diff --git a/course/tests/externallib_test.php b/course/tests/externallib_test.php
index ce77094a314..167204aec47 100644
--- a/course/tests/externallib_test.php
+++ b/course/tests/externallib_test.php
@@ -1197,6 +1197,7 @@ class externallib_test extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
                     ), $module['purpose']
                 );
                 $this->assertFalse($module['branded']);
+                $this->assertStringContainsString('trackingtype', $module['customdata']);   // The customdata is JSON encoded.
                 $testexecuted = $testexecuted + 2;
             } else if ($module['id'] == $labelcm->id and $module['modname'] == 'label') {
                 $cm = $modinfo->cms[$labelcm->id];
diff --git a/mod/forum/lib.php b/mod/forum/lib.php
index fae6620c12a..f8746ba995f 100644
--- a/mod/forum/lib.php
+++ b/mod/forum/lib.php
@@ -6478,7 +6478,7 @@ function forum_get_coursemodule_info($coursemodule) {
     global $DB;
 
     $dbparams = ['id' => $coursemodule->instance];
-    $fields = 'id, name, intro, introformat, completionposts, completiondiscussions, completionreplies, duedate, cutoffdate';
+    $fields = 'id, name, intro, introformat, completionposts, completiondiscussions, completionreplies, duedate, cutoffdate, trackingtype';
     if (!$forum = $DB->get_record('forum', $dbparams, $fields)) {
         return false;
     }
@@ -6505,6 +6505,8 @@ function forum_get_coursemodule_info($coursemodule) {
     if ($forum->cutoffdate) {
         $result->customdata['cutoffdate'] = $forum->cutoffdate;
     }
+    // Add the forum type to the custom data for Web Services (core_course_get_contents).
+    $result->customdata['trackingtype'] = $forum->trackingtype;
 
     return $result;
 }
diff --git a/user/externallib.php b/user/externallib.php
index 0213d9425d5..360fba70c0f 100644
--- a/user/externallib.php
+++ b/user/externallib.php
@@ -1139,6 +1139,8 @@ class core_user_external extends \core_external\external_api {
             'theme'       => new external_value(core_user::get_property_type('theme'), 'Theme name such as "standard", must exist on server', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
             'timezone'    => new external_value(core_user::get_property_type('timezone'), 'Timezone code such as Australia/Perth, or 99 for default', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
             'mailformat'  => new external_value(core_user::get_property_type('mailformat'), 'Mail format code is 0 for plain text, 1 for HTML etc', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
+            'trackforums'  => new external_value(core_user::get_property_type('trackforums'),
+                'Whether the user is tracking forums.', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
             'description' => new external_value(core_user::get_property_type('description'), 'User profile description', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
             'descriptionformat' => new external_format_value(core_user::get_property_type('descriptionformat'), VALUE_OPTIONAL),
             'city'        => new external_value(core_user::get_property_type('city'), 'Home city of the user', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
diff --git a/user/lib.php b/user/lib.php
index e7e46e2de08..4d437d3ac8a 100644
--- a/user/lib.php
+++ b/user/lib.php
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ function user_get_default_fields() {
         'institution', 'interests', 'firstaccess', 'lastaccess', 'auth', 'confirmed',
         'idnumber', 'lang', 'theme', 'timezone', 'mailformat', 'description', 'descriptionformat',
         'city', 'country', 'profileimageurlsmall', 'profileimageurl', 'customfields',
-        'groups', 'roles', 'preferences', 'enrolledcourses', 'suspended', 'lastcourseaccess'
+        'groups', 'roles', 'preferences', 'enrolledcourses', 'suspended', 'lastcourseaccess', 'trackforums',
     );
 }
 
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ function user_get_user_details($user, $course = null, array $userfields = array(
     }
 
     if ($currentuser or has_capability('moodle/user:viewalldetails', $context)) {
-        $extrafields = ['auth', 'confirmed', 'lang', 'theme', 'mailformat'];
+        $extrafields = ['auth', 'confirmed', 'lang', 'theme', 'mailformat', 'trackforums'];
         foreach ($extrafields as $extrafield) {
             if (in_array($extrafield, $userfields) && isset($user->$extrafield)) {
                 $userdetails[$extrafield] = $user->$extrafield;
diff --git a/user/tests/externallib_test.php b/user/tests/externallib_test.php
index 3e1ddc64e1e..5701a2e4bd5 100644
--- a/user/tests/externallib_test.php
+++ b/user/tests/externallib_test.php
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ class externallib_test extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
                 }
                 // Default language and no theme were used for the user.
                 $this->assertEquals($CFG->lang, $returneduser['lang']);
+                $this->assertEquals($generateduser->trackforums, $returneduser['trackforums']);
                 $this->assertEmpty($returneduser['theme']);
 
                 if ($returneduser['id'] == $user1->id) {
diff --git a/user/tests/userlib_test.php b/user/tests/userlib_test.php
index 56947ee62b2..7271b2fed40 100644
--- a/user/tests/userlib_test.php
+++ b/user/tests/userlib_test.php
@@ -892,6 +892,7 @@ class userlib_test extends \advanced_testcase {
                                                           'theme'      => $CFG->theme,
                                                           'timezone'   => '5',
                                                           'mailformat' => '0',
+                                                          'trackforums' => '1',
                                                       ]);
 
         // Fields that should get by default.
@@ -903,6 +904,7 @@ class userlib_test extends \advanced_testcase {
         self::assertSame($CFG->theme, $got['theme']);
         self::assertSame('5', $got['timezone']);
         self::assertSame('0', $got['mailformat']);
+        self::assertSame('1', $got['trackforums']);
     }
 
     /**