Discord to show public server messages in Google, but the option will be off by default in the UK

On 27 October 2026 Discord announced a change that will let selected messages from public communities be found through search engines, including Google. You will not need to join a server to read them. The news was reported by the Polish site Spider's Web, citing the company's announcement.

Two stages

The first stage begins on 16 November 2026. Servers that meet the criteria of the "Discoverable Servers" feature will get their own web pages. These will include basic information about the community, a description and automatic summaries of discussions in public channels.

The second stage is planned for mid-December 2026. Full messages from selected channels may then start appearing on server pages and could show up in search results. The rollout will be gradual, so it will take several weeks before the changes are visible to everyone.

Discord says many communities have moved from traditional forums to its servers. As a result, answers to specialist questions, for example about a game, can often be found only there. The company says it wants to change that.

Who is affected

The feature covers only public servers with at least 1,000 members that also meet Discord's activity and safety requirements. The company says there are currently more than 63,000 of them. Private servers, direct messages and group chats are not affected. The web pages are not meant to show usernames or avatars of message authors.

Discord had previously tested a similar approach in communities around NBA 2K, Rust and Dead by Daylight. Those tests, however, shared only messages from administrators and moderators.

What this means for you

In the UK, the European Union (including Poland), Canada, Brazil, Australia and South Korea, the setting is to stay off by default. Messages from adult users in these regions will therefore appear online only after they give their own consent. In the US and most other regions the option will be on by default for adults. Teenagers cannot turn it on at all.

To check or change the setting, go to "User Settings > Data & Privacy". The option is called "Show my message content from Discoverable channels on web pages" and applies to all of a user's discoverable servers. The feature may not yet be available on every account, so it is worth checking again later.

What switching the option off will not undo

Messages written before the feature launches in mid-December 2026 will not be covered. Turning the option off stops future messages from being shared. It will not remove messages that appeared while it was on. They will remain visible on server pages until the author deletes them on Discord.

Server administrators will get their own controls. They can choose which channels may be shown on the web, or turn the feature off for the whole community. If they change nothing, eligible public channels will be enabled by default.