server ID using the Android app:

1. Tap the Menu icon (three vertically stacked lines) in the screen’s top-left corner.
   1. If you can already see the server icons to the left, you’re already on the correct window.
2. Press and hold the server’s name located above the channel list, click More Options, and tap on Copy ID.
   
3. You’ll want to paste the ID into either a Document app or into an email you can send to yourself.

To acquire a Server ID using the iOS app:

1. Tap the Menu icon (three vertically stacked lines) in the screen’s top-left corner.
   1. If you can already see the server icons to the left, you’re already on the correct window.
2. Tap the triple-dot icon next to the server’s name found above the channel list and select Copy ID from the menu to copy the ID to the clipboard.
3. You’ll want to paste the ID into either a Document app or into an email you can send to yourself.

MESSAGE LINKS

To acquire a Message Link using a PC (Web or Desktop app):

1. Hover the mouse cursor over the message and click on the triple-dot icon that pops up to the far right of the message.
2. Select Copy Message Link from the menu.
   

When it comes to mobile devices, only Android can copy the Message Link. For iOS users, you’ll have to log in to a PC and perform the previous method.

To acquire a Message Link using the Android app:

1. Tap and hold the message.
2. From the pop-up menu, select Share. This will open an additional menu.
   • The Share button should be located at the bottom.
     
3. Tap Copy to Clipboard from the second menu.
   

Now you can paste the link into your report.

Remember that once a message has been deleted, the content is gone, stripped of any record of ever being created. If the messages or content you are trying to report have already been deleted, Discord’s Trust & Safety team will not be able to retrieve it.

You can still submit the report without the message links but the Trust and Safety team will have difficulty investigating the issue. This results in the possibility of no action being taken for the proposed violation.

USER IDS

To acquire a User ID using a PC (Web or Desktop app):

1. Find the message that exhibits the violation and right-click on the username who sent it.
2. At the bottom of the list, select Copy ID.
3. Paste this into a text file or note, and annotate it correctly with the User ID and the username so as not to confuse you later.

Even if the user changes their name, the User ID will still identify them.

To acquire a User ID using a mobile device (iOS or Android app):

1. You’ll need to go to the User’s Profile. While on the server, swipe left to pull up a list of members.
2. Locate the member and tap on their username. This will open their profile page.
3. Scroll to the bottom; under Developer Mode, tap on Copy ID.
   

REPORTING

Once all the IDs and information have been acquired, you are ready to send the information to Discord’s Trust and Safety team.

The following information you will need for each section:

• What can we help you with? – By clicking on the link above, this field should already be populated with Trust & Safety. If it is not, select it from the available options in the drop-down menu.
• Your Email Address – Enter the email address you used to sign up for Discord.
• Report Type –  Select which type of violation has occurred from the available options in the drop-down menu.
• Description – Input a brief description of the violation and reason for reporting as well as the IDs you’ve acquired as evidence.
• Attachments – If you have added all IDs to a note or Word document, you can upload it as an attachment here. It’s also very useful if you decide to screenshot the violations as proof. You can upload them here.

Once you’ve finished the report, click on the Report button located at the bottom. The report will reach the appropriate department, and an investigation will ensue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Discord doesn’t make it as easy as other platforms to report users, messages, or servers. If you still have questions, keep reading.

Can I retract a report submitted to Discord?

Perhaps you were a bit too eager to report something you thought was a violation but had yet to give Discord’s Community Guidelines a once over. It turns out that what occurred was not, in fact, a violation at all. Sending false reports is against Discord’s Terms of Service, so it would be in your best interest to reach out for support as soon as possible.

On mobile, you can just head over to Discord’s Twitter page, DM them, and explain the situation. They’ll need you to provide the email associated with your Discord account so they can go in and delete the report. No harm, no foul.

You can do the same on a desktop as well or just submit a quick request to Discord Support, and they should get back to you within a few minutes.

How do I report behavior on a Discord server to a moderator?

Before you report a server to Discord’s Trust & Safety team you may want to reach out to an admin or moderator to correct the action. Users with administrative roles can ban or kick users who are violating the rules.

To report behavior on a server you’ll need to message an administrator or moderator directly. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open the server and navigate to the channel where the messages are. Then look at the top of the menu to the right for the Moderator/Admin heading.

2. Right-click the admin’s name you’d like to message. Then, click Message.

Type a message and include a screenshot if you can grab one. Of course, if the behavior that violates Discord’s terms & conditions persists after the moderators are aware of the situation, you may want to report the server to Discord. Especially if the server is encouraging the behavior.