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Find answers to common questions about setting up, using, and troubleshooting PFP Checker.

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Setup and Configuration

You need three things:
  1. Discord Bot Token - Create a bot application in the Discord Developer Portal
  2. ImgBB API Key - Sign up for a free API key at ImgBB
  3. Server Environment - Either Docker (recommended) or Rust 1.86+ installed locally
The bot uses SQLite for the database, which is created automatically on first run.
  1. Go to ImgBB API
  2. Sign up for a free account or log in
  3. Navigate to the API section
  4. Copy your API key
  5. Add it to your .env file as IMGBB_KEY=your_key_here
The free tier is sufficient for most use cases.
The bot requires the following permissions:
  • Read Messages/View Channels - To receive commands
  • Send Messages - To send responses
  • Embed Links - To display formatted responses
  • Read Message History - For proper command handling
The bot uses slash commands and does not require message content intent.
Yes! PFP Checker can be used across multiple servers simultaneously. User tracking is global (if a user is monitored in one server, their changes are tracked everywhere), but server icon tracking is specific to each server.Each server can independently:
  • Monitor and unmonitor users
  • Track its own server icon changes
  • View statistics and history

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Using Commands

User monitoring (/monitor, /removemonitor):
  • Any server member can monitor any user
  • No special permissions required
Server monitoring (/monitorserver, /removemonitorserver):
  • Requires Manage Server permission
  • Only server administrators or users with the Manage Server permission can start/stop server icon tracking
The bot checks for profile picture and server icon changes automatically at regular intervals (typically every few minutes). The exact frequency is configured in the bot’s internal scheduler.Changes are detected and recorded automatically once monitoring is enabled - you don’t need to do anything.
The /stats command displays:
  • Total number of changes since monitoring started
  • Start date of monitoring
  • Average changes per week
  • Average changes per month
  • Average changes per year
This gives you insight into how frequently a user changes their profile picture.
Use the /pfphistory @user command. This will show:
  • All previous profile pictures for that user
  • The date each profile picture was set
  • Links to the archived images
Similarly, use /serverpfphistory to view a server’s icon history.

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Data and Privacy

PFP Checker stores data in two places:
  1. Local SQLite database - Stores user IDs, server IDs, timestamps, and metadata
  2. ImgBB - Stores archived profile pictures and server icons
The database file (database.sqlite) is stored in your bot’s directory. Profile pictures are uploaded to ImgBB for permanent archival.
The bot collects:
  • Discord User IDs (not usernames, except for username history tracking)
  • Discord Server IDs
  • Profile picture URLs and archived copies
  • Server icon URLs and archived copies
  • Timestamps of when changes occurred
  • Username history (if a user is monitored)
No message content, DMs, or personal information beyond public Discord data is collected.
Users can request to be removed from monitoring by asking a server member to run /removemonitor @user. The bot does not have a built-in user opt-out mechanism since it only tracks public Discord information.Note that archived images on ImgBB remain stored but are no longer linked to the user in the bot’s database.
Data is retained indefinitely unless manually deleted:
  • Database records persist until you stop monitoring a user or server
  • Archived images on ImgBB remain available according to ImgBB’s retention policy
You can manually delete entries from the database if needed.

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ImgBB Integration

PFP Checker uses ImgBB to permanently archive profile pictures and server icons. Discord’s CDN URLs are temporary and can change or expire, so uploading to ImgBB ensures:
  • Permanent storage of historical profile pictures
  • Reliable access to archived images
  • No broken links in history commands
If ImgBB is unavailable when a profile picture change is detected:
  • The bot will log an error
  • The change detection will continue
  • The upload may fail, potentially resulting in a missing archive for that specific change
The bot continues operating normally for all other functions.
Yes, ImgBB has rate limits on their free tier. The exact limits depend on your API key tier. For most personal or small server use, the free tier is sufficient.If you exceed rate limits:
  • Image uploads will fail temporarily
  • The bot will log errors
  • Consider upgrading your ImgBB plan for higher limits

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Troubleshooting

Check the following:
  1. Bot is online - Check your console logs
  2. Permissions - Ensure the bot has proper permissions in the server
  3. Slash commands registered - Restart the bot to re-register commands
  4. Discord token valid - Verify your DISCORD_TOKEN in .env
Run /ping to check if the bot is responsive.
Possible causes:
  1. User not monitored - Run /monitor @user first
  2. Bot was offline - Changes are only detected while the bot is running
  3. Database issues - Check console logs for errors
  4. ImgBB upload failed - Verify your IMGBB_KEY is valid
Check the bot’s console output for error messages.
If you see database errors:
  1. Run migrations - sqlx database setup --database-url sqlite:database.sqlite
  2. Delete and recreate - Backup database.sqlite, delete it, and restart the bot
  3. Check permissions - Ensure the bot has write access to the directory
  4. DATABASE_URL correct - Verify the path in your .env file
Use the /ping command. It will respond with:
  • API latency in milliseconds
  • Confirmation that the bot is online
This helps diagnose connection issues.
If images don’t load in /pfphistory or /serverpfphistory:
  1. ImgBB issue - The image hosting service may be down
  2. Invalid URLs - Check the database for corrupted entries
  3. Upload failures - Review console logs for ImgBB errors
Images must be successfully uploaded to ImgBB to appear in history.

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Performance and Limits

There’s no hard limit on the number of monitored users, but performance depends on:
  • Available system resources
  • Database size
  • ImgBB API rate limits
For optimal performance on modest hardware, keep monitoring under a few hundred users.
Monitoring has minimal performance impact:
  • Checks run on a scheduled interval, not continuously
  • Database queries are optimized
  • Only changed profile pictures trigger uploads
The bot is designed to be efficient and lightweight.
Yes! Once a user is monitored, the bot tracks their profile picture changes globally, even if they leave the server or aren’t in the same servers as the bot.However, the bot must have encountered the user at least once to cache their information.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Open an issue on GitHub or check the documentation.

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