IRCHelper.co.uk
Please note: This information is *not* guaranteed 100% correct - please email me any errors.

Services are provided to make your IRC'ing life more enjoyable. This file is to help answer any questions you may have about nickname services. If you have questions which are not answered in this document, please contact your IRC network.

Please note that all commands for services need a / in front of the command, such as:

/msg nickserv identify <password> or /msg nickserv register <password>. These commands will NOT work without the / prefixing it.   Remember that the shortcut '/ns' can be used for '/msg nickserv'

Information contained inside brackets <> are items where YOU determine what should be typed; for example, in the command /msg nickserv register <password>, you would substitute the password you have chosen. DO NOT type the brackets <>.

Nickserv:

Nickserv is used to "register" a nickname, preventing others from using it unless they have the password. If the nick is not used and identified to within 14 (or whatever your network is set to) days, the nickserv registration will expire, allowing other people to register and use that nickname.

Nickserv Commands:

For general Nickserv help, type /msg nickserv help. Abuse of NickServ may result in the loss of the abusing nickname(s).

Register:

/msg nickserv register <password>
example: /msg nickserv register peanuts
This would register the nickname with a password of "peanuts."

This will register your nickname in the NickServ database. You may want to write your password down, in case you happen to forget it, as you will need it to identify your nick or set different options. Note that case is important: "Mynick", "MyNick," and "MYNick" are all considered different passwords.

Suggested Guidelines for choosing passwords:
*Your password should be at least 5 characters long
*Passwords can not include spaces
*You should NOT use your nickname as its password - NickServ will not allow this anyway.
*Don't use easy to guess passwords such as 123456
*Generally, the most secure passwords are those composed of random letters and numbers such as w1q4o7z10b6v

Identify:

/msg nickserv identify <your password>
example: /msg nickserv identify peanuts
This would identify you as the owner of the nickname, provided that the password is "peanuts"

Once you have registered a nickname, you will need to "identify" each time you use it. By doing this, nickserv will recognize you as the owner of the nickname, allowing you to retrieve memos, be op'd by chanserv in channels which you have chanserv access and login to the MUD. You will be unable to utilize these services if you have not identified the nickname.

A shortcut /id <password> can be used as well.

If you do not want to type /msg nickserv identify <your password> each time you use your nick, it is not suggested to have it performed on connect, as a security precaution. If you are looking for a quick way to identify to your nickname, and are using mIRC, create an alias with a line like:
/id msg nickserv identify <your password>
This alias will identify you to nickserv when you type /id
If you want to set up an alias in BitchX:
/alias ns /msg nickserv identify <password>
/saveirc

Ghost:

/msg nickserv ghost <nickname> <password>
example: /msg nickserv ghost mynickname peanuts
This will terminate "mynickname"s IRC session, provided the password is "peanuts."
The nickname you are "ghosting" must be registered for this to work.

A "ghost" happens when the person is not really connected to IRC but for some reason, the IRC servers think it is. This usually happens when you get disconnected (through lag) or your computer crashes.

Info:

/msg nickserv info <nickname>
example: /msg nickserv info mynickname
This will show you information on "mynickname," provided it is a registered nickname.

This feature will show you information on a nickname which is registered. This information includes:
1. Real name
2. Last seen address
3. URL as set by user
4. Contact (email/icq number) as set by user
5. The time the nick was registered
6. Last seen time
7. Options as set by user

A /msg nickserv info mynickname would look some thing like this:

"..as set by user" are different options which the user has set, using the set nickserv command. See SET for more information on options you can set on your nickname.

List:

/msg nickserv list <nick!user@host>
example: /msg nickserv list *!mynick@here.net
This will list all registered nicks which are currently owned by mynick@here.net
Example: /msg nickserv list *!*@here.net
This will list all registered nicks which are owned by users in the "here.net" domain

The list nickserv command can be used to find the registered nicks that match your specifications.
Example: /msg nickserv list *dockernet.com would produce:

This shows you all of the REGISTERED nicks that are owned by users in the "dockernet.com" domain.

