IRC Commands - How To...

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Anyone can be any nick

On IRC, it's possible to connect to the server using pretty much any name you want. try it! you can go to https://chat.indymedia.org and in the first box where it says "Nickname: guest" type anything you like. then join a channel.

so - anyone can be any nick. which also means that someone else could be your nick. hmmm, that's worrying, isn't it? what happens if someone wants to cause trouble, logs into irc and says, "hey, i'm joe bloggs and i forgot my password. can you reset it and send it to me via private message please?" would you do it?

What can i do about it?

Register a nick

One way around this is to register your nick with the irc server. that way, each time you login, you provide your password, and other people can be happy that you are who you say you are. there are also other advantages to this: for example, you can automatically become a channel operator (which gives you certain priviliges such as being able to change the topic), or allow other people to leave you messages (memos) when you're not online.

to do this, you have to type the following:

/msg nickserv register <password>

where <password> is your preferred password.

now, each time you login, you will get a message saying:

NickServ(NickServ@hybserv.indymedia.org)- This nickname is owned by someone else
NickServ(NickServ@hybserv.indymedia.org)- If this is your nickname, type /msg NickServ IDENTIFY <password>

so, all you do is exactly what it says. some (most?) irc programs such as x-chat even include a bit in the settings so that you don't have to enter the password each time - it just does it automatically when you connect.

you can change the password you use to protect your nick if you want:

/msg nickserv set password <newpass>

you can prevent unauthenticated use of your nick ; after having authenticated yourself to NickServ, run :

/msg nickserv set enforce on

This will automatically change the nick of someone who attempts to use it without identifying in time, and temporarily block its use, which can be removed at your discretion. (See /msg NickServ help RELEASE.)

How do i know who i'm talking to?

If needed, you can check if the person (Joe) you are talking to is registered and identified :

/msg nickserv info Joe

More help

try the following:

/msg nickserv help
/msg memoserv help
/msg chanserv help
/msg seenserv help
/msg statserv help

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-- GarconDuMonde - 22 Aug 2005 -- etc.