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- Leaked Pentagon documents appeared on Discord servers weeks before the received official attention.
- At least 10 documents appeared on the server "Minecraft Earth Map" on March 4, Bellingcat reported.
- Officials are racing to determine the origins of the leak and the security risks it poses.
A "Minecraft" Discord server could be a critical link in the mystery of how a large cache of US intelligence documents was leaked online in recent weeks.
At least 10 such documents were posted in March on a Discord server dedicated to the "Minecraft " video game, Bellingcat investigator Aric Toler reported.
Discord, a gaming messaging platform, allows users to send text, audio, video, and photos to chatrooms.
The documents on Discord were sent on March 4, more than a month before the leaked data appeared on 4Chan and Telegram, where media outlets and officials caught wind of the sensitive information.
Since Thursday, Justice Department and Pentagon officials have been scrambling to determine the origin of the major leak, which they learned about when The New York Times published a story about the documents.
Around 100 leaked files have been discovered so far. Exactly how many documents were leaked — and how many are genuine or fabricated — is still unclear.
The documents include US intelligence on the war in Ukraine and surveillance on allies such as South Korea and Israel. Some files also suggest that the UK may have deployed as many as 50 special forces personnel in Ukraine, per The Guardian.
Some of the 10 documents on Discord were marked "Top Secret" and appeared to contain maps and casualty figures for Ukraine, Bellingcat reported. They were posted on the "Minecraft Earth Map" server by a user trying to win an argument, per the outlet.
"Here, have some leaked documents," the user wrote.
"Nice," replied another.
On the "Minecraft Earth Map" server, the documents gained wider attention and eventually made their way to 4Chan and Telegram, but the leak likely originated elsewhere, Bellingcat reported.
The user who posted the documents claimed they obtained them from another Discord server created by a YouTuber called Wow_Mao, per Bellingcat.
Wow_Mao told The New York Times he does not spend much time managing his Discord server but admits he could have moderated it better. He told The Times that he found it "hilarious" that the compromised information appeared on his server.
But it's also possible that the leak could have originated in another Discord server, which has now been deleted, Bellingcat reported.
In January, a document of a similar style was posted on a server called "Thug Shaker Central," though its name often changed, Toler reported.
The analyst cited conversations with several members of the Discord server, who sent him images of the documents.
"Yet given the images shared were screengrabs and not a link to the original server post, which has been taken down, it is not possible to independently verify their authenticity," Toler wrote.
This isn't the first time sensitive documents have leaked in gaming communities. Players of "War Thunder," a video game that involves piloting combat vehicles, in 2021 shared classified information about British, French, and Chinese tanks on an online forum.
Meanwhile, some US allies say many of the leaked documents may be fake. South Korea's presidential office said on Monday that both Washington and Seoul believe a "considerable amount of the documents were fabricated."
Ukraine officials also cast doubt on the veracity of the leaked information.
"The aim of secret data 'leaks' is obvious: divert attention, cast doubts & mutual suspicions, sow discord," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Sunday.
Discord and the US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.