Discord rolls out global age checks that sort most users automatically

Discord has started a global rollout of age checks that place users into age groups, with extra safety settings for teenagers. The rollout began on 22 September and will take several days, the company said in a blog post by chief technology officer Stanislav Vishnevskiy.

TNW is owned by Tekpon. Discord is listed on Tekpon’s marketplace.

Every account is put into one of three groups: adult, teen (13 to 17) or unconfirmed. Discord said more than 90% of users will be sorted automatically and will not need to prove their age.

To do this, the company uses a model that looks at account signals, such as how old the account is, which servers it joins and how active it is. Discord said the model does not read messages, calls or other content.

Users the model cannot place, or who want to confirm they are adults, can use other methods. These include a credit card check, age-range sharing from Apple’s App Store or Google Play, and a Google Wallet ID. Users can also take a video selfie processed on the device, scan an ID, or use a reusable credential called AgeKey.

Discord said its partners return only an age group and delete the data they receive. It also said it no longer uses manual reviews of ID documents, after a 2025 breach at a former support vendor.

For teen accounts, messages from people who are not friends go to a separate requests inbox. Age-restricted servers and channels are blocked, and sensitive images are blurred. Teens’ full profiles are visible only to friends and members of smaller servers.

Adults will see no change, according to the company. Users who have already confirmed their age do not need to do it again.

The age estimation model is not being used in the UK and Australia, where Discord already runs separate systems to meet local rules. It first expanded age checks in Texas and Brazil after those places brought in their own requirements.

Discord first announced global teen-by-default settings in February, with a rollout planned for March. It later delayed the launch to the second half of 2026 to add more ways to verify age.