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Join Matrix!
Menu
 1. The Guide
 2. Public Homeservers

 * The "Join Matrix!" Guide
 * More Features of Matrix
 * Popular rooms/spaces
 * Comparison to other platforms
 * Matrix vs. Discord
 * Matrix vs. Guilded
 * Matrix vs. Telegram
 * Fix decryption error
 * Questions & Answers


MATRIX VS. DISCORD

Thank you for considering Matrix.

Matrix has been a popular alternative to Discord, but many people still don’t
get the why. We will start with why you should move from Discord to Matrix,
followed by comparisons of specific feature and some helpful tips. But before we
do that, let’s start with…


A DISCUSSION ON THE PROPER DEFINITION OF “SERVER”

Recall the computing definition of the word “server”:

>  1. A program that provides services to other programs or devices, either in
>     the same computer or over a computer network.
> 
>  2. A computer dedicated to running such programs.

The definitions can hold true for a server for a multiplayer game (eg.
Minecraft), a server reserved for a group of people for communication (eg.
Mumble & TeamSpeak), and a server where Discord bots are being operated from. In
each case, the server software (such as the Minecraft server jar file) meets
definition #1, whereas the server infrastructure (eg. VPS) meets definition #2.

But that’s not the case for a Discord “server”: it’s just some data, together
with data of other “servers,” resting on Google’s computational servers running
the Discord server software. A Discord “server” is not a program on its own, nor
has any computational infrastructure been dedicated to any specific “server,”1
thus violating both definitions. Presumably to attract gamers who often utilizes
the correct “server” concept, Discord attempts to equate it to a chat group,
muddying the waters for the definition of this technical term. (Hence Discord
refers to “servers” as guilds in API documentations.)


WHAT ABOUT MATRIX?

In Matrix, a homeserver is a server, in that it meets both definitions:
Dedicated infrastructures (definition #2) running a server software (definition
#1). Furthermore, these homeservers, while operated independently of each other
and not under the control of a single entity, communicate (transmitting messages
and such) with each other using an agreed-upon protocol, thereby keeping the
Matrix platform alive. Platforms that use such structure, such as Matrix,
fediverse and email, are called federated platforms.


WHY NOT DISCORD?

I’m sure you can find a lot of valid criticisms of Discord, like here or here.
Give them a read if you have time.

In the scope of this guide, the key reasons to move from Discord to Matrix are:

 * Lack of privacy for private communications, as private conversations are not
   only unencrypted, but also actively scanned (scope of which depends on your
   settings, but some happen even when you disable all the filtering-related
   toggles). People reported their messages were substituted with cooking
   recipes when they tried to send something that is considered a virus by
   Discord.
 * Excessive tracking, such as the science endpoint and the process logger (for
   activity status)2.
 * Hostile stance against unofficial clients or client modifications, thus
   preventing users from opting out of certain annoyances or tracking in a
   compliant way (even though users tend not to get banned for doing so).
 * Arbitrary phone number requirements. Some users that are deemed suspicious
   and users that join certain “servers” are required to verify their phone
   number.
 * Discord has made decisions against the users’ best interests, with the most
   recent ones being:
   * Biased consultations and unilateral proposal of cryptocurrency integrations
     (which was only dropped after massive backlash); and
   * Deprecating access to read text messages in “servers” with certain
     exceptions3, effectively equating to mandatory rollout of application
     commands based interaction flow, as well as KYC requirements, for running
     bots in more than 100 “servers” (which were not dropped despite backlash).
 * Closed source, thus cannot be independently inspected.
 * Lack of control for private data and no guarantee on reliability, as Discord
   is centralized, not federated. See here.
 * Paywalling richer expression abilities.4 A user with Nitro unlocks certain
   additional features, mainly related to what can be included in a message, and
   twice as more guild cap, and twice as long message length limit.
 * Not intended for serious use. A developer experience staff at Discord
   explicitly said, “We are just a casual chatting app.” Marketing campaigns of
   Discord, such as inclusion of gaming related figures, and use of funny memes,
   seem to agree with that stance.
 * Uses AI.com products to police the platform.

