There are several techniques that can be used to block Discord completely on different devices. This guide will go over these techniques.

Discord is one of the most popular direct messaging and voice chat platforms in the world. It can be a good place to hang out with friends, but in some cases, it might become necessary to completely block discord. There are several different techniques that allow you to block Discord, either on your smartphone, or for your entire home network.

This guide will discuss the best methods for completely blocking the Discord platform. For a more effective system for blocking Discord and preventing blocking bypass, we recommend combining multiple approaches.

Setting up a DNS Filter on your Router to Block Discord on your Home Network

A DNS Filter is one of the best ways to block content of any type for a device. It can be configured on an individual device or enforced an entire network. Tech Lockdown offers a very simple interface for adding sites and domains to block, in addition to categories of content to restrict.

Adding a website to the Blocklist prevents all configured devices from establishing a connection to the website. This can also work for mobile applications (like Discord's App). 

These are the domains you will want add to your DNS blocklist to block Discord:

discord.com
discordapp.com
discord.gg
discord.app.com
discordapp.net

In addition to blocking Discord specifically, you can also block the entire Social Media Category, in addition to many other categories of content.

Block Discord on a Smartphone

Discord is most commonly accessed on smartphones, so blocking them on a Smartphone is usually the first place to start.

Our following recommendations block content in different ways. This means that you can combine these blocking layers for a more effective approach that is harder to bypass. 

For example, DNS Filtering can block an app by blocking the website addresses that the app or website depends on to function properly. In addition to this approach, parental controls or device management can prevent downloading or opening the application in the first place. 

In the case of parental controls, the user might be able to bypass your desired content restrictions by using a browser to access Discord through the web interface. In this case, a combination approach ensures that your content policy is followed.

Using a DNS Filter application to Block Discord on a Smartphone

One of the most powerful ways to block an app or website is to use a DNS Filtering service. Similar to the previous section about blocking discord by configuring a DNS Filter on your home network, you can configure a DNS Filtering service directly on your smartphones as well.

This allows you to block websites that an application depends on. If the discord app is already downloaded on the device, and you use a DNS Filter to block the discord addresses that we mentioned earlier, the discord app won't function properly.

In many cases, a DNS filtering service will have a Roaming Client or application that you can install on different devices that allow your connection on that device to be filtered.

You can install the same filter you configured on your router directly on your Smartphone by downloading an application.

The advantage of this approach is that you'll be able to use the same filter configured on your home internet connection, but on other internet connections as well. You can maintain your block and allow settings from a single dashboard and automatically update all devices that use the filter.

For example, the Tech Lockdown filter provides applications you can install directly on your devices:

You can modify your DNS Filter blocklist to block the domains Discord depends on to function properly:

discord.com
discordapp.com
discord.gg
discord.app.com
discordapp.net

One of the big concerns is preventing bypass of DNS Filtering on your devices - what good is a content filter if you can simply turn it off? I this case, you may have to consider device supervision or device management  to enforce content blocking and other device restrictions.

Device management is a concept we heavily focus on in our premium guides. We walk you through exactly how to manage devices to prevent bypass of your content policy.

Blocking Discord with Built-in Parental Controls

Another method is to use the built-in parental control features to block the app. Many platforms, such as Android and iPhone, provide ways for you to block an app, and you can use this to your advantage.

On iPhone, the parental control settings are called Screen Time . You can use screen time to limit how long you use apps, block adult websites, and limit the app store. Many of the Screen Time settings are able to be locked with the use of a pin, so bypassing is made a little more difficult. However, this is not nearly as effective as setting up a managed iPhone .

With Android, you can use the Digital Wellbeing setting as the built-in version of parental controls. This requires the use of Family Link, which is designed to allow you to configure a device for a family member. You can use it for yourself in order to control your device.

There are other options that we also recommend for Android, such as a third-party blocking applications that allow you to block apps on android devices.

There are quite a few drawbacks to this approach, but we find this to be a useful additional blocking layer.

Block Discord with Device Management and Device Supervision

Another, much more effective option to block Discord is to block it using either Device Supervision or Device Management. If you can set up this, then it become possible for you to control what kind of apps are allowed on your smartphone (as well as a host of other features).

Both Device Management and Device Supervision allow you to control the settings on your device in a way that cannot be easily bypassed. This means that you can block apps much more effectively than by just using parental controls. 

With a Supervised device, you can control which apps are allowed, enable parental control restrictions, and prevent certain settings from being changed. Device Management unlocks remote management, and it provides even more features related to bypass prevention.

Block Discord on a Computer

While not as common, Discord is still available on a computer, and may need to be blocked. There are different techniques that can be used to prevent this at the device level:

1. DNS Filtering
2. Hosts File
3. Third-party blocking application

Using a DNS Filtering Application to Block Discord

Many DNS Filtering services offer a filtering application that can be used to block Discord. As an example, Tech Lockdown's filter can be installed on both Windows and Mac computers, and you can apply your filter categories to your own devices.

For Discord specifically, you can block the following domains to prevent the Discord app and website from working on your device:

discord.com
discordapp.com
discord.gg
discord.app.com
discordapp.net

Block Discord using the Host File

The Host File is a special file on a computer that can be used to change how a computer interacts with the internet. In the case of Discord, we can prevent a computer from allowing a connection to the site.

Modify your Host File by adding these entries:

0.0.0.0 discord.com
0.0.0.0 discordapp.com
0.0.0.0 discord.gg
0.0.0.0 discord.app.com
0.0.0.0 discordapp.net

These entries will prevent the discord.com main site and its Content Delivery Network .

Block Discord using a Blocking Application

A Blocking Application can be used to block either a website or an application. An example of a simple Blocking Application is Cold Turkey , which allows you to specify certain websites that will be block on a computer. While this is an option for blocking specific websites, it is not a complete solution for blocking explicit content online .

In Cold Turkey, add the following websites to a Block:

discord.com
discordapp.com
discord.gg
discord.app.com
discordapp.net

Make sure to Lock you Block. You can either use a password, time range, or some other method

Block Discord with a Managed Device

If you are able to set up a Managed Mac device, you can block the Discord app and website. This process is more involved, but it is the best option for preventing bypass. Setting up a Managed Mac unlocks remote management, which means that settings for your mac are not able to changed on the device directly. Tech Lockdown members get access to our premium guides which will walk you through the process of setting up a managed Mac device.

To block Discord, you can add the Discord app to your App blocklist:

Closing Thoughts

There are various effective methods available for blocking Discord. By either blocking the platform on your network, or managing your devices, you can ensure that Discord will be effectively blocked.

While these methods are effective at blocking websites manually on each device, the most comprehensive solution a DNS Filtering Service. Tech Lockdown offers a DNS Filtering Solution that can be used to Lockdown an entire home network, and as a result, all devices connected to that network.