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Secure Your Discord: Protect Your Server from Phishing Attacks
Secure Your Discord: Protect Your Server from Phishing Attacks

An easy-to-follow guide to safeguarding your server and community from exploited vanity links.

Updated over 3 months ago

What is a Discord vanity link?

A Discord vanity link is a custom, short URL that serves as a personalized invite link for a Discord server. Instead of the default randomly generated string of characters, a server with a vanity link can have a more memorable and branded URL. Vanity links are typically available to servers that have reached a certain level of community engagement or have Discord's "Server Boost" feature enabled to level up the server.

For example, instead of a generic invite link like ‘zxcvbnm’, a vanity link could be something like ‘yourservername


What causes vanity links to expire?

Discord vanity links do not expire as long as the server maintains the necessary requirements, such as the Server Boost Level 3 status. However, there are a few scenarios where a vanity link could effectively become inactive or change:

- Losing boosts: If a server loses its Level 3 boost status because members cancel their boosts, the server will lose the ability to use its vanity URL. In this case, the vanity link would stop working, and the server would revert to using the standard invite links.

- Changing the vanity URL: Server administrators can change the vanity URL at any time if they wish to update it. When a new vanity URL is set, the old URL will no longer work, and anyone using the old link will not be able to join the server.

- Community server violations: If the server violates Discord’s community guidelines and gets penalized or deleted by Discord, the vanity link will no longer work as the server will be disabled or removed.

It's important for server administrators to monitor their boost levels and ensure they remain compliant with Discord's community guidelines to maintain their vanity URL.

If your vanity link does expire:

When a vanity link expires due to loss of Server Boost Level 3 status or any other reason, the URL becomes available for anyone else to claim. If a hacker or malicious user manages to take the old vanity URL, several issues can arise:

- Misleading invites: Users who previously had the old vanity URL saved or shared may end up joining the hacker’s server instead of the intended one. This can lead to confusion, especially if the hacker’s server mimics the original one.

- Phishing and scams: A malicious actor could use the vanity URL to create a server designed to phish for personal information or scam users by pretending to be the original server.



Can you submit vanity links to your collection in Creator Hub?

No, you cannot submit vanity URLs on Creator Hub. This policy is in place to prevent potential exploitation of future links and to ensure that Discord links are not left on the collection page.



I already have a permanent vanity link, how do I create a permanent non-vanity?

If you have already created a permanent vanity link and are using a desktop, you might find it challenging to create a permanent non-vanity link with no option applicable. However, there is an alternative solution available.

You will need to create the permanent non-vanity link via the mobile route.

- Open the Discord app on your mobile device.

- Go to your server and hold down on any channel, then click "Invite".

- Select the option "Edit Invite Link".

- Set the link to expire "Never" and the maximum uses to "Infinity", then hit "Save".

- To get the URL, click "Copy Link" at the top.

We hope this article helps protect your server and community from potential URL exploits, ensuring a safer environment for everyone.

For any questions, feel free to reach out to our support team by clicking on the chat widget on our website.

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