Matrix addresses all of the above.


SPECIAL NOTE

Matrix uses free software for its server and client softwares.

 * Those who are using or are planning to use Discord’s “Student Hub” feature
   should urge your institution’s IT department or your student union to set up
   a Matrix homeserver, which allows greater flexibility for communication,
   while ensuring your privacy and agency are respected. Germans are already
   using it.
 * Open source communities should be aware that using Discord is antithetical
   and discriminatory.


TERMINOLOGIES


CHANNEL & DMS VS. ROOM

In Discord, a place that allows sending text messages is called a channel (if
belongs to a “server”) or a DM.

In Matrix, a place that allows sending text messages is called a room.


“SERVER” VS. SPACE

In Discord, text channels that are not DMs (including group DMs) must be
associated with a “server.” Thus a “server” can be understood as a collection of
channels that share certain settings.

In Matrix, rooms can be included in a Space. A Space can be used in similar
fashion to a Discord “server” (controlled by the admins of the constituent
rooms) or a “server” folder (controlled by anyone). A Space may also include
another Space. Rooms do not share settings with Spaces, although rooms can
require Space membership for joining.


FEATURE COMPARISON

Note that Matrix does not (and cannot, due to its decentralized nature) paywall
features.

Feature Discord Matrix Registration Requires email. Discord may demand your
phone number if it detects “suspicious activity.” Depending on homeserver
(especially if you’re running your own), email may be optional, and phone number
is usually optional. There is no automatically enforced human check after
registration. Price Free, with certain features paywalled. Free for most
homeservers (but please consider donating to them). Hosting a private homeserver
may also incur cost (could be free). Note that paying (not donation) only
affects where your data is hosted and (to a much lesser degree) server
performance; it has no effect on features. Username Users are identified by
Twitter-like unique usernames (bots by display name (maximum 32 characters) +
discriminator (4 randomly-assigned digits)) to fellow users, and user IDs
(Around 19 digits) for programming purposes. Users are allowed to pick an
additional Steam-like non-unique, Discord-wide displayname. Users are identified
by their email-like ID called MXID (eg. @alice:example.com), composed of a
username (must be ASCII characters, upper case letters are not allowed) and the
server name (not exceeding 255 characters when combined, including the
introducing at symbol and the colon separating the parts). A display name can be
optionally added (up to ~65200 bytes)5. Avatar Static, maximum 8 MB. Cannot be
zoomed unless using a bot or manually entering the URL to higher definition
images, in which case the returned avatar has a maximum definition of 1024x1024.
See “Attachments” for limits. Can be zoomed (at least in Element/SchildiChat),
in which case the avatar will be shown in the uploaded definition. Animated
avatars are supported. Profile description and background Supported. Not
supported currently, will be supported using profile rooms. Ability to read
messages while offline Official web and desktop clients artificially block
viewing anything at all when it loses the real-time connection. No such
limitation in official mobile clients. Messages in client cache can be read
without restriction. Profile status Supported. Not supported. Nicknames6
Supported. Maximum 32 characters. Supported (/myroomnick). Up to ~65200 bytes.
Specific avatars6 Requires Nitro. Supported (/myroomavatar). See “Attachments”
for limits. 2FA Email, WebAuthn or SMS/TOTP. Not required for login, but
required (QR code, emoji verification, or Security Key) for viewing past
encrypted messages. Text messages Maximum 2000 characters. Supports Markdown
(with some modifications). Up to ~65200 bytes (up to ~21270 bytes if a formatted
message with plain text fallback sent).5 Supports Markdown and HTML. Attachments
Maximum 50 MB (maximum 500 MB for users with Nitro tier 2, and also for all
users in a “server” with boost tier 3). Discord Inc. has implemented hotlinking
protection using expiring signatures. Size limit depending on the server.
Maximum 50~100 MB (for most homeservers; customizable if you run your own
homeserver. However, users from the servers with smaller attachment limits will
not be able to receive large attachments, as each homeserver receives a copy of
the attachment). Attachments sent to end-to-end encrypted rooms are also sent
encrypted (unless forwarded from an unencrypted room, in which case only the
identifier will be encrypted). Other than that, no hotlinking protection. Custom
