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Is their a complete IRC Tutorial?
An IRC Tutorial
Original web version with over 100 links at http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html
Table of Contents
-
1. Introduction and Basics
- 1.1. Introduction to IRC
- 1.2. Quick Start
- 1.3. Basic IRC Commands
-
2. Chatting on IRC
- 2.1. Public Conversations
- 2.2. Private Conversations
- 2.3. File Transfer
-
3. Beyond the Basics
- 3.1. Channel Operators
- 3.2. Channel Maintenance
- 3.3. Server Commands
- 3.4. Conclusion
-
Credits:
- 6/26/1991 - originally written by Ronald
van Loon (rvl).
- 1/07/1997 - update & HTML translation by Joseph
Lo (Jolo).
- 8/17/1998 - revised by Joseph
Lo (Jolo).
1. Introduction and Basic Commands
1.1. Introduction to IRC
What is IRC?
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a
multi-user, multi-channel chatting system. Imagine sitting in front of your
computer and "talking" through typed messages with either one person
or many other people from all over the Internet, all in real time! Best of all,
once you get set up, chatting on IRC is totally free!
Some Other Help Files
There are many help files
designed to introduce you to the exciting and sometimes bewildering world of IRC.
This tutorial that you are reading now is intended to walk you through the
important commands one by one so that you can learn by doing. If you are brand
new to IRC, you may wish to first read the very short IRC
Prelude (or its many translations)
to get yourself oriented. Then later you may check out one of the standard
references, such as the alt.irc newsgroup's frequently
asked questions (FAQ) list, or the long but extremely thorough IRC
Primer which is organized like a textbook.
Client / Server
IRC is based on a client-server model. You run a client program on your own
computer which connects you to a server computer on the Internet. These servers
link to many other servers to make up an IRC network, which transport messages
from one user (client) to another. In this manner, people from all over the
world can talk to each other live and simultaneously.
To join in the fun, all you need is an Internet Service Provider to get you
connected to the Internet (if you're able to read this web page, you're already
connected), and an IRC client program. The most popular clients are mIRC
for the Windows operating system, ircII
for UNIX, and Ircle for Macintosh.
A good provider should have installed one of these for you already, if not you
can download them yourself for free. (Ircle and mIRC are shareware, meaning you
get a one month free trial, then if you like it and keep it, you are bound by an
honor system to pay the author a modest fee.)
Networks, Servers, and Channels
Once you are set up with a provider and a client, you are in control. Choose
a nickname you wish to be known by, then connect to one of the many different IRC
networks catering to different geographical locations, interests, or
philosophies. The largest networks have tens of thousands of people online at
any given moment, drawn from an order of magnitude or more of regular visitors.
These people create thousands of channels (sometimes incorrectly called
"chat rooms") where people may meet and mingle. You may join these
channels and participate in the group discussion, or you may elect to chat
privately with individuals.
Conversations on a channel are like those at a party: everybody who is
present hears everything that everybody else is saying. If somebody is late to
the party or leaves early, however, they will not hear what is said in their
absence. All channels on IRC have names starting with #, such as #irchelp where
you can get technical IRC help, or #new2irc where new users are welcome to join
and chat. Usually, the name of the channel shows what it's for, but not always.
1.2. Quick Start
We will assume you or your provider has installed one of the mainstream IRC
clients already. If not, see the links in the previous section. Once installed,
most clients have shortcuts for getting started quickly, using default
nicknames, servers, and ports on those servers. (To help distribute the load
better, each server permits connections on many different openings or
"ports", usually leading to redundant connections to the same IRC
network.)
For example, mIRC has a connection dialog that lets you pick your nickname
and suggests some server choices. From the UNIX prompt, ircII may be launched
just by typing irc which should connect
you using your login name as your nickname and a default server. Ircle has a few
icons in its folder such as #macintosh and all you need to do is double-click on
them to join that channel, which happens to be on a network called Undernet.
