The Discord privacy settings UK parents should switch on first: Family Centre, message scanning, friend requests, DMs, server permissions and 2FA.
Discord is built around servers and DMs, so the privacy work is mostly about who can contact your child and what messages get scanned. Linking Family Centre and switching on "keep me safe" message scanning are the biggest wins.
Use the steps below in order. They take about five minutes.
User Settings → Family Centre → Invite parent. Tip: Shows who they added as a friend in the last week, which servers they joined and who they DM (not contents).
User Settings → Privacy & Safety → Safe Direct Messaging → Keep me safe. Tip: Scans all DMs (including from friends) for explicit content and blurs or removes them.
User Settings → Friends Privacy → Server members and Friends of Friends → Off. Tip: Leave Everyone off too if there is no need for it.
User Settings → Privacy & Safety → Allow direct messages from server members → Off (default for new servers).
User Settings → Privacy & Safety → Explicit media filter → Filter direct messages from everyone.
User Settings → Activity Privacy → Off.
User Settings → My Account → Enable Two-Factor Authentication → Authenticator app.
Open each server → if your child cannot say what it is for or who runs it, leave it. Tip: Many grooming cases start in large gaming or fandom servers.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.