Wondering how to reveal those long, obscure IDs for users, servers, and messages in Discord? You‘ve come to the right place.
In this step-by-step guide, I‘ll show you exactly how to enable Developer Mode and find Discord IDs through simple right-click menus. Read on to learn what Discord IDs are, why they matter, and how experienced Discord users access them. Let‘s dive in!
What Are Discord IDs and Why Should You Care?
Discord assigns unique identifiers called IDs to all users, servers, and messages on the platform. These IDs are very long, random-looking strings of 18 numbers, like 238834923847328947.
You may be thinking: these IDs seem hidden for a reason. Why would I want to find and use them as a regular Discord user?
Here are some excellent reasons why accessing Discord IDs can improve your experience:
Reporting Abuse and Rule-Breaking Content
Discord‘s Trust & Safety team often requests message, user, and server IDs when investigating reports of harassment, hate speech, servers violating Discord‘s terms, and other issues.
By providing the right IDs, you help Discord moderators take faster action against rule-breaking individuals and communities.
Managing Permissions on Large Servers
On big Discord servers with tons of channels and roles, permissions management becomes crucial.
Server admins can use user IDs to assign roles and permissions to moderators. Bots can also leverage user IDs to auto-moderate based on permissions.
Developing Bots and Integrations
Discord bot developers often use message and user IDs when programming bot interactions and commands.
IDs provide a concrete way to identify the exact message, user, or channel that triggered the bot.
Analyzing Network Patterns and Usage
Researchers, data analysts, and server owners may extract valuable insights from Discord ID patterns over time.
For example, they could visualize message frequency in different channels or track new user growth – all using IDs in aggregate.
Recovering Lost Servers
If you ever lose access to a beloved Discord server, you can rejoin it by looking up the server ID through Discord discovery pages or bot commands.
Server IDs don‘t change, so you can recover associated communities even if your invite link goes bad.
As Unique References
Discord IDs simply give every entity a reliable unique identifier that will never be reused.
You can reference or look up the same user or message forever using its ID, even if the content or username changes.
Now that you know the range of benefits unlocked by Discord IDs, let‘s get to the good stuff: how to find them.
Enabling Discord Developer Mode
To view, copy, and use Discord IDs yourself, you‘ll need to enable an optional Discord feature called Developer Mode. This unlocks extra information and options in the app.
Here‘s how to turn on Developer Mode:
- Click the gear icon to open User Settings
- Select "Advanced" in the left sidebar
- Toggle "Developer Mode" on
That‘s it! You‘ll now have the ability to access Discord IDs.
Keep in mind that Developer Mode isn‘t meant for everyday Discord users. It exposes low-level info and increases risk of bugs. Treat Developer Mode like accessing advanced system settings on your phone or computer.
My recommendation is to leave it disabled and only enable it temporarily when you actually need to find an ID. Enable it, grab the IDs you need, then disable it again for security.
Finding Discord User IDs
Let‘s get to the good stuff: how to find user IDs!
Once Developer Mode is on, this is a breeze. Simply:
- Right click the user‘s profile picture or name
- Select "Copy ID" from the dropdown menu
The user‘s 18-digit ID is now copied to your clipboard. Paste it somewhere safe like a text file or password manager.
Pro tip: If you want your own user ID, you can conveniently right click your profile in the bottom left.
By default, your ID won‘t change. But you can regenerate it by enabling and disabling Developer Mode.
What If It Doesn‘t Work?
If right clicking doesn‘t show the "Copy ID" option, make sure you‘ve enabled Developer Mode. The steps above should consistently work.
On mobile apps, the process may differ slightly. You may need to tap-and-hold a user‘s profile instead. Mobile Discord lacks some Developer Mode features.
Lastly, some users and bots deliberately hide their IDs which prevents copying. But this is very rare. For most profiles, you can reliably grab the ID.
Now that you know how to find user IDs, let‘s look at equally easy ways to identify servers and messages.
Finding Discord Server IDs
Finding a server‘s unique ID follows the same principle:
- Right click the server name in the left sidebar
- Choose "Copy ID" in the menu
Again, you‘ll copy the 18-digit identifier to your clipboard. Paste it somewhere safe!
Server IDs can help you keep track of and return to favorite communities. They also come in handy when reporting troublesome servers to Discord moderators.
Having server IDs in your back pocket gives you membership longevity and oversight powers.
Finding IDs for Individual Discord Messages
Finding message IDs is just as simple:
- Hover over a message and right click the timestamp or content
- Select "Copy ID" from the dropdown menu
This copies the message‘s unique ID for pasting. Developers often utilize message IDs when programming Discord bots.
You can also report inappropriate messages to Discord more easily by including the message ID.
Overall, accessing any message‘s ID only takes 2 clicks once Developer Mode is enabled. Give it a try!
Storing and Organizing Discord IDs
Now that you‘re a master at finding Discord IDs, you may be wondering: what‘s the best way to store and organize them?
I recommend keeping a running text file with any important IDs you may need again. My text file includes:
- My own user ID
- IDs of servers I manage
- IDs of key contacts on my Friend List
- Any weird messages I wanted to report
For optimal organization, you could also maintain a spreadsheet with Discord IDs, tagging each with their type (user, server, message).
Other safe options are:
- Using a password manager like 1Password to store Discord IDs
- Pasting IDs into an encrypted note app
- Emailing IDs to yourself as a reference
- Adding IDs to a coded database or API for management at scale
The key is picking a process that works for you. As a Discord power user myself, I get a lot of mileage from keeping a manually organized text file.
Conclusion
I hope this guide has demystified how to find Discord‘s unique user, server, and message IDs!
While hidden by default, these IDs unlock helpful opportunities for moderation, development, analytics, and more.
Here‘s a quick recap on how to reveal Discord IDs:
- Enable Developer Mode in your User Settings
- Right click a user, server, or message
- Choose "Copy ID" from the menu
- Paste the 18-digit ID somewhere safe!
With this simple process, you can reference the unique ID of any Discord element – even if the name or content changes.
Developer Mode does slightly reduce security, so only keep it enabled when you actually need IDs. But used intentionally, Discord‘s built-in IDs can take your experience to the next level.
Thanks for reading – now get out there and use Discord IDs to optimize, analyze, develop, and moderate like an expert! Let me know if you have any other questions.