If these quick starts don't immediately work for you, don't worry, they are
just like teaser movie previews compared to the full IRC experience. In the next
section, we will show you how to make a proper connection to a server, then how
to list available channels and join them, as well as how to find your friends
and like-minded people.
1.3. Basic IRC Commands
Every IRC client has an input area where you can type what you want to say or
issue IRC commands. You issue IRC commands by typing on a new line something
beginning with a / (forward slash) character. Anything that does not begin with
a / is assumed to be a message you are typing to someone or some channel. In the
following I will describe the more common commands used in everyday IRC life.
Commands you are supposed to type will be shown in red,
while text which you will see in response will be shown in blue.
In addition, the graphical clients such as mIRC or Ircle allow you to use a
mouse to point and click your way around IRC, so that you don't have to type
many of these commands manually. You should still learn the commands properly,
because often they are the only way to specify precisely what you want done, and
also they are often faster and easier than navigating through the labyrinth of
buttons, menus, and dialogs that are supposed to make your life easier.
-
/HELP [optional command name]
-
The first and most useful command is the on-line help built into all good
IRC clients just by typing /help where
you normally type to chat. This should bring up a list of all commands. You
can also get specific help for a command, such as /help
who for the /who command.
You can get a quick introduction to IRC built into your client. mIRC
users type /ircintro while ircII users
type /help intro or /help
newuser.
If you are not sure about the spelling of a mIRC command, just type in
the first few letters. The help window, which shows commands arranged
alphabetically, will open to approximately the right place so that you can
choose to learn about a specific command.
If you are not sure about the spelling of an ircII command, type the
first few letters and press the ESCape key twice. ircII will give you a
listing of COMMANDS and ALIASes that start with that prefix. Don't forget
the "/" in front of the command, though.
For example, you type the following:
/W <ESC><ESC>
You get as a response the following (this is just an example. Your screen
may show more or less aliases or commands):
*** Commands:
*** WAIT WALLOPS WHILE WHO
*** WHOIS WHOWAS
*** Aliases:
*** W WA WH WI
-
/SERVER new-server-hostname
-
Each server is known by a "hostname" such as irc.ais.net,
us.undernet.org, irc.dal.net, or irc.webbernet.net, which are sample servers
for the networks EFnet,
Undernet, DALnet,
and IRCnet,
respectfully. Just specify the hostname to connect or switch to that server.
For example:
/SERVER irc.psinet.com
You then see the following messages indicating your client has
successfully connected to that server.
*** Looking up your hostname...
*** Found your hostname, cached
*** Checking Ident
*** Got Ident response
*** Welcome to EFNet IRC - the Internet Relay Chat Network foo
*** Your host is irc.psinet.com, running version 2.8/hybrid-5.3
[remaining server messages truncated]
-
/NICK new-nickname
-
Change the nickname by which you are known. Nicknames are usually limited
to 9 characters. For example, if your default nick was "foo" and
you want to change it to "YourNick":
/NICK YourNick
*** foo is now known as YourNick
-
/LIST
-
Lists IRC channels, number of users, and topic for each. This is how you
find places to go meet people and chat.
/LIST
*** Channel Users Topic
*** #test 1 this is a test channel
*** #IRChelp 18 Ask questions on the channel or see www.irchelp.org
[remainder of list not shown]
If you're on a big network, this list may be very long, up to many
thousands of channels! It may even cause you to flood yourself off so that
you get disconnected from the server. If that happens, try using different
servers on that network, or instead use the searchable EFnet
channel list web page which is updated hourly, or the less frequently
updated but more comprehensive Liszt
channel list.
You can also search for specific keywords by using /LIST
keyword in mIRC, or /LIST *keyword*
in ircII. Note this may or may not be any faster or safer than a full list
depending on the network. On networks like EFnet and IRCnet, for example,
your client gets the full list first and then does the filtering internally
before displaying matches to you. On Undernet, the server filters the list
and sends only the matches to you, which can be much faster if you're on a
slow modem.
