Are you a member of a Discord server, and are wondering if the moderators can see your DMs?
What about server owners, or Discord staff?
Direct messages are supposed to be private, so these concerns are completely normal. In this article, we’ll cover everything that you need to know!
Can Discord Server Mods See Direct Messages?
Discord moderators have a lot of capabilities that regular server members don’t have. But can they see DMs that you’ve sent or received?
Thankfully, the answer is no. Even if you’re messaging someone else that is part of the same server, the moderators have no way to view the messages that have been shared.
The only way they could ever find out was if the other person chose to send a screenshot, or copy and pasted the messages to them.
Remember however that moderators may have a higher degree of control of what they can view within the server they are moderating. This means that they maybe able to hop into private channels that are normally reserved for certain people, or different roles.
Additionally, people have been known to report rule-breaking behavior to moderators even if it occurs in DMs.
That being said, unless somebody specifically sends the messages to them, they have no way of viewing them on their own.
Can Server Owners See DMs?
No. Just like server moderators, server owners are not able to see the private direct messages that server members send to each other.
That being said, server owners have all server-related permissions by default. This means that they can look into and join any channel within the server, even if it appears to be locked to a specific role.
As far as direct messages go however, there is absolutely no way for them to view messages sent privately between two people – or even messages shared in other servers they are not a part of.
So, you don’t need to worry!
What About Discord Staff? Can Discord Staff See Private DMs?
Yes. Unlike Discord server moderators or even the owners of the Discord servers that you’re in, staff that actually work for Discord itself can see your message.
While it’s unknown exactly who within the company has access to DMs, we do know that certain staff members are able to access them completely.
This is true even if:
- You are not connected to the staff member in any way (such as being one of their friends.)
- They are not part of any server that you’re a member of.
- Your messages have been deleted.
- You have requested that your Discord account be deleted, and the 14 days have not passed. (See: Does Deleting Discord Delete Messages?)
Discord has become an incredibly large platform with hundreds of millions of users. Unfortunately, not all of them use the platform responsibly.
Discord retains messages and must have access to them to keep the platform safe, as well as to prevent people from using Discord to break real-world laws.
That being said, Discord really doesn’t care what you talk about as long as you aren’t breaking their rules. There are not people in an office randomly going through your conversations for fun. So, as long as you aren’t reported (or are going against Discord’s rules), you really have nothing to worry about.
Personally, I believe privacy is a fundamental right that is slowly being eroded away. If you’re looking for a messaging app that is fully-encrypted (and thus impossible for anyone to peek into), we recommend these suggestions from PrivacyTools.io.
Conclusion
Being the moderator of a Discord server – or even the server owner, does not give you any additional abilities outside of your server.
While you may able to view all posts made within your server (even inside of private channels), Discord moderators and server owners cannot see the private direct messages sent between two people. This is true even if both people are members of the server.
That being said, Discord staff may be able to view what you’ve shared, even if you’ve since deleted the messages.
I hope that you’ve found this article helpful. If you have any other questions about Discord, please ask them using the comment form below.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister