Discord has opened up a whole new world to you. You have met people who share your interests and there is nothing better to do on a weeknight than logging on and having a heated discussion with people who share your views on – for example – Fortnite.
But lo and behold, it’s eight fifteen and you’re trying to access your favorite Fortnite Discord server to continue your argument with Dave from last night, when you are met with a disturbing notice that Discord has banned you!
Discord banning users from various servers is not an uncommon occurrence and there might be many reasons why, however, what is your next move when this happens to you? Is it possible to reverse the ban?
Well, lucky for you the good news is yes. Getting unbanned from your favorite Discord sever is fairly easy if you use the correct VPN (Virtual Private Network).
Using a VPN to Unblock Discord
It doesn’t matter whether Discord has banned you from either a single server or the whole system, regaining access is as easy as getting yourself a new IP address and setting up a new username.
The easiest way to get yourself a new IP address is by using a VPN.
There is a multitude of VPN providers available out there, but the really good ones are few and far between and for this reason, we highly recommend ExpressVPN. The reason they stand head and shoulders above the rest is because it allows you a foolproof way to change your IP address and in so doing get unbanned from Discord.
On top of all this, ExpressVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so what have you got to lose?
The Deal with Discord
Discord is a freeware VoIP application and digital distribution platform designed for creating communities. Their main focus is the online gaming community and in May of 2019 they had 250 million registered users sending 315 million messages every day.
It offers a chat service similar to programs such as Skype or TeamSpeak, but the founder of Discord, Jason Criton, felt that an alternative to these was necessary due to their resource-intensive nature and glaring security flaws.
Discord users can connect via text, voice or video calls, as well as send each other image files. The app is available on Windows, Android, macOS, iOS and Linux, as well as the various browsers.
Discord’s main target market is video gamers and the most favored servers are those that are verified, meaning hosted by the developers of the best-known games. The seven most popular servers on the Discord platform are dedicated to these games namely Fortnite, Minecraft, Clash Royale, PUBG Mobile, ZombsRoyale, SpellBreak, and Rainbow 6 Siege.
Once registered and confirmed on Discord, users can create their own chat rooms, called servers, and invite their friends or search for friends to join their server. This offers users the ability to chat with like-minded people about the things they like and are passionate about.
The Reason for Discord Bans
Discord server administrators or Discord themselves can ban any user at any time for a number of reasons.
It might seem that Discord is banning users for “no reason” but what is important to note here is that Sometimes Discord will shut down an entire server for illegal activity and give all the users on it a global ban, meaning they can’t access any server on the Discord system at all.
In a transparency report, Discord reported that they banned 5.2 million accounts between April and December of 2019. The most cited reasons for banning accounts were spam and exploitative content, which includes sexual content of minors and non-consensual pornography (“revenge porn”).
Other common reasons for banning users include:
- Organizing, participating or supporting raids on servers
- Incessantly bombarding a single user with unwelcome requests or DMs
- Requesting account information from other users
- Pornography in any form
- Improper classification of NSFW servers
- Encouraging self-mutilation or suicide
- Posting of malicious offsite links
- Impersonating another user
- Swearing or foul language
- Any racist comment or action
- Posting or promotion of terrorist symbols ie. Swastikas, ISIS etc.
The above might seem drastic and not apply to you in any way, and users can be banned from a certain Discord server for nothing more than annoying an admin a little too much with your wayward views on gaming.
There is also a Ban Guide that reflects the rules of the R2D:A (Reason to Die: Awakening) server. This allows anyone to read the rules on what constitutes rule-breaking and bans for this server.
All the rules may not be included, but it is a useful resource for determining the level of the block, the duration of the block time and what the protocol is for repeat offenders. Although specific to R2D:A, this Ban Guide can give insight as to what might constitute a reason for a ban for other servers as well.
For the whole of Discord, there are published guidelines which clarifies the major rules and regulations of the service.
However, although you might not be the offending user, once unbanned through the use of a VPN, it is always good to play by the rules and encourage others to do the same, as neither Discord nor their server admins need to provide any reason or recourse to anyone that finds themselves banned. Bans tend to be permanent and irreversible unless you go through a proper VPN.
How to get unbanned from Discord
You can get banned from Discord in one of two ways.
The first way you might find yourself banned is called a server ban. This means the admin of a server has banned you and you will no longer be able to access that chat, although you will still have access to all the other Discord servers.
The second ban is system-wide and enforced by the head-honchos of Discord itself. This means that you have managed to make someone high up very angry indeed and you won’t have access to any of the millions of servers on Discord – annoying, right?
So, how do they do it?
Discord can track their users via their usernames and IP addresses.
Your IP address is what is used to identify you online. Any network can utilize this to determine where information is coming from and where it is sent.
This means that just changing your username won’t lift the ban, because your IP address will still give you away so the server will once again block you.
The only truly tried and tested way to get unbanned from Discord is by using something you may already be familiar with – a VPN. VPNs are among the best tools for unblocking, circumventing or accessing anything you want online, and that includes Discord.
The way in which a VPN assists in circumventing the Discord block, is by assigning the offending user a temporary new IP address once they connect to the VPN. To Discord, it then looks like the user is logging on from a completely different location or perhaps even another part of the world.
Because of the new IP address, Discord will then allow you to create a new username and voila! You will once again have access to the server or system, depending on what type of block was enforced.
It is helpful to note that creating a completely different username will count in your favor here. It doesn’t matter how attached you were to your previous username of Ultimate_Fortnite_Lord, changing it to Ultimate_Fortnite_Lord_1 could give the human administration of Discord a reason to be suspicious of your activity.
Using a VPN to unblock Discord on macOS
If Discord has blocked you on macOS, get unbanned by following these instructions:
- Close Discord if you’re still running the app on your desktop.
- Go to your Library folder and delete: ~/Library/Application Support/Discord
- Locate Discord in your Applications folder, move it to Trash and then empty Trash.
- Restart your computer and reinstall Discord.
- Run the VPN app to connect to one of its servers.
- Make sure that the VPN app provides you with a new IP address.
- Open Discord and create a new account using a different email address.
- Login with your new account.
- You will now be able to access the server you were blocked from once again.
Using a VPN to unblock Discord on Windows
Follow the below steps to unblock Discord if using Windows:
- Close Discord if you’re still running it on your desktop.
- Access your C:\ Drive and open the folder titled with your username.
- Locate the folder “%appdata%” (If you cannot find it, it might be hidden and you’ll need to enable hidden items by opening the tab titled “View” and clicking on “Hidden Items”)
- Inside the AppData folder, open the folder titled “Local”
- Locate and delete the folder for Discord
- Run the VPN app to connect to one of its servers.
- Make sure that the VPN app provides you with a new IP address.
- Open Discord and create a new account using a different email address.
- Login with your new account.
- You will now be able to access the server you were blocked from once again.
When to use a VPN for Discord
As a new user, you can access Discord without a VPN easy enough, however, once you’ve been banned whether through your own or someone else’s actions, a VPN becomes non-optional.
Discord will keep a record of your old banned IP address, which means that in order to avoid being re-flagged and re-banned after going through all the trouble of creating a new account, it is best to utilize a VPN.
You won’t always have to use the same VPN server or same IP address, but you should not show your old once-banned IP address ever again when using Discord. It is here that a VPN is absolutely essential.
About VPNs and How they Work
A VPN does not only offer a new IP address for those that have annoyed Discord. It also offers a range of other benefits and services. This makes it useful for anyone wanting to protect themselves in the online world.
Nowadays there are so many people who would like nothing more than snooping around your browser history or accessing information that you share online. These bad guys of the internet not only include hackers but also the government and even your own ISP!
A VPN is the best way to protect yourself when using the internet and it does this by encrypting any and all information that you choose to share. This makes it impossible for anyone to track you or view what you’re doing on the internet.
A VPN is not only useful for Discord, but can also secure your other favorite messaging tools like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype and Snapchat. It can also help you circumvent their blocks if you’re afflicted with those too.
Those who frequent public WiFi hotspots in coffee shops or similar also prefer using VPNs because these are some of the most common locations hackers use to access your information.
As an added bonus, using a VPN will also allow you access to geo-blocked content from streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and gaming servers which means that you will be able to enjoy content from other countries that you normally would not be able to access.
The Best VPN for Getting Unbanned from Discord: ExpressVPN
Any VPN will do the job of unbanning those that have offended the Discord admins, but if you’re already going the VPN route, you should consider ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN offers the best online protection, is safe and reliable and has some of the fastest connection speeds available. Their stellar customer support on a variety of platforms sets them apart from the rest, and on top of that they also boast top-tier coverage worldwide thanks to the thousands of servers they have scattered across the globe.
What sets ExpressVPN apart from the rest
Worldwide Coverage
Any VPN will be able to unblock Discord, but having optimal coverage is beneficial when using your VPN for other things like circumventing geo-blocked streaming services.
ExpressVPN has 3000+ serves in 94 countries which means that their service makes it easy to access content from other countries that would ordinarily not be available for your viewing pleasure.
Lightning-Fast Connection
Because Discord offers both audio and video, it means that it needs a reasonably fast connection to function optimally. This means that users with the fastest connection speeds will have a better experience.
Lightning-fast connections are also useful for streaming video content or playing online games, and it really helps when you’re trying to organize your team on Discord, while running the actual game on your secondary screen.
ExpressVPN’s connection speeds rival other VPNs and allows their multitasking users to catch up on Stranger Things on one monitor, whilst playing an online game on the other, all while arguing with Dave on Discord regarding the best battle tactics for Fortnite.
Support on any Platform
You can access Discord on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android and Linux as well as via various web browsers. This is why choosing a VPN that offers support on multiple platforms is so important for Discord users.
ExpressVPN offers multi-platform support that includes all the abovementioned platforms as well as having Chrome and Firefox extensions.
For gamers, ExpressVPN also offers support for PS3 and 4 and Xbox 360 and One. With their MediaStreamer DNS service, ExpressVPN also covers Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV for those who like to stream content.
You can have maximum three connections running at the same time on one username, but if using more than that, all you’ll need to do is to set up another router and in so doing protect all your devices.
If you don’t know how to do this yourself, there are ready-made routers available from FlashRouters.com, specifically made to integrate with ExpressVPN.
Bang for your Buck
ExpressVPN comes in at a slightly higher price than other providers, but they have put time and effort into making sure that you get what you pay for through their optimal offerings of accessing geo-blocked content, unparalleled privacy and anonymity, unblocking features and global coverage.
They also offer incredible 24/7 customer support through live chat, email support and an incredibly detailed help center that will assist you with any connection or other VPN-related problem you might have.
Dealing with the Discord Ban
You might find yourself blocked by Discord for any number of reasons but it’s easy enough to unblock yourself simply by using a VPN.
ExpressVPN offers anonymity to the highest degree by encrypting your connection and providing you with a new IP address so that you can happily continue your favorite pastime of dabbling in discussions on Discord.