-
/NAMES #channel-name
-
Shows the nicknames of all users on that channel. While theoretically
this is supposed to work whether or not you are on that channel, in practice
most people these days are set to be "invisible" and thus do not
show up on such queries unless you are in the same channel already.
/NAMES #demo
Pub: #demo @YourNick +buddy DeepMpact @FunGuy PrettyGrl
The "@" symbols show that YourNick and FunGuy are "channel
ops", and that buddy has been given a "voice". These terms
will be described in more detail in the channel modes
section later.
-
/WHOIS nickname
-
Shows information about the nick specified.
/WHOIS buddy
*** buddy is abcd@dialup-6.provider.com (Think different.)
*** on channels: @#demo #test123
*** on irc via server irc.psinet.com (PSI Net EFNet IRC Server)
The "abcd@dialup-6.provider.com" looks like an email address
but actually abcd is buddy's identifying "username" on
dialup-6.provider.com, which is the "hostname" of the computer
buddy is using for IRC. One cannot arbitarily change the hostname, because
it is the computer's address on the Internet, and it is required in order
for the IRC server to communicate with one's computer properly. Next, in the
parentheses, buddy shows a personal message instead of the real name which
is supposed to go there.
The second line shows he is on the "public" channels #demo and
#test123, and the @ symbol means he is an operator on #demo. It doesn't show
other, "secret" channels he might be on. Finally the third line
shows which IRC server he is using. We will discuss public/secret
channels and operators later in part
3.
-
/AWAY away-message-here
-
Leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying attention to
IRC.
/AWAY getting coffee, be back in 5 mins
You have been marked as being away
If your friend does /whois YourNick now,
they will get the 3 lines as described in the /whois section above, plus a
final line saying:
*** YourNick is away: getting coffee, be back in 5
mins
/AWAY without any additional argument will remove the away message.
/AWAY
You are no longer marked as being away (or something to that effect)
-
/QUIT [optional farewell message]
-
Exits IRC (also leaves any channels you may be on).
/QUIT hasta la vista, baby!
*** Signoff: YourNick (hasta la vista, baby!)
2. Chatting on IRC
The point of IRC is to chat, and as mentioned before, you may join in public
discussions on channels or talk privately to one person at a time. We will show
you how to do both here.
2.1. Public Conversations
We previously learned how to find channels using the /list command. Here will
talk about how to join those channels and talk on them.
There can be many thousands of channels on the largest networks, each with
anywhere from one to hundreds of people. Each channel is controlled by channel
operators or "ops" who have absolute authority over their channels. We
will discuss more about that later. You should always observe basic netiquette
when visiting other people's channels.
-
/JOIN #channelname
-
Changes your current channel to the channel specified. If the channel
does not exist already, it will be created and you will be in charge of the
new channel and be a channel operator or "op" - more on that
later.
/JOIN #new2irc
*** YourNick (foo@hot.school.edu) has joined channel #new2irc
*** Topic for #new2irc: New users welcome! Questions answered with a smile! ;)) RC
*** Topic for #new2irc set by Otiose on Sun Aug 16 10:28:06 1998
*** Users on #new2irc: YourNick FunGuy @pixE @MsingLnk @^Chipster
[rest of list truncated]
When you join a channel, everything that everybody says is preceded by
their nicknames so others can tell who is saying what. For some IRC
programs, it doesn't show your own nickname, but don't worry, other people
still see it!
You type:
hello world!
but everybody else sees:
<YourNick> hello world!
-
/ME does something
-
Performs an action on a channel. Unlike talking normally, actions do not
start with <YourNick>. Use /ME in the third person (verbs like
"is", "does", "runs", etc.).
/ME is a pink bunny
YourNick is a pink bunny
-
/LEAVE [#channel_name]
-
Leaves the specified channel, or if no channel is specified, leaves the
current channel.
2.2. Private Conversations
-
/MSG nickname message
-
Use the /MSG command to send someone a message that only that person can
read. Say you are "YourNick" and you want to talk to your friend
"buddy".
