Discord will begin publishing messages from its largest public communities to the open web, making discussions searchable on Google, Bing, and other engines, the company said in a blog post on October 27.
Server Web Pages for all Discoverable Servers, communities with at least 1,000 members that are listed in Discord’s discovery directory, will go live on November 16.
Individual messages from public channels will start appearing word for word on those pages and in search results in mid-December, with a gradual rollout that could take weeks.
The pages will describe each server and may include automated summaries of public channel discussions.
Usernames and avatars will not be shown alongside messages, according to Discord.
Private servers, direct messages, and group direct messages are excluded. The changes apply only to Discoverable Servers, which Discord says number more than 63,000.
For users who post in those servers, the practical consequence is that comments made in public channels can surface in search results beyond the community’s original audience.
Discord has opened opt-out controls ahead of the rollout.
Users can go to User Settings > Data and Privacy and turn off the setting for sharing channel messages across Discoverable Servers.
The setting covers every Discoverable Server a user belongs to, but it only blocks future messages from appearing; messages sent while sharing was enabled can remain online unless deleted.
Server administrators have separate controls under Server Settings > Web Presence.
They can choose which public channels participate or opt the entire server out of web indexing.
Channel summaries and channel messages are controlled independently, and both are on by default for eligible public channels.
Discord says the aim is to help people find answers that are currently buried inside community chats.
“Discussions in Discoverable Servers will soon be easier to find when you search the web, so you can find the answer you’re looking for and step straight into the conversation on Discord,” the company wrote.
The announcement drew privacy criticism from some users, who argued that posting in a public Discord server does not mean consenting to broader web indexing.
Discord’s controls are available on desktop and browser but not directly in the mobile app, according to Android Authority.
In the EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and South Korea, channel messages will be off by default because of local regulations, according to ZDNET.
Discord did not confirm those regional defaults in its blog post.
Discord has faced recent scrutiny over privacy, including blowback earlier this year over age verification requirements. Messages posted before mid-December will not be included in search, Discord said. The first indexed messages may take several weeks to appear after the December start date.
