Discord status & privacy
What your friends see on your profile, and how to show less of it — for every VN or just some.
The lines of your status
| Line | Example | Setting that hides it |
|---|---|---|
| Name of the VN | Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~ | Privacy: Private or Off |
| Where you are | Reading・Wonderful Everyday | Show where you are in the story |
| Time read | Total read: 35h 05m | Show total time read |
| How far you are | · 53% (after the time read) | Show how far you are (off by default) |
| Elapsed time | 0:19 | Show elapsed time |
| Button | View on VNDB (others see it, you don't) | Add a “View on VNDB” button |
| Cover | The VN's cover | Privacy: Private or Off, or an NSFW cover |
All these switches are in Settings → Presence, apply to every VN and take effect right away. When no section is found, the line just says “Reading”. Also there: Clear presence when the VN closes (on by default), so your status doesn't say you're still reading after you quit the game.
Show how far you are adds your progress to the time read: your time compared with the average length of the VN on VNDB. It's only shown when VNDB knows that length, and goes away past 100%.
Also there: Language on Discord, to show your status in another language than the app, and Title on Discord, to show the original title from VNDB instead of the romanized one.
Your own status (beta)
Want other lines? In Settings → Presence → Your own layout, turn on Use my layout on Discord and write your status yourself. The preview next to it shows the result with the VN you're reading, or the last one you read.
- Lines: the top line, the second and third lines, and the text shown when hovering the cover.
- Variables: click one to insert it where your cursor is, like
{title},{section},{total},{today},{progress},{rating}or{year}. A part between separators (· | ・ -) disappears when its variables are empty, so there's no dangling “·”. - Small icon on the cover: none, the app's logo or an image link, with its own hover text.
- Timer: since you started, total time read, or off.
- Buttons: up to 2, with a label and a link (
{vndb}works there). Discord doesn't show buttons on your own profile, only to others.
While it's on, the switches for the lines are greyed out. VNs set to Partial, Private or Off still show less, as described below.
Privacy for one game
Some VNs you'd rather keep to yourself. Open the VN's page in the Library (Library page on the Now reading page): Discord privacy has four levels:
| Level | What Discord shows |
|---|---|
| Full | The name, the current section and the cover. (Default.) |
| Partial | The name and cover, but not where you are in the story, and no VNDB button. |
| Private | Only a generic “Visual Novel” — no name, no cover. |
| Off | Nothing is shared on Discord while this game is open. |
The time read is still counted in the app in every level, including Off.
NSFW covers
VNDB flags some covers as NSFW. By default those are blurred in the app and never sent to Discord: your status shows the fallback image instead. If you're fine with them, turn on Allow NSFW-flagged covers in Settings → General → Covers & matching.
Use your own Discord app (optional)
Out of the box, your status uses the app's own Discord application. If you'd rather use your own application, with your own name and fallback image, create one:
- Go to discord.com/developers/applications and click New Application. No bot or OAuth needed.
- Copy its Application ID and paste it in Settings → Advanced → Discord Application ID. Click Test: it should say Connected — this ID works.
- In the Discord developer portal, under Rich Presence → Art Assets, upload an image named
vn_cover. It's shown when a cover can't be displayed on Discord (NSFW covers, Private mode, or no cover found).
The fallback image name can be changed in Settings → Advanced → Fallback Discord asset key. Discord's art assets can take a few minutes to appear after an upload.
How often it updates
The status is sent to Discord at most once every 5 seconds (Min. seconds between presence updates in Advanced). Discord itself may wait a little longer before friends see a change. See Troubleshooting if nothing shows up.