/MSG buddy hello, how are you?
On your screen, you would see:
-> *buddy* Hello, how are you?
On buddy's screen, if he is using ircII he sees:
*YourNick* Hello, how are you?
To answer such a message using ircII, buddy would type:
/MSG YourNick Fine, thanks!
If buddy is using mIRC, he will instead get a new "query"
window dedicated to this private conversation with you. Everything you /MSG
him goes to that window. As soon as he responds to you in that window, if
you are also using mIRC you will likewise also get a "query"
window.
-
/QUERY nickname and /QUERY
-
In mIRC, if you initiate a /MSG you don't get a "query" window
until the other person responds to you. You can set up a "query"
window on your side right from the beginning by using the /QUERY command:
/QUERY buddy
In ircII, you can have a private conversation by using /MSG nickname
repeatedly, but that can get cumbersome. That's where the QUERY command
comes in handy. When you issue the above command, all subsequent text will
be send as private messages to that nickname, except for "/"
commands. Use /QUERY with no nickname
to end a private conversation.
Here's an example of a private conversation between you as "YourNick"
and your friend "buddy", as seen from your point of view.
Statements from your IRC client program start with "***", outgoing
messages from you to buddy start with "-> *buddy*", and
incoming messages to you from buddy start with "*buddy*".
/QUERY buddy
*** Starting conversation with buddy
Good morning
-> *buddy* Good morning, buddy.
*buddy* Hi, YourNick. How is life ?
Pretty good. I have to get back to work, bye.
-> *buddy* Pretty good. I have to get back to work, bye.
*buddy* OK, talk to you later.
/QUERY
*** Ending conversation with buddy
-
/CTCP nickname PING
/CTCP #channel-name PING
-
Sometimes you are talking to your friend and suddenly it seems like he's
not paying attention. This may be due to server "lag" on either
end, which is the roundtrip delay between when you say something and your
friend sees that message. Normally lag is less than a few seconds even when
you are talking to people on the other side of the planet, but sometimes the
servers temporarily suffer from serious lag. If you suspect this is the
problem, you can test your lag with a sonar-like ping signal under the
Client-to-Client Protocol (CTCP). If you are just talking to one person,
ping that person. If you suspect you are generally lagged to a lot of
people, ping a channel with say 10 people which is the same as pinging each
person on that channel separately. The range in ping response times will
tell you if you are lagged in general.
/CTCP buddy PING
*** CTCP PING from YourNick!foo@hot.school.edu to buddy: 903330542
*** CTCP PING reply from buddy: 1 second
The last line is the part you care about. It says you are lagged less
than 1 second to buddy, which is very good. Note that in most clients
including most versions of ircII and mIRC, this is aliased to /PING
nickname, or /PING #channel-name,
but not always. Some Mac clients such as Ircle use /CPING
instead.
-
DCC CHAT
-
/DCC CHAT nickname
/MSG =nickname message
/DCC CLOSE CHAT nickname
DCC stands for Direct Client Communication, where you and your friend's
client programs connect directly to each other, bypassing IRC servers and
their occasional "lag" or "split" problems. Like /MSG,
the DCC chat is completely private.
If you are "Yournick" and your friend is "buddy",
here's how to use DCC chat:
You type:
/DCC CHAT buddy
You see:
*** Sent DCC CHAT request to buddy
While buddy sees:
*** DCC CHAT (chat) request received from YourNick
Now buddy types the same thing but using your nick:
/DCC CHAT YourNick
The connection goes through and you see this (he sees something similar).
The numbers are his IP number (the numeric version of his computer's
hostname) and his port number.
*** DCC CHAT connection with
buddy[123.4.56.78,54321] established
Now to talk to buddy, in graphical clients like mIRC you will probably
have a separate window for the DCC chat so that everything you type is sent
to buddy. Just type normally in that window. Alternatively, from any window
you may use a /MSG with an equals sign immediately before his nick, which
distinguishes this DCC CHAT message from a regular /MSG buddy whatever:
/MSG =buddy now we're talking!
