ElixIRCd Documentation

ElixIRCd is an open-source IRC server daemon written in Elixir, running on the Erlang VM (BEAM). It implements the standard IRC protocol (RFC 1459 / RFC 2812) with full IRCv3 support, built-in services (NickServ and ChanServ), TLS/WebSocket listeners, and modern security features.

Get Started

Quick Start Run ElixIRCd in minutes using Docker or from source.

Configuration Learn how to configure your server.

Connecting Clients Connect your first IRC client.

Feature Inventory Complete list of all implemented features.

Features

High Concurrency

Built on the Erlang VM. Handles thousands of simultaneous connections with lightweight BEAM processes and no shared-state locks.

Built-in IRC Services

NickServ and ChanServ are embedded — no external services process (Atheme, Anope) required. Accounts and channels survive restarts via Mnesia.

IRCv3 Capabilities

SASL PLAIN, message-tags, away-notify, extended-join, multi-prefix, server-time, msgid, account-notify, monitor, setname, chghost, and more.

TLS & WebSocket

Native TLS on port 6697. WebSocket support (plain and TLS) for browser clients like KiwiIRC and Gamja. All four transports can run simultaneously.

Hostname Cloaking

HMAC-based hostname masking (+x mode). Deterministic cloaks protect user privacy while keeping channel bans effective across sessions.

Rate Limiting

Token-bucket rate limiter at connection and message level, with per-command overrides, IP/mask exemptions, and configurable disconnect thresholds.

Reference Sections

Commands All IRC commands with syntax and behavior

User Modes All supported user mode flags

Channel Modes All supported channel mode flags

NickServ Nickname registration and account management

ChanServ Channel registration and settings

Configuration Reference Complete config file documentation

IRCv3 Capabilities Supported IRCv3 extensions

SASL Authentication SASL PLAIN flow and client setup

Supported IRC Protocol

Standard	Description
RFC 1459	Original IRC protocol
RFC 2810	IRC Architecture
RFC 2811	IRC Channel Management
RFC 2812	IRC Client Protocol
RFC 2813	IRC Server Protocol
RFC 7194	Default Port for IRC via TLS
IRCv3	Modern IRC extensions (capabilities, tags, SASL)

Transport & Ports

Transport	Default Port	Description
TCP	6667	Plain IRC
TLS	6697	IRC over TLS (recommended)
WebSocket	8080	IRC over WebSocket
WebSocket + TLS	8443	IRC over WebSocket + TLS

All ports are configurable. Multiple listeners of each type can run simultaneously.