Decky Loader Discord Plugin: How to Show Your Discord Status on Steam Deck

The Decky Loader plugin for Discord is called Discord Status, and it is what you need to show your Discord status on Steam Deck, with the game you are playing. On 3 November 2026 the Decky store listed it at version 1.5.0 (released 20 December 2025), by Deceptacle, with 112,987 downloads. Discord on its own cannot see Steam Deck games, so your profile stays on plain Online. The setup: install Discord as a Flatpak in Desktop Mode, add it to Steam as a Non-Steam Game, install Decky Loader, then install Discord Status from the Decky store. After that, launch Discord first, go back to your library without closing it, and start your game. Friends see "Playing [game]", with "on Steam Deck" under it.

The plugin's README is clear on the one rule: Discord must be running for it to work. The code below shows why.

Changing the text next to your name, rather than the game, is covered in how to set a custom status on Discord.

Set up Discord status on Steam Deck

• Install Discord in Desktop Mode. Press the Steam button, Power, Switch to Desktop. Open the Discover store, search for Discord and install it. Discover installs the Flatpak version, which is the one the plugin expects.
• Add Discord to Steam. Find Discord in the application menu, right-click it and choose Add to Steam. Now Game Mode can launch it from your library under Non-Steam.
• Install Decky Loader. In Desktop Mode, open decky.xyz in the browser, download the installer and run it. It asks for a sudo password; set one first with passwd in Konsole if you never have. Then switch back to Game Mode.
• Install the plugin. Press the Quick Access button (the ... button), open the plug icon for Decky, open the store, search for Discord Status and install it.
• Start Discord, then your game. Launch Discord from your library and sign in. Press the Steam button and go to Library without closing Discord. Start any game.

Your profile now shows the game. The plugin panel in Quick Access has a Device Name field if you want the line to read something other than "on Steam Deck", for example on a Legion Go running SteamOS.

How it works

Steam knows which game is running. The Discord Status plugin reads that through Decky and sends it to the Discord app as Rich Presence, the same channel games use on a PC. We read the plugin's source on 3 November 2026: the Decky plugin database points at andrewburgess/steamdeck-discord-status (commit 9ab7342, package.json version 1.5.0), and its main.py finds Discord like this:

CLIENT_ID = "1055680235682672682"

class Pipe:
    def get_ipc_file():
        flatpak_root = "/run/user/1000/app/com.discordapp.Discord"
        other_root = os.environ.get("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR") or "/run/user/1000"

        for i in range(10):
            path = os.path.join(flatpak_root, "discord-ipc-{}".format(i))
            if os.path.exists(path):
                return path
            path = os.path.join(other_root, "discord-ipc-{}".format(i))

Three fixes below follow from those lines:

• • Discord must be open. The discord-ipc-0 to discord-ipc-9 sockets exist only while the Discord app runs. Close Discord and the plugin has no file to connect to.
• • The Flatpak is the expected install. The first place it looks is the Flatpak folder of com.discordapp.Discord, the version Discover installs. Other builds, such as Vesktop, only work if they create the same socket in /run/user/1000.
• • The game line comes from the plugin's own Discord app. It sends the activity under application ID 1055680235682672682, which is why its advanced settings let you enter your own application ID to change that line.

For games Discord does not recognise, the plugin shows a generic activity.

The plugin changes your activity, not your online dot. Discord still decides online, idle and offline the usual way. What each color means is in Discord status icons meaning, and why you may look idle during a game is in what does idle mean on Discord.

Discord status not showing on Steam Deck

Symptom	Fix
No game on your profile	Open Discord before the game, and leave it running
The plugin cannot find Discord	Use the Flatpak from Discover, added to Steam as a Non-Steam Game
You use Vesktop or Vencord	The plugin does not officially support them; its GitHub issue 13 has a workaround
Friends still see nothing	In Discord, open User Settings, Activity Privacy, and turn activity sharing on
It stops in Desktop Mode	Decky plugins run in Game Mode only
It worked, then stopped after an update	SteamOS updates can remove Decky; run the installer again

A Reddit thread on r/SteamDeck with the same problem ended with the order in step 5: Discord first, back to the library, then the game.

Without Decky Loader

• • Desktop Mode only. The steam-presence script, shared on r/SteamDeck, reads your Steam activity and sends it to Discord. It needs a Steam API key and runs in Desktop Mode.
• • Set it by hand. A custom status such as "Playing Hades on the Deck" takes ten seconds and needs no plugin. It does not update by itself.
• • Invisible while you play. If you would rather nobody sees you online at all, choose Invisible. What others can still tell is in Discord invisible vs offline.

FAQ

Can Discord show what I play on Steam Deck? Yes, with the Discord Status plugin for Decky Loader and Discord running on the Deck.

Why is my Discord status not showing on Steam Deck? Discord was not running when the game started, or it is not the Flatpak added to Steam.

Does the Discord Status plugin work in Desktop Mode? No. Decky plugins run in Game Mode.

Can I change "on Steam Deck" to another device name? Yes. Use the Device Name field in the plugin panel.

Do I need Discord Nitro for this? No. Rich Presence works on free accounts.