Joining a popular internet community without using Discord is pretty hard these days. Maybe it would not be a problem if Discord was OK, but unfortunately, it is not in fact “OK”.

If you’re a Linux user, you use VPN or Tor (God forbid!), or your own email server (or obscure one), then there is a pretty high chance of you getting flagged by Discord and forced to provide a phone number.

And I am not kidding when I say “forced”. No amount of customer support will get your account reactivated. They force you to provide any valid phone number. Hell, they even tell you, go use your mom’s phone number if you can’t use your own. What kind of anti-spam system is that? That’s ridiculous!

And for anyone who cares about their privacy, providing Discord (one of the worst companies in terms of privacy) with your phone number is like chomping your own finger off. It’s unacceptable.

Anyway, here’s how you can avoid getting flagged, using information provided from anecdotal sources:

  • Do not use a VPN
  • Do not use Tor
  • Do not do weird spoofing of browser data
  • Do not use public Wi-Fi
  • Do not use a flagged IP (Good luck! wink)
  • Do not join a bunch of servers in very little time
  • Do not friend request a bunch of people in very little time
  • Do not send messages to a lot of people in very little time
  • Do not change your account info in very little time
  • Do not use a weird email domain, use popular ones like Gmail. Proton Mail usually works, but might increase your chances of getting flagged

As you can see, their anti-spam system is pretty weird and mysterious. But if you really want to avoid getting your account trashed, you have to follow these steps, as horrible as they are to follow.