| Can the host read the messages |
No. Bodies are locked on the sender's device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 under a channel key the server never receives, and it passes on a bundle it cannot open. How the crypto works |
Yes. Discord's privacy policy says it collects and stores the messages people send, and text messages are not encrypted end to end.
Discord Privacy Policy |
| Can the host listen to the voice |
No. Frames arrive locked, with a 16 byte tag, and the channel key is not on the server, so there is nothing there to decode. |
Not since 1 March 2026, for calls. Discord's own documentation says voice and video in voice channels, DMs, group DMs and Go Live use the DAVE end to end encryption protocol. It says that is the only supported mode from that date.
Discord's media still passes through their selective forwarding unit, which sees the transport layer and the details around it, including who is speaking. Discord: DAVE protocol |
| Monthly cost per server |
The cost of the machine, and nothing else. No licence fee, no seat count, no per user price. |
Free for the standard service. Higher bitrate caps are unlocked with server boosts: 128 kbit/s at 2 boosts, 256 at 7, 384 at 14.
Discord Audio Bitrate FAQ |
| Account or email required |
No. A client makes its own keys and joins with a password the host gives it. No email, no recovery address, nothing to hand over. |
Yes. Discord's terms require an account with a way of contacting the person, such as an email address or a phone number.
Discord Terms of Service |
| Can it be run by someone who is not an expert |
Yes. One file, a setup wizard, and one port to open (8444) for voice and video. The web part goes through any tunnel or forwarding that is already in place. How hosting works |
No. Discord's own FAQ describes a private voice hosting system that Discord runs.
Discord Voice Regions FAQ |
| Voice the server cannot listen to |
Yes. Voice frames are locked before they leave the sender and the server passes them on unchanged. A desktop client uses the direct path; a browser client carries the same frames inside the chat connection. |
Yes, for calls: the DAVE protocol, mandatory since 1 March 2026 by Discord's own statement. Not for text. |
| Works on a local network with no internet |
Yes. Server and clients on one network, no outside service in the path, no account to check in with. |
No. Voice needs a Discord voice region and their gateway. |
| Open source |
No. The binaries are free to run and to host, including commercially, but the source is not published and no licence to modify or redistribute it is granted.
/docs/index.html |
No. The client and the service are proprietary. Discord publishes the libdave encryption library. The service that uses it is not published. |