IRC Basics - Update 4

[Fimus]

Here I will provide information to newer users. If any of it is wrong, please post correcting me. Everything I say relates to my favorite client mIRC, and that is what I will be discussing. There is a FAQ on the bottom, I'm still working on it. Please reply, so I know I didn't write all that for nothing

Safety
Safety is important in IRC. First, please be advised that you are very exposed on IRC. Everyone can access your information, getting your IP Address, ISP, and other things about you. Do not, however, worry about this. There's not much a hacker can do to you, and by not much I mean a really tiny amount, if that. To get someone's IP address, you must type /dns NickName (mIRC). To take an extra step to be secure, you may cloak your IP Address with a proxy server. A proxy works like this: It is a program, that sits on a remote computer waiting for connections from a certain port. When you connect to it, it lets you connect to an IRC server from it. Meaning, that you will have the computer's IP Address and identity. Here are a few proxy servers along with their ports:

68.44.83.222:1029
68.11.20.11:1029
24.11.21.51:1029
68.49.191.103:1029
68.108.139.223:1029
68.37.85.155:1029
24.210.243.99:1029
24.4.142.100:1029
68.0.71.23:1029
68.144.172.17:1029

In mIRC, go to Options, Firewall, for the Host Name type in one of those IP's and for the port type the port (I see it is mostly 1029). Choose Socks4 for the protocol. Then connect to your favorite IRC server. I believe those are annonymous proxies.

Huh? I just saw someone with a hostmark that looked like someone!someone@I.pwn.j00.co.uk, WTF?
This person probably owns the domain "j00.co.uk", and made subdomains of "pwn" and within that "I." Then, they just set up a proxy server and used that as the address.

Ping? Pong!
"What is this 'Ping? Pong!' I see in the status window?" is one of the most frequently asked questions that I see in help channels. I will answer it now. To know if you are still connected, the server sends your client a querry called Ping. It consists of the string "Ping" and then some numbers or something else. The client must reply back to the Ping request with the Pong reply. It consists of the text "Pong" and the same text that the server sent. The server then compares the one it sent with the one it received, and if they are the same, lets you maintain your connection. Otherwise, it drops you from the server. This is especially helpful with ghost connections, which you don't want. The ghost can't reply, so the server drops it. Example:
[Text in red is what the server sends]

PING :102151345
...PONG :102151345


PING :102151345
...Time elaspes
Connection to host lost.


Channels
An IRC channel is a "chat room" that you can create/enter/operate. Most are prefixed with #, but not all of them. It depends on the IRCd settings. When you join (/join #channelname) an empty channel, you will be the owner of it - you will have Ops mode +o.

While operator, you can do many things to the channel and the user relating to the channel. Most commonly, you can give them ops, giving them control; or you can give them voice. Voiced users can talk while the channel is in Moderated +m mode. All users without voice will not be able to talk. Some channel modes include +m, as mentioned above, +i makes it invite only, so that users can join only on invite (/invite NickName).

Some more common modes are +t, so that only operators can set the topic (/topic #channelname Topic Text), +n so that no one can message the channel without being in it, +l to make a limit as to how many users can enter the channel, and +p and +s, not showing your channel in your WHOIS and not showing the channel in the channel list (/list), respectively.

You can set mode +b, which is ban, to a user in several ways. The first way is by their nickname. This isn't very reliable since the user can change nicknames and come back. Another way is by hostmark. If you do a WHOIS on someone you want to ban, you will see something like xxxx!xxxx@xxxx.blah.host.net * blah. Take the @xxxx.blah.host.net part out of it and type /mode #channelname +b *!*@xxxx.blah.host.net.

Breakdown of the Hostmark
The hostmark consists of xxxx!xxxx@xxxx.blah.host.net. I will try to explain what that means. The part before the !, the xxxx!xxxx@xxxx.blah.host.net part, shows the user's nickname. The part after the ! and before the @, xxxx!xxxx@xxxx.blah.host.net, shows the person's Ident. The next part, the xxxx!xxxx@xxxx.blah.host.net part shows their host, and the ISP.

Upon Connection
Some people wander what this text means (the one that you get when you connect to a server):

Welcome to the Internet Relay Network Fimus!xxxx@xxx.host.net
Your host is irc2.us.ircnet.net, running version 2.11.0a3+fr
This server was created Wed Feb 25 2004 at 14:14:02 EST
irc2.us.ircnet.net 2.11.0a3+fr aoOirw abeiIklmnoOpqrRstv
RFC2812 PREFIX=(ov)@+ CHANTYPES=#&!+ MODES=3 CHANLIMIT=#&!+:25 NICKLEN=9 TOPICLEN=160 KICKLEN=160 MAXLIST=beI:30 CHANNELLEN=50 IDCHAN=!:5 CHANMODES=beIR,k,l,imnpstaqr are supported by this server
PENALTY FNC EXCEPTS=e INVEX=I CASEMAPPING=ascii NETWORK=IRCnet are supported by this server
8401ABJW6 your unique ID

Some of these, one by one:

• Welcome to the Internet Relay Network Fimus!xxxx@xxx.host.net - Welcomes you to IRC, addressing you by your hostmark (more above).
• Your host is irc2.us.ircnet.net, running version 2.11.0a3+fr - Tells you what server you are connected to, and what IRCd it is running.
• This server was created Wed Feb 25 2004 at 14:14:02 EST - When the server was created.
• irc2.us.ircnet.net 2.11.0a3+fr aoOirw abeiIklmnoOpqrRstv - What server modes the server has set.
• PREFIX=(ov)@+ - What prefixes certain modes have in a channel. (ov) says that @ will be displayed for ops and + for voiced users.
• CHANTYPES=#&!+ - Channels can start with #, &, !, or +. Example: #irc, &main, !news, and +mp3.
• NICKLEN=9 TOPICLEN=160 KICKLEN=160 - Nick name length, channel topic length, and kick message length, respectively.
• CHANMODES=beIR,k,l,imnpstaqr - What modes ops can set on a channel.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I join a channel? While using mIRC, type in /join #channelname
• I'm looking for a channel about "Cats," how do I find it? Type this /list *Cats*
• How do I send a message to a channel I'm not in? If the channel doesn't have mode +n set (more on top), you can type /msg #channel Your message.....
• In mIRC, can I be on two servers at once? Yes, you can. Just type /server -m irc.servername.net, and you can join another server without leaving the other one.
• Huh? I just got a message that wasn't shown in the channel. That is a notice, and you can do one by typing /notice NickName Your Message......, or you can type /notice #channel A message to send a notice to everyone in the channel.
• How do I find out the IP address of someone? Type /dns NickName.
• How do I find out someone's hostmark, or the server they are using? Type /whois NickName and you will see their information.

Client Downloads
mIRC
IRCle For MAC users.
Pirch Site down, added in case it will be up again.
XChat

The IRC RFC

That is it, for now... post what you think.

[Zargeus]

...and you must not forget for us Mac users, http://www.ircle.com

[Fimus]

Thank you, I will add that.