Discord Stats Bot Development: Navigating the Privacy Minefield

The Verdict: Building a Statistics Bot is a high-risk, high-reward meta. While server admins crave data to optimize their communities, Discord’s Developer Policy imposes a strict “Privacy First” architecture. If you cannot guarantee data anonymity and a seamless “Opt-Out” command, your bot will be rejected during verification.

A Stats Bot acts as the “Analytics Dashboard” for a Discord server. It tracks growth, voice activity, and message density. However, because you are harvesting user behavior, you are walking a tightrope between “Helpful Tool” and “Spyware.” This guide decodes the compliance rules you must follow to get verified and stay online.

The Core Directive: Guild Data vs. Member Data

To pass verification, you must understand the distinction Discord makes between the Server and the Individual.

1. Guild Data (The Safe Zone)

This is aggregate, anonymous data. It describes the “Crowd,” not the “Person.”

• Examples: Total member count graphs, messages per hour, voice channel usage rates, popular game charts.
• The Policy:
  • Default Visibility: Must be Private. Only members of that specific guild should see it.
  • Public Access: Server Admins can choose to make this data public (e.g., a web dashboard showing how active the server is), but it must remain anonymous.

2. Member Data (The Danger Zone)

This is specific, Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

• Examples: Leaderboards (Who speaks the most?), User Activity Heatmaps, specific message logs.
• The Policy:
  • Default Visibility: Strictly Private.
  • Global vs. Local: You can publish Global Leaderboards (e.g., “Top XP across all servers”). You cannot publish Server-Specific Leaderboards publicly without strict access controls.
  • Time-Series Data: Charts showing when a specific user is active (e.g., “User A comes online at 8 PM”) are Restricted. Only the Server Owner or Admins with “Manage Server” permissions can view this.

The Compliance Trinity: Mandatory Features

If your bot lacks these three pillars, it will be rejected.

1. The “Right to Vanish” (Opt-Out Protocol)

You cannot hold a user’s data hostage.

• Requirement: Users must be able to delete their data and stop tracking via a Discord Command (e.g., /stats opt-out).
• The Trap: Offering opt-out only via a Website Dashboard is non-compliant. It must be accessible inside the Discord client.

2. Access Control Lists (ACL)

You must gate sensitive data behind permissions.

• Implementation: Ensure your commands check for Permissions.FLAGS.MANAGE_GUILD before displaying sensitive user logs or time-based activity charts.

3. Data Accuracy & Stability

Your bot cannot hallucinate data. If you claim to track voice minutes, your cache system (Redis/SQL) must be accurate. Metrics must be real, not estimates.

Insight Matrix: Data ClassificationShutterstock

FAQ Vortex: Development & Monetization

Q: Can I charge money for my Stats Bot?

A: Yes. Premium subscriptions (SaaS) are allowed and encouraged via Discord’s Premium Apps system. However, you cannot “paywall” the ability for a user to opt-out of tracking. Privacy rights are free; analytics features are paid.

Q: Why was my bot verification rejected?

A: The most common reasons are:

1. Incomplete Opt-Out: You didn’t provide a chat command to delete data.
2. Unrestricted Access: You allowed random users to see invasive time-series data of other users.
3. Instability: The bot crashed during the review process.

Q: Can I show which game a user is playing?

A: Yes, as part of an aggregate list (e.g., “5 people are playing Valorant”). If you list specific users, it falls under Member Data rules.

Zenith CTA

Compliance is not a suggestion; it is the bedrock of your bot’s longevity. Audit your permissions, build your opt-out commands, and secure your verification. Build with privacy in mind, or don’t build at all.