emotes in messages Free users can only use static emotes defined within the
“server”. Using emojis from outside the “server” and using animated emojis are
limited to Nitro users only. It is possible to insert user-defined static emotes
in messages, see here. No support for animated emotes. Reactions Only emotes
(Unicode or custom ones). Use of custom emotes subject to the same limit above.
Unicode emotes and text. Support for custom emotes reactions are inconsistent
across clients, but this may change in the future. Stickers Only stickers
defined within the “server”. Unlimited with setup. See here. Public read
receipts Not supported. Supported. Notifications and notification settings
Mostly sender-controlled except for a small receiver-control of blocking the
sender, server-side. In plaintext events, receiver-controlled, server-side,
including pattern matching. In end to end encrypted events, receiver-controlled,
client-side in the receiving device. Note that for Android users, Matrix
supports UnifiedPush. Some amount of sender control planned. Direct messages Not
encrypted. Encrypted by default, including VoIP. Starting a DM Depending on
privacy settings, initiating a DM requires the two users to have established
“friendship” or have certain mutual “servers.” Users are given the choice to
accept, remove, or report a DM (since late 2021). Initiating a DM solely
requires the recipient to accept the request7. Users can leave DMs anytime they
wish. Group chats A group chat channel is associated with a “server.” You can
only join 100 “servers,” 200 with Nitro. Additionally, there are group chats not
associated with servers, called group DMs, with far more limited features than
servers can. A room is standalone, but can be optionally included and associated
with a Space, which is just a room linking to other rooms. You can join
unlimited amount of rooms (in theory). VoIP in groups Supported. End to end
encrypted VoIP support using MLS implemented, albeit with a huge security issue:
the session is silently downgraded if there is a non-E2EE-capable client.
Supported. The room plays the role of signalling, audiovisual data is sadly
routed through a separate WebRTC channel. End to end encryption supported.
Organizing chats “Servers” can be organized into folders, but each “server” can
only belong to 1 folder. Channels in a “server” can only be organized by the
“server” owner and moderators with “manage channels” permission, in a many to
one fashion, and cannot be moved to another “server” once created. Rooms can be
included within an unlimited amount of Spaces. Spaces may also include other
Spaces (similar to Discord’s channel categories). Group chat privacy Denying
“View Channel History” permission prevents users from reading messages prior to
their most recent login. However the “server” owners cannot enjoy that privacy,
as “server” owners cannot deny their own permissions due to how Discord’s
permission system works. You may deny new members from reading messages prior to
them being invited / joining. You may also allow or deny guest access (such as
Matrix Static) from reading messages. You may also enable encryption8.
Server-side deletion guarantees Messages that are removed from Discord are
garbage collected from discord.com databases within less than 2 days.9 Guild
messages from deleted users are mapped to the unified ghost user, including
mentions to them. Direct messages stay unless explicitly closed by the
counterparty. As Matrix follows an event chain model, there is no true deletion.
The closest thing available is redaction, which instructs the users and servers
to blank the content but not the metadata of the event. Redactions are
best-effort10. Publicity Although Discord offers its own “server” discovery
feature, the requirements are somewhat arbitrary, so third-party services are
often used. Only “server” owners can apply to Discord’s own “server” discovery
directory. Additionally, there is an experimental feature that allows users to
list “server”s in a private directory listing, but this is currently only
available to user with certain university e-mail addresses. Third-party
directory services may differ. Each homeserver has a room directory which anyone
in that homeserver may publish to. The third-party MatrixRooms.info allows
searching room directories of various public homeservers on the web. Invite
Through generating invite links or using an OAuth-based integration. Through
directly inviting users, or through shareable addresses. Permissions in group
chats Single-owner, up to 255 roles. How long did it take for you to learn role
hierarchy?11 A “server” can only be shut down by its owner, and that affects
