Frequently Asked Questions

There are dozens of channels on NationCHAT. You may open a channel at any time assuming the channel name you choose is not already in use. Simply type /j #channelname. NationCHAT has a Channel Registration available for well established channels and will provide a bot known as X (services bot).

It is considered annoying and rude. Capital letters are the IRC equivalent of shouting. You don’t need to use capital letters to get your point across.

People often chat and do other things at the same time. They might even be chatting in another chat room. Either be patient and wait for someone to speak to you or try joining another channel. You might even want to leave and try the channel a little later.

That is the result of the server pinging you to see if you are still on the system. Your IRC program responds automatically. You can disable this in mIRC — ask in #help.

Well, first, consider leaving some of the other channels that you are in. After all, how many channels can you really hold a conversation in at one time? If you are sure you need all those channels, you will have to reconnect to another server — one that allows more channels. See the servers list.

A bot is a program that looks like an opped user while on IRC. It connects just like a user would. The bots help the owner to run their channels in various ways. They make shortcut commands available and can monitor things such as language, excess use of capital letters, flooding, etc. They will kick to warn the user to stop and then ban if the behavior is repeated. Our services bot (X) is available to any channel owner free of charge. It will enter the channel whenever the first user does and not leave until the channel is empty.

Yes, you may download and run your own bot as long as you keep it in your own channel or a channel where you have permission to take it. However, any bots that are mainly used to cause trouble to a channel or network are not permitted, such as War Bots or Clone Bots, among others. If you are caught running one of these disruptive bots on NationCHAT, you will be asked to remove it, or be killed, or you and they will be permanently G:lined. All bots should be set usermode +B (/mode BOT +B) upon connection to identify the bot(s) as a BOT to users and Network Staff via the /WHOIS command.

NationCHAT is different than other networks you may have used in the past. NationCHAT has no nickname registration services, which means that anyone may use any nick that is available at any time. However you can register a username. This has nothing to do with the nickname you choose to use. Usernames are used to log in to our channel service bot, X, and a registered username may be required to join some channels. To register a username, visit the Services live site new user registration page, or use /msg X hello on IRC and follow the steps.

To login to X with your username, use the command: /msg x@channels.nationchat.org login username password or /login username password.

To hide your hostname/IP address, see below. Note that you must log in with your username at least once every 60 days or the username will be deleted. Also note that the only way to logout is to /quit and reconnect, and you may not be logged in from more than one nickname at a time.

While you are connected to NationCHAT, the +x usermode will change your host to the NationCHAT users hostname, your_username.users.nationchat.org. To do this, you must first be logged into X, then type: /mode your_nickname +x. For example, if your nickname were "jingle" you would type: /mode jingle +x. Note that this change is only "temporary" — if you are disconnected from NationCHAT, or if you /quit, you will need to login again and re-use this command.

To add a user to your channel's access list, use: /msg X adduser #channel username level. To remove a user from your channel's access list, use: /msg X remuser #channel username. Both commands require you to have an access level of 400 or more.

Yes, you can use Yahoo! Mail or other free email services to register a username, but it is not recommended. It is recommended that you use the email address assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider. Your email address will only be used to send you information regarding your account — for example for recovering a lost password — and never for unsolicited advertising or spam.

If your username has been suspended, email services [at] nationchat.org. Provide your username, email address, and verification question/answer, and ask for further information. While it usually takes only 24 hours or so to receive a response, you may have to wait as long as 3-5 days for an answer. You can join #help, the official channel of username registration help, for more information.

If you cannot log in to the Services live site, and you receive an error message saying something about cookies, you can try some of the following: (1) Make sure that your browser has cookies enabled — this varies from browser to browser, but is usually found under Options, Settings, or Preferences. (2) Delete all of your existing cookies. (3) Try to set your computer's date back 24 hours or more. Cookies usually have an expiration date, and this will cause your old cookie to expire, setting a new one when you visit the site.

If your username has been registered for at least one year, you can log in from multiple hosts. Visit the Services page, log in, and change your "max logins" to 2 or 3, depending on how long your username has been registered.

Immediately after you have registered a username.

+r is a channel mode which restricts the channel to "Registered Users Only", meaning that only users who are logged in to X can join the channel. If you are an operator, and you want a non-registered user to join your channel, you can "override" this mode with the /invite command: /invite nickname #channel. Also, if you are an operator in the channel, you can unset this mode with: /mode #channel -r.

The purpose of Services is to register well-established channels. In order to register your channel to receive the channel service bot X, visit the Services live site, log in with your username and password, then click on "Register A Channel" or use /msg X register #channelname on IRC. The channel registration process is instant.

There may be several reasons for this: (1) The channel may be moderated (channel mode +m) and you are not voiced/opped. (2) You may be banned on the channel and you do not have voice/op status. (3) You may not even be on the channel.

If your channel is subject to a Join/Part attack, try setting channel mode +r using /MODE #channel +r. If this does not stop the attack, try setting +i for a short time using /MODE #channel +i. Remember to deactivate +i or +r when the attack has stopped, else you will prevent some users from joining your channel. If you cannot stop the attack yourself after trying the possible methods above, come to #help and report the problem.

If you have an access level of at least 100, you can ask X to invite you to your channel. Issue the command: /msg X invite #channel. An invitation to a channel takes precedence over channel modes +i, +k, +l, and even +b.

