Discord Enables DAVE Encryption by Default for Voice and Video Calls

Discord’s voice and video service spans desktop and mobile devices, web browsers and gaming consoles, making low-latency encryption across mixed-device calls a significant engineering challenge. The company introduced DAVE, its open-source and independently audited audio and video end-to-end encryption protocol, in September 2024. DAVE keeps media encryption keys with call participants, preventing Discord or network intermediaries from accessing the underlying audio and video content.

Discord said on May 19, 2026, that it had completed the DAVE migration in early March. End-to-end encryption is now enabled by default for voice and video in direct messages, group DMs, voice channels and Go Live streams across desktop, mobile, browsers, PlayStation and Xbox. Clients without DAVE support have been barred from joining covered calls since March 2. Stage channels remain excluded because of their broadcast-oriented design, while Discord text messages are also outside the rollout.