Discord May Soon Require You To Pick a New Username

Discord is implementing a new system for their usernames by removing the 4-digit discriminator numbers which is likely to lead to many people being forced to change their usernames.

Discord Updating Username System

Every Discord username has featured a #0000 discriminator number at the end of it to allow for people to share the same username as someone else with the 4-digit discriminator number being what separates you from the other person. This method meant that if you wanted to add friends on Discord you would also need their discriminator number as well as take into account case sensitivity to find the right account. Discord has decided that this method is flawed and is introducing a new username system which removes these discriminator numbers and instead will require you to have a unique @ username which users will use to add you as a friend and a display name which is how people will see you across discord.

What Does This Mean?

This will mean that you will in the coming weeks be forced to change your username and hope that you can get the one you want and if not you will have to use your preferred username as a display name. Users will be notified when they are eligible and Discord is prioritising those with older Discord accounts.

Restrictions for new usernames:

• Usernames must be at least 2 characters and at most 32 characters long
• Usernames are case insensitive and forced lowercase
• Usernames cannot use any other special characters besides underscore ( _ ) and period ( . )
• Usernames cannot use 2 consecutive period characters ( . ) 
  • (.a.b. is allowed, a..b. is not allowed)
• Usernames are unique to each user and no two users can share the same username
• Usernames (and Display Names) must adhere to our Community Guidelines. Some examples of Usernames that are not permitted include:
  • Usernames used to impersonate Discord, Discord staff, or Discord system messages 
  • Usernames used to impersonate an individual, group, or organization
  • Usernames that attack other people or promote hate
  • Usernames that contain sexually explicit language

Restrictions for display names:

• Display names must be at least 1 character and at most 32 characters long
• Display names must adhere to our Community Guidelines. Some examples of display names that are not permitted include:
  • Names used to impersonate Discord, Discord staff, or Discord system messages 
  • Names used to impersonate an individual, group, or organization
  • Names that attack other people or promote hatred or violence against them based on their protected characteristics
  • Names that contain sexually explicit language

Where Can I Learn More?

This change will make Discord similar to Steam, which has a similar display name and username system which works fine and I see this change as a good thing making adding friends a bit easier. You can read the full Discord blog post here.