Discord Is Changing Usernames To Make It Easier To Connect: What It Means

Discord is changing how its usernames and identities work on the platform—starting this month. The company claims that this is being done to make it easier for people to connect—for both new and old users. As a part of the change, users will need to change their usernames, as Discord won’t be using the four-number suffix (also called a discriminator, moving forward. All users will need to pick a new, unique username without a discriminator. The old username will continue to work as an alias—making it easier for old friends to add users.

Discord claims that the current username pattern “can often be too complicated or obscure for people to remember and share easily." And, in a blog post, the company notes that the most common issues faced due to the old username system include difficulty remembering the discriminator, explaining uppercase and lowercase letters, and specifying special characters. Additionally, there can be confusion when multiple users have the same common name, and changing usernames too frequently can result in rate limitations.

Commenting on how usernames will now look, Discord said, “Over the coming weeks, every user will become eligible to change their username from their old username with discriminators (#0000) to a new username (@username) without discriminators. All users will eventually be required to pick a new, unique username to use Discord."

The company added, “By default, your new Display Name will be your old username without the discriminator, so your friends continue to recognize you. So if you used to be ‘PhiBi#8936’, your new default Display Name will be ‘PhiBi’."

To smoothen things out, and keep supporting legacy usernames for identification, Discord said, that your “previous username and discriminator will continue to work as an alias" after the transition process is completed—making it easier for old friends who aren’t aware of your new username—to add you.

Discord will begin rolling out the username update in the following weeks, and users will receive an in-app prompt when the feature is ready for them.

Moreover, the company acknowledges that parting ways from unique usernames like “#0001" may be difficult, but states that it is the “right thing to do."

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