Discord Markdown

July 20, 2024 · 5 min read

Monni Developer

Discord has a built in markdown engine. Features of this engine range from typical markdown such as bold and italics to timestamps and code blocks.

Text Formatting

Input	Result
Italics	Italics or _Italics_
Bold	Bold
Bold italics	*Bold italics*
Underline	__Underline__
~~Strikethrough~~	~~Strikethrough~~

Different text formattings can be combined. For example you can combine underline and italics with
*__underline and italics__*.

text-format

Headers

Discord supports usage of headers. Headers start with a hashtag followed by a space and then the text itself # Text here. There is three different sizes of headers. The largest is #, then ##, and the smallest is ###. A message has to start with a header, so a header in the middle of a sentence isn’t possible.

discord-headers

note

Did you know that text formatting works in headers?

Subtext

Almost like headers but instead of making text larger it makes it smaller. To use it add -# before your message

subtext-example

info

With subtext same rules apply as headers. The sentence must start with -#, otherwise it's invalid.

Lists

Discord supports lists in their markdown. You can create a list by using * or - before each line. Indentation can be achieved by having space before * or -.

raw-list

result-list

Ordered Lists

There is also support for ordered lists. to use them add a number followed by period. These numbers don’t have to be in numerical order but the list will start with smallest number. You can indent your list by adding a space before the number.

First thing in the list.
Second thing in the list.
Sublist
second sublist thing
   * Third sublist thing

ordered-list

Timestamps

Discord has support for timestamps. They allow you to specify dates or times in a way where its translated and automatically shown in the correct timezones. Unix time is a way to keep track of time in seconds from the unix Epoch of january 1st, 1970 UTC. They are good for saving dates without the “worry” of timezones.

The format of timestamps: <t:unix time:style>. In the examples following, unix timestamp 1653043103 is used with timezone being utc+3 EEST.

Style	letter	Input	12h	24h
Default	None	`<t:1653043103>`	May 20, 2022 1:38 PM	20 May 2022 13:38
Short time	t	`<t:1653043103:t>`	1:38 PM	13:38
Long time	T	`<t:1653043103:T>`	1:38:23 PM	13:38:23
Short date	d	`<t:1653043103:d>`	05/20/2022	20/05/2022
Long date	D	`<t:1653043103:D>`	May 20, 2022	20 May 2022
Short date/Time	f	`<t:1653043103:f>`	May 20, 2022 1:38 PM	20 May 2022 13:38
Long date/time	F	`<t:1653043103:F>`	Friday, May 20, 2022 1:38 PM	Friday, 20 May 2022 13:38
Relative	R	`<t:1653043103:R>`	a year ago	a year ago

info

Format of the timestamp (12h or 24h) changes according to your language settings.

timestamp-dates timestamp-hover

Mentions

Type	Structure	Example
User	`<@user_id>`	`<@911945727402471455>`
Channel	`<#Channel_id>`	`<@911945727402471455>`
Role	`<@&role_id>`	`<@&961921133479878720>`
Slash Command	`</name:command_id>`	`</pet:107907537956>`
Emoji	`:emoji name:`	`:smile:`
Custom emoji	`<:name:id>`	`<:o:10072062957298>`
Animated emoji	`<a:name:id>`	`<a:s:100720629576>`

Code Blocks

You can create single line code blocks by wrapping your text in backticks `.

`Look at this nice code block.`

Look at this nice code block.

singleline-codeblock

Multiline

Multiline code blocks can be used to create code blocks which span many lines. They also support syntax highlighting. You can create multi line code blocks by enclosing text with ```. Syntax highlighting can be added by specifying language after three backticks `. More information can be found here.

```python
print("Hello, I am inside a codeblock.")
```

multi-codeblock

info

Multiline code blocks are the de facto way to create colored text in discord. If you want to know more check out our in-depth guide on them.

Block Quotes

Block quotes allow you to indent part of your text. You can make one line of text indented by adding > before the line. You can make multiple lines indented by adding >>> before the lines.

quoteblock-raw

quoteblock-output

Spoilers

Spoilers can be used to make part of or the whole message hidden by a black box which disappears locally once a person clicks it. You can create spoilers by enclosing your text in two vertical bars ||.

unrevealed-spoil

revealed-spoil