Including arbitrary error codes in error messages is a good idea because it creates virtual gathering points for users searching for answers. From a comment I’

Including arbitrary error codes in error messages is a good idea because it creates virtual gathering points for users searching for answers. From a comment I’ve made about errors in the past: “You should probably include the error code in the message (ERR0231), because that helps make the error message unique to this specific error situation and thus makes it functional as a “gathering point”. If you Google the error message and find others talking about the same error you experienced, that’s useful; if you Google the error message and find others talking about different errors on the same site, that is useless at best and could be harmful. (Concrete example: a multiplayer gaming platform reports a checksum of game files to a remote server to ensure all players are using the same version of the game. Scenario 1: The files are corrupt, the checksum is wrong, the error message is “Unable to validate game files”, the fix is to reinstall the game. Scenario 2: The user’s internet connection is temporarily degraded, the game is unable to get a response from the remote server, the error message is “Unable to validate game files”, the fix is to wait until connection improves. The unfortunate user from Scenario 2 is going to google their error message and get told to try the fix from Scenario 1. Now they’re re-downloading the game on their spotty connection.)“