When you're done talking, either close the graphical window (if there is
one available) or manually close the connection:
/DCC CLOSE CHAT buddy
*** DCC chat:<any> to buddy closed
2.3. File Transfer
In addition to talking, IRC has also become a popular and convenient way to
exchange a wide variety of files. Be forewarned, however, that many people are
getting into serious trouble by downloading files that seem interesting or
enticing, only to find out they are trojan
horse attacks. These hacks allow strangers to take over your channels, force
you to disconnect, erase your hard disk, or worse. The moral is clear: Never
accept candy from strangers.
-
DCC SEND and GET
-
Like with DCC chat described above, DCC file transfer requires an
exchange of commands between the sender and getter of each file. For
example, if you as "YourNick" want to send the file "foo.jpg"
to your friend "buddy", you would type:
/DCC SEND buddy foo.jpg
*** Sent DCC SEND request to buddy
If you specify the filename without a directory path, it will assume the
file is in the default directory. For mIRC that is usually c:\mirc and for
ircII it is usually your home directory. If the file is somewhere else, you
will need to specify the path to that file, such as:
/DCC SEND buddy c:\other\directory\foo.jpg
Now for buddy to get the offered file. If he is using mIRC, a dialog will
open asking him whether he wishes to accept the file, cancel the offer, or
even ignore the offerer. In ircII, buddy will see the following request and
types this in response:
*** DCC SEND (foo.jpg 180) request received from
YourNick
/DCC GET YourNick
You will then see the following as the DCC connection is established and
the transfer eventually completed. On the other end, buddy sees something
similar too.
*** DCC SEND connection to
buddy[123.4.56.78,54321] established
*** DCC SEND:foo.jpg to buddy completed 1.234
kb/sec
3. Beyond the Basics
Most novices can enjoy IRC quiet well with the basic IRC skills described in
part 1 and the ability to chat publicly and privately
discussed in part 2. This section will now cover the basics
of channel maintenance.
3.1. Channel Operators
Channel operators or "ops" have absolute power over their channel,
including the right to decide who gets to come in, who must leave, who may talk,
etc. When you first start out, it's best to chat on other people's channels and
heed their rules, or else you may find yourself kicked out. If that happens and
you cannot settle your differences with the ops, just go to another channel.
At some point you will probably want to try your hand at being a channel op,
either by creating your own new channel or by gaining the trust of the ops on an
existing channel. You need to know a whole different set of commands. With this
power comes the sometimes frustrating responsibility of maintaining the channel
against intentional abuse as well as the usual IRC mishaps.
Some networks such as Undernet and
DALnet support channel registration,
whereby you can "reserve" a channel. The advantage is that you are
assured control over the channel as long as you show up once in a while, the
disadvantage is that many popular channel names are probably already registered
by others.
Two of the largest nets EFnet and IRCnet do not support channel
registration (or any other services). On these nets, there is no way to
ensure you will always control a channel. Some channels try hard with all sorts
of bots (which are explicitly banned by most servers) and protective scripts,
but it's really just a matter of time before somebody with the right combination
of lameness and knowledge comes along and takes over the channel.
3.2 Channel Maintenance
This section will cover the basic commands used by channel ops to maintain a
channel. Try them on a test channel!
Two of the most common things that ops do are setting the channel topic and
kicking out abusive people. For the purposes of this section, let's say you have
ops on the channel #demo.
-
/TOPIC #channelname whatever topic for channel
-
Channels have topics which indicate the current topic of conversation.
Theoretically anybody can change the topic on a channel with the /TOPIC
command, but usually the channel operators make it so that only they can
change the topic. This topic is shown when anybody first joins the channel,
and it is also shown constantly at the bottom of the window for graphical
clients like mIRC and Ircle.