everyone. Members cannot demote their own permissions. Roles of a member are
reset when a member leaves hence do not survive rejoin. Up to 2^54 power levels
(-2^53 to 2^53-1, however I highly doubt you will ever reach that limit). A user
acquires a permission if their power level is equal to or higher than the power
level required for the specific permission. Rooms are not owned by any user or
server, hence cannot usually be forcibly shut down without coordination. Members
can demote their own permissions. Power levels of members survive leave and
rejoin. Pre-moderation capabilities Partly mandatory, partly opt-in.
Keyword-based pattern matching, automated community rules enforcement using
natural language processing (partially powered by AI.com products), spam and
scam link matching, user nickname, custom status and biography sanitisation,
virus file detection. Called AutoMod in the product. No standard method exists.
Can only be enforced by the homeserver of the original message. Size limits of
group chats 10 in group DMs, several tiers in “servers” ranging from 125
thousands to 1.5 million, subject to manual transition across those tiers.12 No
artificial limits, albeit current implementations do not perform well with rooms
having more than a few tens of thousands of members and a few dozens of
homeservers. Bans Ban history and list of active bans are only visible to
“server” moderators. Users that are online at the time of ban action get a
public ban event from the websocket gateway. One can also always see their own
ban when they attempt to join a “server”, but not the ban reason. Bans are
public to all members, along with the reasons. Note that if you ban a user from
a room (directly, not by using Mjölnir), regardless of whether they have been a
member of that room, the user will be notified. Disabled and deleted account
handling Disabling an account is reversible until 2 years after disabling.
Accounts that do not log in for 2 years get automatically deleted every 45 days.
Messages sent to a “server” from deleted accounts stay unless explicitly removed
by somebody else. User name and user settings from deleted accounts are removed.
Discord-formatted mentions to deleted users made using user IDs throw “this user
is no longer accessible to you” error. Deleted users are coalesced to a single
ghost user, with the user ID 456226577798135808. “Servers” owned by accounts
shut down before November 2022 may stay. “Servers” owned by a manually deleted
accounts have always been automatically shut down, so do any “servers” deleted
after November 2022. User metadata of users deleted after March 2024 are
suppressed server-side, and mention pills mentioning such users will show
“unknown user” while displaying and “this user is not accessible to you” when
clicked on it on the official client. Self-deleted users can undelete themselves
until 14 days after they initiate the deletion. Suspended accounts can have
their ban appealed within 2 weeks of initiation of suspension, and their data is
retained for up to 6 months after the suspension started. Disabling an account
is usually irreversible. Users can cause their messages to be forgotten while
disabling their account: in that case, their messages are not sent to further
users and servers. Rooms created by disabled accounts stay. Running a bot
Running a bot in more than 100 “servers” requires a proof of identity, similar
in manner to one encountered in international borders. Selfbotting is forbidden,
but this is inconsistently enforced. You can run bots on any user accounts13 14.
Selfbotting is permitted (but be nice). Apps to access platform By ToS, you are
only allowed to use the official Discord app (including its PTB and Canary
variants). This is not enforced consistently: some modifications and some third
party clients are generally tolerated, while others may be forbidden. Third
party clients that do not touch certain user profile related features tend to be
not caught. Element is the main app, but you’re welcomed to use whatever you
wish. You can even make an app yourself14! Network access IPv4 only. Users and
bot developers have raised this issue repeatedly, and staff stated this is not
urgent at all, despite the fact that IPv4 addresses have been exhausted
worldwide: “We of course care of the future of the platform however ipv4<->ipv6
connectivity is not really going away any time soon with the availability of
nat64 - and there are much more important things to work on.” One of the authors
of this guide went even further, and filed a ticket on this issue Most if not
all homeservers participating in the public federation have IPv4 connectivity,
but IPv6 connectivity varies from homeserver to homeserver. The homeserver list
allows you to filter by IPv6 support.


