Short answer: Discord's terms say you must be at least 13 and meet the minimum age required where you live, so an 11- or 12-year-old shouldn't have an account. At 13, connect Family Center together. It shows you who your teen talks to and which servers they're in, not what they say.
Last verified 2026-10-01 against the official sources listed with this post.
Discord's parent hub says teens use it to chat with friends and to join communities built around interests, from gaming to music to learning. Here's what it is, what to do if your preteen already has an account, and what you can actually set once they're 13.
If someone is threatening your child, asking for photos, or asking to meet, stop here and go to our Something happened? page.
Do this tonight
If your kid is 11 or 12:
- Ask, calmly, whether they have an account. Try: "I'm not mad. I just need to know if you have a Discord account, because Discord says you have to be 13."
- If they do, delete it together. Discord says it can't delete an account at the request of anyone other than the account owner, so your kid does this with you (steps below).
If your kid is 13:
- Check their age group together. In the app: User Settings → Account Status.
- Connect Family Center. Your teen opens User Settings → Account → Family Center → My Family and taps Show Code or Copy Link. You scan the QR code or open the link, and your teen accepts.
- Review who can reach them in Family Center: friend requests and server DMs.
- Show them how to block and report (see "If something goes wrong").
What Discord is
Discord's terms describe it this way: people talk mainly in "servers," which are made up of text channels for messages and media and voice channels for voice and streaming video. People can also send one-to-one direct messages (DMs) or talk in group DMs. In a voice channel there's no ringing: you click to join, and other server members can see you're there and drop in. People can share their screen in a voice channel, a DM, or a group DM.
Discord's parent hub says most servers are small and invitation-only, but teens may also join public communities built around shared interests. Server owners and moderators set their own rules on top of Discord's Community Guidelines.
If your 11- or 12-year-old already has an account
Discord says it doesn't allow children under 13 to have an account, and that it may prohibit older kids where local law sets a higher age. Its help center says the minimum is at least 13, but in some countries it may be as old as 16.
Your kid has to delete it themselves. On mobile, Discord's steps are: tap your profile avatar (bottom right) → tap the profile avatar again or the gear icon → Account → Delete Account, enter the password, then tap Okay. A few things to know:
- If they own any servers, they have to transfer or delete them first.
- Deletion takes 15 days. Logging back in and restoring the account during that window cancels it.
- After that it's permanent, and they lose access to their servers, DMs, and purchases.
Talk about what they were using it for. If it was a game's community, the game itself may have chat settings you can manage. Our Xbox and PlayStation post covers console chat by age.
At 13: what Family Center shows and doesn't
Family Center is opt-in for both of you, and you connect from your own Discord account. On mobile: Settings → Family Center → My Family, then scan your teen's code.
What you'll see (last 7 days, plus a weekly email): new friends, people they messaged or called, total call minutes, their top five people and servers, servers they joined or were active in, total purchases, and gifts received. You'll only see activity from after your teen accepts the connection.
What you can set:
- Sensitive content filters: blur or block. Discord doesn't give a "show" option for teens.
- Friend requests: Everyone, friends of friends, or server members.
- Server DMs: whether server members can DM your teen.
- Message requests: you need to be in the adult age group yourself to change this.
- A monthly spending cap: Family Center → Monthly Spending cap → Edit, enter an amount, then Save. It doesn't cover subscriptions like Nitro.
- Downtime: Family Center → Parental Controls → Screen Time Limits → Schedule Downtime, set the hours, then Save Schedule. Your teen is notified, and warned 15 minutes before it starts.
What it doesn't do:
- You won't see their messages, only who they messaged.
- You can't change their friend list or remove them from servers.
- Your teen isn't notified when you change a setting, so tell them.
- Your teen can disconnect at any time.
- You can't link to an account Discord has placed in the adult age group. If that happens, your teen has to confirm their age group first: User Settings → Account Status → Age Group.
Discord's teen protections
On September 22, 2026, Discord said it would start placing users in an age group automatically using account signals, without looking at messages, calls, or other content. For accounts in the teen age group (13–17), Discord's help center lists these protections:
- Flagged images and videos are blurred in DMs from friends, blocked in DMs from strangers, and blurred in servers.
- Age-restricted (18+) servers and channels aren't accessible.
- DMs from people they aren't friends with go to a separate Message Requests inbox. Only adults can turn this off.
- DM spam filtering is set to filter all. Teens can change this.
- They get an alert before accepting a friend request from someone unfamiliar.
- Their full profile and activity are visible only to friends and members of small servers (under 200 members). Teens can change this.
- They can't speak in Stage channels, which can broadcast to large audiences.
Discord says accounts it hasn't placed yet get the same protections, except profile and activity stay visible in all servers. Protections may vary by region.
If something goes wrong
Block: on mobile, open the person's profile from the Friends List or a DM, tap the ellipsis, then Block. Discord says blocking removes them from your teen's friends list, stops their DMs, and hides their messages in shared servers. If they make a new account to keep contacting your teen, report it.
Report a message: on mobile, hold down on the message; on desktop, right-click. Select Report Message, then choose the type of violation. Discord says your identity isn't shared with the account you report. If your teen is connected to you in Family Center, they can choose to let you know they filed a report. You'll get an email, without the details.
Report as a parent: Discord has a form for parents and guardians. You'll need a message link: hold down on the message (or right-click on desktop) and select Copy Message Link.
If someone is in immediate danger, Discord says to contact local law enforcement. In the U.S., Discord also points to Crisis Text Line: text DISCORD to 741741. For threats, sextortion, or requests for images, go to our Something happened? page.
If a scam or a stolen account is the problem, see our posts on gift card and free-currency scams and what to do when a game account is hacked.
Our Discord guide has each Family Center setting as a step, and our free checklist adds Discord to your kid's plan, no login needed.
Guidance, not a guarantee: settings change; check the linked help pages.
Raising Bytes is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Discord or any other company mentioned. App names are trademarks of their owners.