/TOPIC #demo hello, testing
*** YourNick has changed the topic on #demo to
hello, testing
-
/KICK nickname [optional reason]
-
Forcibly kick that nickname out of the current channel with the reason
specified. If no reason is given, it will just use your nickname as the
default reason.
/KICK buddy go away, you're annoying me
*** buddy has been kicked off #demo by YourNick
(go away, you're annoying me)
Channel Modes
In addition to the above commands, the behavior on each channel is governed
by many "modes", each denoted by a single character such as
"x" which can be turned on or off using "+x" and
"-x" respectively. You can see the modes currently in effect on a
channel by issuing the /MODE command without any flags. For example:
/mode #demo
*** Mode for channel #demo is "+tn"
What does the "+tn" mean? Those and other modes are described
below.
-
Public
- This is the default channel mode. Public means that everyone can see the
channel in the /NAMES and /LIST lists. These channels usually welcome
newcomers.
-
Private (p) or Secret (s)
- The "+p" or "+s" will be explained later, for now
consider them to be flags denoting the nature of the channel. These channels
provide privacy and security for insiders and may or may not welcome
newcomers. If you don't know the names of these exclusive channels already,
you won't find them using /LIST. Even
if you know the channel name, you still cannot use /WHO
#channelname to see who is presently in there unless you join
the channel yourself. Note: private and secret are not the same thing, but
the difference is pretty arcane.
To make #demo a secret channel:
/MODE #demo +s
*** Mode change "+s" on channel #demo by
YourNick
To make #demo a public channel again (removing the secret mode):
/MODE #demo -s
*** Mode change "-s" on channel #demo by
YourNick
In the following examples I'll leave out the responses in blue since they
are all similar to the above.
-
No external messages to the channel (n)
- People outside the channel cannot do /MSG #channel_name
[whatever] which would otherwise be sent to everybody on the
channel
-
Topic control (t)
- Only channel ops are allowed to change the topic
-
Channel ops (o [nickname])
- Any op can give ops to anybody else, and once that other person gains ops,
he has the same power as you do, including the ability to remove your ops or
"deop" you, or even to kick you out. This is known as a takeover.
Don't share ops with others unless you trust them fully!
/MODE #demo +o buddy
You can also do a few of these together on the same line, such as:
/MODE #demo +ooo larry curley moe
-
Moderated (m)
- On a moderated channel, only channel operators can talk publicly, others
can only listen and will get "cannot send to channel" errors if
they try to talk. The exception is if you are given a voice (+v). Moderated
mode is useful for conferencing or keeping control over very busy channels.
-
Invite Only (i)
- People can only join your channel if an op permits it. To set it:
/MODE #demo +i
Then to let buddy in, use the /INVITE command:
/INVITE buddy #demo
-
Limited (l [number])
- Only that number of people are allowed to /JOIN the channel.
/MODE #demo +l 20
Later to remove the limit (note you don't need to specify the number):
/MODE #demo -l.
-
Keyword or Password Protected (k keyword)
- You must know the keyword to /JOIN the channel. To set the keyword as
"trustno1":
/MODE #demo +k trustno1
Then in order for somebody outside to join, they must type:
/JOIN #demo trustno1
And to remove the keyword:
/MODE #demo -k trustno1
-
Channel bans (b [nick!user@host])
- I've saved this for last becuase it's the most complicated. After a kick,
the offender can still rejoin the channel immediately unless you first set a
ban to keep them out (remember to ban then kick, not the other way around).
You need to specify a ban "mask" that matches the offender's
nickname, username, and hostname (if you are not crystal clear on the
distinction between those three, revisit the /WHOIS command in part
1 now or else what follows will only confuse you more). You also need to
use wildcards like the "*" character to replace any part the
offender can easily change.
For example, if you want to ban buddy, and his /WHOIS says:
*** buddy is abcd@dialup-6.provider.com (Think
different.)
