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Implementing the Generalized Alignment Index (GALI) method of chaos detection we investigate the dynamical behavior of the nonlinear disordered Klein–Gordon lattice chain in one spatial dimension. By performing extensive numerical simulations of single site and single mode initial excitations, for several disordered realizations and different disorder strengths, we determine the probability to observe chaotic behavior as the system is approaching its linear limit, i.e. when its total energy, which plays the role of the system's nonlinearity strength, decreases. We find that the percentage of chaotic cases diminishes as the energy decreases leading to exclusively regular motion on multidimensional tori. We also discriminate between localized and spreading chaos, with the former dominating the dynamics for lower energy values. In addition, our results show that single mode excitations lead to more chaotic behaviors for larger energies compared to single site excitations. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the GALI method can be efficiently used to determine a characteristic chaoticity time scale for the system when strong enough nonlinearites lead to energy delocalization in both the so-called 'weak' and 'strong chaos' spreading regimes. • Identification of localized and spreading chaos in disordered nonlinear lattices. • Energy thresholds for vanishing of chaotic motion in disordered nonlinear lattices. • Identifying dynamical differences between single site and single mode excitations. • Reinitialization of GALI quantifies decreasing chaoticity strength. • GALI identifies dynamical differences between strong and weak chaos regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]