HELPFUL TIPS

 * There is a public bridge that allows you to connect a Discord channel with a
   Matrix room. There is another bridge that allows looking at your Discord
   direct messages from Matrix side, but that one requires self-hosting and more
   extensive setup than the public t2bot bridge. (Although, backlinking Matrix
   data to Discord will reduce its privacy, so please take ethical concerns into
   account when using them.)
 * Your user colour is chosen by a hash function (varies by app) that takes in
   your MXID.


FOOTNOTES

 1.  More accurately speaking, guilds are mapped to the guild servers in a
     many-to-one fashion. This can easily be confirmed by “server” outages,
     which happen when the guild process in the respective server restarts or
     the guild is being migrated to another server. However, the end users still
     lack any control on choosing a particular guilds server instance to host a
     guild. ↩

 2.  Process detection only exists in the desktop client. Somebody reverse
     engineered this process detection. Unlike Steam’s similar process
     detection, this detection only sends the successfully detected games, not
     the list of every process running. Can be opted out by disabling the game
     activity detection. Science endpoint is said to drop the data server-side
     when the relevant toggles are disabled, however this claim cannot be
     verified. Hence assumed as “cannot be opted out”. Note, that many
     third-party mods and clients do allow you to opt out of such but, as
     addressed prior, the ToS is against using them. ↩

 3.  The exception is messages that @-mention the bot user can still be seen
     without the message content event. As many bot developers said, this is
     still a band-aid and not a useful solution. Direct messages are not
     affected by message content intent. ↩

 4.  Paywalling features related to customisation and expressivity is Discord’s
     core business model, stated repeatedly by themselves and also verified by
     various third party sources. See here and here. ↩

 5.  Limited by Matrix event size limits. The current event size limit is
     specified to be 65536 bytes. Formatted message size limit assuming the
     formatted body takes approximately twice as much as plain text body. ↩ ↩2

 6.  For Discord “servers” and for Matrix rooms. ↩ ↩2

 7.  Note that Matrix has no concept of “friends” or “contacts” per se, although
     the DM list can serve the same purpose. However, user-based contact
     ignoring exists on Matrix, using two different methods. The former method
     prevents any and all messages from reaching the recipient, and the latter
     method using policy rooms hides them client-side by interpreting an ignore
     list. The latter method is currently only available in Element as a labs
     feature. ↩

 8.  Enabling encryption is irreversible for security reasons. Note that it is
     pointless to enable encryption in a public room, with one exception: the
     case you want to have a persistent cryptographic trail of who read the
     messages. Furthermore, enabling encryption means users will not see
     messages before their invitation (if applicable) or their entry. ↩

 9.  Somebody actually tried to report a message after deleting it and they got
     “no such message in our database” from T&S. Also backed by Stanislav
     Vishnevskiy’s blog post on infrastructure of Discord. However, deletions
     are basically a free-for-all matter: users (including bots) may decide to
     keep or repost deleted messages, and there is nothing stopping this. ↩

 10. Most Matrix servers are known to keep the pre-redaction content of the
     event for a week, while immediately sending the redaction instruction to
     their fellow users. Again, redactions are basically a free-for-all
     matter. ↩

 11. May be more accurately described as ban hierarchy, as the order of roles
     only affect role changes, nick overrides, kicks and bans. Discord’s
     permission system is otherwise “explicit allow wins”. ↩

 12. Discord “servers” have an initial limit of 125000 members. “Server” owners
     can request this limit to be increased by filing a support ticket, in which
     case Discord engineering team looks at the activity of the guild and
     manually migrates it to a guilds server instance with a larger member
     limit. Known tiers are: 125k, 250k (beyond this tier, brand verification
     required), 500k, 1M, 1.5M. ↩

 13. Matrix has no distinction between user and bot accounts (nor is there any
     dependency between the two). Unless specifically exempted by the homeserver
     (not needed in most cases), bots have the same ratelimit as other users. In
     Element and SchildiChat, the user token of an account is available by
     accessing “User Settings” then “Help & About.” When running an autonomous
     bot, please be courteous and indicate to others (in username or display
     name) that the account is a bot. Bots that want to control other user
     accounts need to create an application service, which needs to be approved
     by an administrator of the homeserver that the bot is using. ↩

 14. If your app/bot is good, then matrix.org would love to hear from you (with
     the potential possibility of featuring you on their blog)! ↩ ↩2

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