Discord is one of the most popular messaging and video calling services for people who play PC games online and stream on platforms like Twitch. It is also used by a variety of people as a video conferencing application. Due to its ease of use and ubiquity, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t use Discord.
The Discord app works across mobile and desktop platforms, combining the features of a chat lobby, message board, VoIP chat system, and streaming service into a single app that won’t hog resources on your phone or PC.
Discord’s popularity has only multiplied in recent years, and at our last count, the app reached over 196 million registered users. Looking to get a group together to play Final Fantasy XIV? Do you need to easily communicate with an entire server of Minecraft players? Do you want to just hang out and chat with a small group of friends? Read on to find out what Discord has to offer.
How do I get started with Discord?
Once you have created a Discord account, you can launch it in your browser or install the Discord app. The app gives you many more customization options and is a must-have for anyone who wants to run a server.
Once everything is set up, you can start by creating a new Discord server and sending invite codes immediately, or using an invite code to join a pre-existing server. Creating a server only requires a valid server name; no need to install anything.
Unfortunately, you cannot search for servers to join in the Discord app. But it’s still pretty easy to join an active community. There are many verified servers with open invites that you can find with a quick Google search: the PUBG official server is one of those examples. Many popular streamers and content creators will also have public invite codes posted on their Twitch or YouTube channels.
What makes Discord better than other VoIP services (like Skype)?
If you just want to talk to a small group of friends while you play, both Skype and Discord will get the job done. However, Discord stands out by giving you the option to run the app in a browser, allowing you to change the microphone levels of inpidual people and offering lower latency general voice chat, which helps when talking to people from everyone.
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If you have installed the Discord app on your PC, you also have the option to run it as an overlay while you play. This makes it easy to adjust audio levels or quickly type something without having to press Alt or Tab to go to another window.
Where can I use Discord?
Discord is available on Windows and Mac computers and can be accessed by downloading and running the discord appor in the browser in the official website. The browser version has some limitations, such as not being able to open the Discord on-screen overlay while playing games or doing other things. Discord is also available for Android and iOS devices and includes many of the same features on mobile as seen on desktop.
Currently, you can also use Discord on Xbox One, though only to see what Xbox games your Discord friends are playing; You can’t (yet) chat on a Discord server from your Xbox. Discord is coming to PlayStation in some form now that Sony has made a minority investment in the chat platform, but it’s still unclear how it will work or if we can expect cross-console Discord chat in the near future.
What makes Discord good for large groups?
Managing large groups of people is arguably where Discord shines the most. When you create a Discord server, you can also create separate channels with different levels of access permissions for different users. This prevents popular servers from putting everyone in one giant message thread or voice chat channel.
Several automated management and moderation tools help keep things from getting too derailed, even if your server doesn’t have a single human moderator. Very large servers can have over 100k users, and the usual culprits like PUBG and Minecraft represent some of the largest groups. With groups this large, you’ll need as many tools as you can to prevent a certain version of the Internet from appearing.
A well-managed Discord server looks like an organized message board in many ways, with blocked ads and guideline threads at the top and several more specific locations for people to meet below. The difference is that everything flows in real time and most channels have voice chat enabled.
What about smaller groups?
If you plan to play with only a dozen or fewer friends, Discord is still a very good tool for controlling who is available to play. Discord can notify others about the game you’re playing so users don’t have to check three different programs to see who’s online and what everyone is doing.
If all your friends play different games, you can always open a separate voice chat channel and still be able to text chat with them.
How is Discord good for streamers?
If you’re a Twitch or YouTube streamer with an audience of any size, Discord is a great place to manage your followers. Discord offers your viewers more flexibility than a simple chat window on Twitch. As a streamer, you can also have peace of mind thanks to Discord’s Streamer Mode, which intelligently hides invite codes, DiscordTags, and other personal information in case it appears on screen during a stream.
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Streamers can also sync Discord with their YouTube or Twitch accounts and do things like set up subscriber-only channels and grant special permissions to subscribers on the server. Overall, a streamer’s Discord server can be a good one-stop shop for interaction between you and your followers, whether you’re live or not.
What is Discord Nitro?
For $10 a month or $100 a year, you can sign up for Discord Nitro, which functions more as a status symbol and tip jar than an upgraded version of the app. While you get some functional benefits, such as larger image upload limits (up to 100 MB) and higher quality screen sharing, the rest of the benefits are purely cosmetic. The Discord team has promised not to block the currently free features behind Nitro in the future.
Cosmetic benefits include animated avatars and animated emojis in chat. You can also customize the DiscordTag number that comes after your name and you get a special badge to show your support.
What are Discord bots?
Many of the best server and community management tools available for Discord do not come with the app, but are installed separately as third-party programs. These are called bots and Discord has a list of officially supported bots which provide server owners with comprehensive moderation tools and integration with other applications, such as Twitch or YouTube.
You can also find unofficial robots which do a lot more, like allowing you to call real phone numbers, add server stat readouts, or display player career stats for games like Fortnite. Not all of these bots are free to install or use, and there is no guarantee that they will stay up to date with the latest version of Discord. However, some of them are very popular and offer very specific fun or useful extras to help spice up your server.
