diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs
index 5fd32b3e53..a0eafc43f4 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs
@@ -262,6 +262,9 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		public MPGameFilters MPGameFilters = MPGameFilters.Waiting | MPGameFilters.Empty | MPGameFilters.Protected | MPGameFilters.Started;
 
 		public bool PauseShellmap = false;
+
+		[Desc("Allow mods to enable the Discord service that can interact with a local Discord client.")]
+		public bool EnableDiscordService = true;
 	}
 
 	public class Settings
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/DiscordService.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/DiscordService.cs
index c404ecdb73..c405e5bd0f 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/DiscordService.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/DiscordService.cs
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common
 				if (instance != null)
 					return instance;
 
+				if (!Game.Settings.Game.EnableDiscordService)
+					return null;
+
 				if (!Game.ModData.Manifest.Contains<DiscordService>())
 					return null;