Then the most specific ban mask would be "buddy!abcd@dialup-6.provider.com"
(note the use of "!" and "@" to separate the nickname,
username, and hostname). If he changes any of those three, however, he can
slip right back in! For example, he could change his nickname
"buddy" using /NICK. If he's using a graphical client like mIRC he
can change his username "abcd" after a quick /QUIT and reconnect.
He can even change the first part of his hostname ("dialup-6") by
dialing up to his provider again. That's why it might make more sense to do:
/MODE #demo +b *!*abcd@dialup*.provider.com
Or even a domain ban against everybody from that provider (use sparingly
since you may keep out a lot of innocent people):
/MODE #demo +b *!*@*.provider.com
You may view the current bans (from on or off the channel) by leaving off
the ban mask. In the example below, there are 2 bans on #demo, the first an
old ban restored by the server irc.mcs.net when it rejoined after a split,
the second ban was set by buddy against anybody from the blah.net domain
whose username contains "foo":
/MODE #demo +b
Current bans on #demo are:
*** #demo *!*@*.dummy.com irc.mcs.net 903321784
*** #demo *!*foo*@*.blah.net buddy!abcd@dialup-6.provider.com 903310028
If you want to remove the first ban, you have to use the exact same ban
mask, namely:
/MODE #demo -b *!*@*.dummy.com
Most of the above modes can be combined. For example, to remove the
invite-only restriction, while at the same making the channel with topic changed
only by ops, not allowing external messages, and password protected with
"trustno1" as the key:
/MODE #demo -i+tnk trustno1
3.3. Server Commands
This section describes how to get more information about the IRC servers you
use. Each server is run by IRC operators or IRCops, who are sometimes mistakenly
known as "IRC cops". These people run each IRC server and try to
maintain a fast, reliable IRC network. They are not cops and do not
interfere in user or channel matters such as restoring ops, fighting takeovers,
defeating bans, nickname disputes, etc. For more information on what IRCops do,
see the IRC
Operator Guide which is like a training manual for IRCops, or Monkster's
short Oper Myths
which definitively lists what IRCops can/can't/will/won't do. If after reading
those you still think you need to contact an IRCop to report IRC abuse, see our IRC
logging guide for directions.
A special word on nukes: denial of service attacks, commonly known as
"nukes", are not
part of IRC at all. As such, IRCops have no authority in trying to stop them.
See our guide on logging
and reporting nukes.
Unless otherwise stated, all commands below apply to your current server
unless you specify another server's hostname as the optional argument.
-
/LINKS
-
The LINKS command shows all the servers currently connected to form the IRC
network you are using. If a server mask is specifed, LINKS shows any
servers that match the given server mask, which may contain wildcards.
/LINKS *.com
*** irc.rift.com irc.total.net 3 [205.150.226.4] Rift Online
*** irc02.irc.aol.com irc.lightning.net 6 America Online EFNet Server
[list truncated]
The 1st column is the server name, the 2nd is the server it is linked to,
the number in the 3rd column is the number of links away that server is from
yours. Caution: don't do /links too many times or you could be mistaken for
a troublemaker and sanctioned.
-
/ADMIN
-
Displays the administrative details about a server. Usually this will
give you an e-mail address you can use to ask questions or report complaints
such as illegal bots (just don't hold your breath, most IRC ops are very
busy people, and see description of IRC op at the beginning of this section
so you don't bother them with takeovers and ops problems).
/ADMIN
*** Administrative info about irc.psinet.com
*** PSI Net EFNet IRC Server
*** Admin - Katherine Spray<sprayk@interramp.com>
*** moonwolf @ IRC
-
/MOTD
-
Gives the "message of the day" for a server which explains the
server's policies and other information. You should always read this before
using any server.
/MOTD irc.ais.net
[excerpted MOTD follows]
*** - The Rules for IRC.AIS.NET:
*** - o No Clones/Multiple clients
*** - o No link looking scripts
*** - o Clients must respond to valid ctcp requests
*** -
*** - Failure to comply with any of the above rules may result in your
*** - connection to this server being blocked.
Related Topics:
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