Messaging & community platform
Discord
In short
Discord is used for text, voice and community chats. Children and teenagers may talk with friends and with people they do not know from everyday life. How it feels depends on who they connect with, which servers they join, and the settings. Many teens use it on phone and computer, often while gaming, studying or hanging out in voice channels.
Quick facts
- Minimum age 13
- Private messaging is available
- Strangers can contact users, depending on settings
- Voice chat is available
- In-app spending is possible
- Official parental controls are available
What should parents know?
The main question is who your child can talk to. Servers can include strangers, and messages, images and links can move quickly. Family Center can show the last seven days of activity without showing message contents. You can set a monthly spending cap and downtime, but both of you have to opt in. The usual minimum age is 13; it is higher in some countries. Server rules and moderation vary widely, so a child may see adult topics or aggressive chat in some communities even with filters on.
What is it?
Discord is a communication service where people talk in private messages, group chats and community spaces called servers. It is especially common around gaming, hobbies and friendship groups.
Voice channels let groups talk without typing, and screen sharing is common in gaming or homework servers. A child may belong to several servers at once, each with its own rules and tone.
Why do kids use it?
Children and teenagers use Discord to stay in touch while gaming, join communities around shared interests, share media and spend time with friends by voice, video or text.
Voice channels feel more immediate than text for coordinating games or hanging out after school, and many teens treat Discord as their everyday group chat alongside school and gaming.
Guides — how to do it
Short steps you can follow with your child’s phone in your hand.
Related checks
All checks →Interactive checks that fit what you are reading about here.
Privacy Exposure Checker
Review what personal information may be visible or easy to piece together online.
Gaming Risk Checker
Understand a game’s chat, spending, sharing, and user-created content features.
Is the message or offer a scam?
Your child got something odd — a link, an offer or a request. We guide you through the assessment.
What can parents control?
Parent controls
Family Center is an optional connection between a teen and up to three guardians. It can show recent activity without revealing message contents and can let guardians manage selected settings such as direct-message access and sensitive-content filters.
Downtime schedules in Family Center pause access at set times but require both sides to stay connected. You cannot read message contents or remove a server on the teen's behalf through Family Center alone.
Settings the child controls
Your child still chooses which servers to join, who to add as friends, and what to share. Family Center does not show message contents, and it does not let you remove friends or servers on their behalf. They can also adjust some privacy settings on their own, and turning on two-factor authentication is optional but worth discussing for older teens.
Who can they talk to?
Direct messages, server messages, friend requests and voice calls are available. Teen settings and Family Center can limit who can send messages, but contact from people outside a child’s real-world circle is still possible in shared servers.
Server invites can come from friends or from people met in other games. Direct messages from server members can be limited in settings, but public channels may still expose a child to strangers.
Can money be spent?
Discord offers paid Nitro subscriptions and other purchases. Family Center can show guardians recent purchase activity, but it is not a substitute for device or payment controls.
Nitro and server boosts are recurring charges that may sit outside a monthly spending cap. Cosmetic profile items and emoji packs are smaller one-off purchases that can add up over time.
What about privacy?
Profiles, messages, server activity and shared media can reveal personal information. Discord does not provide a general live-location feature, but a child can still type or upload identifying details and follow external links.
Profile photos, usernames and custom status messages can reveal interests or identity clues. Links shared in chat can lead to external sites outside Discord's own controls.
Talk about it
Ask which servers feel welcoming, who can message them, and what they would do if a conversation became uncomfortable. Review the settings together and make it clear they can come to you without losing access automatically.
Ask whether they know how to leave a server, block someone or report content without feeling they will lose all access. Revisit settings together after they join a new community rather than treating setup as one-time.
- “Who do you normally talk to on Discord?”
- “Are the servers you use mostly people you know?”
- “What would you do if someone you don't know asked to talk privately?”
- “Have you spent money on Nitro or anything else in Discord?”
- “Have you ever been invited to a server you didn't recognize?”
More help in Denmark
If you need someone to talk to about what is happening in the app, start here. It is free, and you do not need to have it all figured out first.
- SletDet counselling 29 27 01 01
Save the Children’s free counselling in Denmark for children, young people and parents facing bullying, image sharing, hacking and other harmful experiences online. Call 29 27 01 01. You do not need everything sorted before you call.
- Digital sexual offences
The Danish police explain grooming and how to report if a child is pressured or threatened online. Read the guidance before confronting the other party.
- Parents’ Helpline 35 55 55 57
Børns Vilkår. Free, anonymous counselling for parents and relatives in Denmark on 35 55 55 57. They take calls about screens, conflict and online problems.
- Children’s Helpline 116 111
Børns Vilkår. Children and young people in Denmark can call or write anonymously on 116 111. Also when it feels urgent, but does not require 112.
Sources & last reviewed
Last reviewed August 31, 2026
ParentPilot uses first-party material where possible. Features can change, so check the linked source before changing important settings.
Discord
Official sourceDiscord Safety Center
Reviewed August 31, 2026
Open sourceDiscord
Official sourceFamily Center for Teens
Reviewed August 31, 2026
Open sourceDiscord
Official sourceFrequently Asked Questions from Parents & Educators
Reviewed August 31, 2026
Open sourceDiscord
Official sourceWhat is Family Center?
Reviewed August 31, 2026
Open source