If someone took over your channel, and you have logs to prove that the channel is yours, you will have to contact an IRC Operator in order to get the channel returned to you. Please bear in mind that there are only a few IRC Operators on NationCHAT, and usually they are very busy taking care of the network, so please be patient. Nagging them will NOT get you helped any faster!

Since there is no nickname registration on NationCHAT, nicknames are not owned. Everybody is free to use whatever nickname is available. You can politely ask the person that is using the nick to change it, or wait for that person to disconnect. To avoid this problem in the future, try choosing a unique nickname.

What you need to understand is that channel ops may kick or ban an individual for any reason or for no reason at all. The most you can do is to ask a channel op to unban you. To do that, type /who #channel or /names #channel and /msg or /query one of the channel ops (their nick will be prefixed by an @ symbol), and politely ask them to unban you. Note that if the channel is mode +s (secret), or the ops are usermode +i (invisible), you will not see their names displayed. #help cannot help to resolve these personal channel matters. If the channel is registered, you have access there, and the ban level is lower than your access level, you can unban yourself with: /msg X unban #channel yournick.

A share of the NationCHAT staff are called IRC Operators or Administrators. Administrators are responsible for their servers, and they have a bunch of IRC Operators working under them. Both appear to users as IRC Operators. IRC Operators (often referred to as "opers" or "ircops") are above normal users/staff members in such a way that they have more power. They are on the network to ensure the stability of the network and to help users with problems that regular staff members can’t help with. It is generally a bad idea to argue with an IRC Operator.

To find an IRC Operator, switch to your status window and type: /who 0 o or ask in #help. Where the first 0 is numeric "zero". If there are any visible IRC Operators online, a list of them is printed, and those with an "H" by their nick are "here", that is, not away. Once you have found one that is marked as "here", politely message them and explain your problem, then wait patiently for an answer. Remember that IRC Operators volunteer their time to make NationCHAT a better place! Be courteous! Message an IRC Operator only if you have real problems such as takeovers or abuse. For general problems, ask in #help. You may also type /motd and read the text in your status window; often the server admin will list channels in their motd where you can find IRC Operator assistance.

You should read the NationCHAT Routing Committee’s Information for Applicants and FAQ.

If you are trying to connect to NationCHAT and the server tells you that you have been K-lined or G-lined it means that you have been banned from NationCHAT and the reason for that ban is ALWAYS sent out right after the server tells you that you are banned. Some scripts, bots and bouncers hide this reason, but the reason is always sent. The difference between a G-line and a K-line is that a G-line is network-wide and a K-line is for one server. So if you are K-lined, you can use some other server to connect to NationCHAT.

In this case, the reason you were banned, is that the server detected too many connections from your host/IP address. Depending on what server you are using, more than 2 simultaneous connections from the same host or IP address may be regarded as abuse. Often, the reason for this is the use of a bnc or shell that is shared among several users. Once the limit is reached, the host is automatically G:lined. This method is used to ensure the safety of the servers and to protect the users of NationCHAT from clones and floodbots. This G:line usually lasts one hour, so there is no need for you to get impatient. If, after one hour, you are still banned, you can email help [at] nationchat.org for help. Explain your problem, and include the exact error message from the server along with your IP address or hostname.

Yes, we do, but only on IPv6 enabled servers which you can find in the servers list with ipv6 in their address. By default, you will be able to hold up to 5 connections per /48 subnet, which is the normal subnet mask the ISP should have given you. If that is not the case and your ISP has given you a different subnet mask, please join #help stating this problem, your IP address, subnet mask and ISP. The staff will make an exception for this specific ISP.

identd is an old protocol that servers used to identify which user on a shared system was connecting to them. Nowadays, it is most often used to weed out clones and floodbots from compromised machines (which usually don't have identd [the ident daemon] installed). Some servers require that your computer respond to an ident request, and if the server doesn't receive a reply, it won't allow you to connect. Problems with identd usually stem from two sources: (1) Your identd is turned off. (2) You are behind a firewall or NAT router. In the first case, if you are using mIRC, just issue the following command: /identd on myusername. In the second case, you still need to have identd enabled, but you must also open TCP port 113 on your router or firewall. As a last resort, you can try to find another NationCHAT server, one that doesn't require identd.

To correct DCC SEND problems in mIRC, try the following: (1) In the File menu, select Options. (2) Under the Connect item, select Local Info. (3) Clear the text in the boxes marked Local Host and IP Address. (4) Check the box Local Host under "On connect, always get". (5) Check the box marked Server under "Lookup method". (6) Disconnect, then connect to IRC again. If you use Windows XP, try to disable your XP firewall (or any other firewalls that you might have installed on your PC) for the moment, send, and then reactivate the firewall. If you use a router, open a range of ports in your router, for example 5000-5009, then change the default mIRC DCC port in View / Connect / Options / Advanced to the same numbers.

There are several symbols you may see prefixed to channel names in a user's WHOIS. These are: @#channel (the user has operator status in the channel), +#channel (the user has voice status in the channel), <#channel (the user is invisible in a channel with channel mode +D or +d set), and -#channel (the user has user mode +d (deaf) set, and won't receive channel messages).

A list of common quit messages and what they mean is shown below.