Commands Overview

ElixIRCd implements all core IRC protocol commands plus IRCv3 extensions. Commands are organized into functional groups.

Connection Commands

Command	Description
PASS	Set a connection password
NICK	Set or change nickname
USER	Set username and real name
CAP	IRCv3 capability negotiation
AUTHENTICATE	SASL authentication
PING	Test connection liveness
PONG	Reply to PING
QUIT	Disconnect from server
WEBIRC	WebIRC gateway identification

Channel Commands

Command	Description
JOIN	Join a channel (or create it)
PART	Leave a channel
MODE	Set/unset user or channel modes
TOPIC	Get or set channel topic
NAMES	List visible users in channel
LIST	List channels and topics
INVITE	Invite a user to a channel
KICK	Eject a user from a channel

Messaging Commands

Command	Description
PRIVMSG	Send a private message or channel message
NOTICE	Send a notice (no auto-reply)
TAGMSG	Send a message with tags but no text
AWAY	Set or clear away status

User Information Commands

Command	Description
WHOIS	Get info about a user
WHO	Search users
WHOWAS	Info about recently disconnected users
USERHOST	Get hostmask info for nicknames
USERS	List users on the server
ISON	Check if users are online
LUSERS	Server user count statistics
MONITOR	Track when users go online/offline

User Management Commands

Command	Description
ACCEPT	Manage Caller ID (+g) accept list
SILENCE	Manage ignore/silence list
SETNAME	Change your real name
CHGHOST	Change a user’s hostname (operators)

Server Information Commands

Command	Description
MOTD	Get the message of the day
VERSION	Get server version
STATS	Get server statistics
INFO	Get server info
TIME	Get server local time
TRACE	Trace route to user or server
ADMIN	Get server administrator info

Operator Commands

Command	Description
OPER	Become an IRC operator
KILL	Disconnect a user
WALLOPS	Broadcast to +w users
OPERWALL	Message to all operators
GLOBOPS	Global operator message
REHASH	Reload server configuration
RESTART	Restart the server
DIE	Shut down the server
ACCOUNT	Account change notification

IRCv3 Commands

Command	Description	Status
CAP	Capability negotiation	✅
AUTHENTICATE	SASL authentication	✅
TAGMSG	Tag-only messages	✅
WEBIRC	WebIRC gateway	✅
SETNAME	Change real name	✅
CHGHOST	Change hostname	✅
MONITOR	User tracking	✅
ACCOUNT	Account notification	✅

Note

The commands WHO with extended WHOX format, BATCH, echo-message, and labeled-response are not implemented in the current version.

Command Error Codes

When a command fails or has invalid parameters, the server responds with numeric error codes following the IRC protocol standard. Common errors:

Numeric	Name	Meaning
401	ERR_NOSUCHNICK	No such nick or channel
403	ERR_NOSUCHCHANNEL	No such channel
404	ERR_CANNOTSENDTOCHAN	Cannot send to channel
405	ERR_TOOMANYCHANNELS	Too many channels joined
411	ERR_NORECIPIENT	No recipient given
412	ERR_NOTEXTTOSEND	No text to send
421	ERR_UNKNOWNCOMMAND	Unknown command
432	ERR_ERRONEUSNICKNAME	Erroneous nickname
433	ERR_NICKNAMEINUSE	Nickname already in use
441	ERR_USERNOTINCHANNEL	User not in channel
442	ERR_NOTONCHANNEL	Not on channel
461	ERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS	Not enough parameters
462	ERR_ALREADYREGISTERED	Already registered
464	ERR_PASSWDMISMATCH	Wrong server password
471	ERR_CHANNELISFULL	Channel is full (+l)
473	ERR_INVITEONLYCHAN	Invite only (+i)
474	ERR_BANNEDFROMCHAN	Banned (+b)
475	ERR_BADCHANNELKEY	Wrong channel key (+k)
481	ERR_NOPRIVILEGES	Permission denied
482	ERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED	You’re not a channel operator
524	ERR_SECUREONLYCHAN	SSL required (+z)
900	RPL_LOGGEDIN	SASL login success
903	RPL_SASLSUCCESS	SASL authentication successful
904	ERR_SASLFAIL	SASL authentication failed
905	ERR_SASLTOOLONG	SASL message too long
906	ERR_SASLABORTED	SASL aborted
907	ERR_SASLALREADY	Already authenticated