Access:

/msg nickserv access list
This would list the access nick for that particular nick name.
/msg nickserv access add mask
This would add a mask to a nick name's access list. If for example you wanted to add "letsee" to your access list and needed their 'mask,' type /whois letsee if they are currently on IRC or /msg nickserv info letsee if they are not but have registered their nickname.
/whois information looks like this:

The bold part is 'letsee's address. To add this to access, type /msg nickserv access add *!*mynick@*.btinternet.com
You would put a * in place of "dwave-38485" as this is the virtual host determined by virtual world.

/msg nickserv access del <mask>
This will DELETE a mask from the access list. To find which masks are on your access list, type /msg nickserv access list

Set:

/msg nickserv set <option> <parameter>
Example: /msg nickserv set kill on This would set the KILL feature of nickserv on for that particular nickname.

Set allows you to turn different options on or off. These options include:

KILL:
/msg nickserv set kill on
This turns the KILL feature on for a particular nick.
/msg nickserv set kill off
This turns the KILL feature off for a particular nick.
If this feature is set ON, it will give a user one minute to either identify to the nick name or change to another nick. If they have not identified or changed their nick within one minute, NickServ will remove them from IRC.

SECURE:
/msg nickserv set secure on
This turns the SECURE feature on for a particular nick.
/msg nickserv set secure off
This turns the SECURE feature off for a particular nick.
If the SECURE feature is set on, you will not be recognized as the owner of that particular nick, regardless of if your address is on the access list. If your address IS on the access list, however, you will not be automatically killed, regardless of if you have KILL set on. This is helpful if you don't want to identify each time you use your nick, provided your address is on the access list. Often, both secure and kill are set on for optimum security. (See Nickserv: Access for more information on 'access lists'.)

PASSWORD:
/msg nickserv set password <new password>
For example, if you wanted to change your password to 'peanuts,' you would type /msg nickserv set password peanuts.
This would change your password to peanuts. It is advised to change your password frequently.

CONTACT:
/msg nickserv set contact <contact>
Usually, 'contact' would be your email address. To set your email address, type
/msg nickserv set contact me@here.net
This would make your email address available to any one who does an INFO on your nick. If you don't want your email address easily accessible to others, do not set it as your contact. As an alternative to setting your email address as your contact information, you may want to set an ICQ UIN: /msg nickserv set contact ICQ:#111111
Your contact information will show up here:
/msg nickserv info mynickname would look some thing like this:

URL:
/msg nickserv set url http://www.mywebpage.com
This would set your url information to http://www.mywebpage.com.

Again, your URL information will be accessible to any one who does an info on your nick. If you do not want this information to be seen by any one doing an info on your nick, do not set this feature.

Release:

/msg nickserv release <nick> <password>
Example: /msg nickserv release mynickname peanuts
This would release the services hold on the nickname 'mynickname,' provided the nickname's password is 'peanuts.'

A services hold on a nickname is placed after nickserv has killed some one using a nick that had 'kill' set ON and did not identify or on a nick which someone used recover on. The hold on a nick is one minute but this can be shortened by using the release command. For the release command to work, your address must be in that nick's access list.

Recover:

/msg nickserv recover <nick> <password>
Example: /msg nickserv recover mynickname peanuts
This would recover a mynickname from a user using it, provided the nickname's password is 'peanuts.'

The recover feature of nickserv allows you to recover your nick name from someone who is currently using it. This is like the KILL feature, which has to be set on, with the exception that recover can not be 'set' on and some one needs to type /msg nickserv recover <nick> <password> in order for it to take effect, while kill is automatic after one minute.
When you use this command, services will 'hold' your nick to prevent the other user from immediately connecting and using your nick again. This hold will last one minute, after which u may use your nick, or use the release command to shorten this wait.
In order for the recover command to work, your address (found by /whois <nick>) must be in the access list for the nick you are attempting to recover.

Drop:

/msg nickserv drop

This command will 'drop' a nickname from nickserv's database. This will mean that any one can register it. In order for this to work, you must first identify to the nick, then drop it. Note: Once you have dropped the nickname, it is up for any one to register it. An IRCop will not be able to give you your nick back after you have dropped it and some one has registered it so bare this in mind.