Accounts & Registration

Overview

ElixIRCd has a built-in account system through its integrated NickServ service. Accounts are tied to registered nicknames.

Key concepts:

• An account is a registered nickname with a password
• One account per nickname (no grouping in the current version)
• Accounts expire after 90 days of inactivity (configurable)
• Accounts survive server restarts only if Mnesia is configured with disk persistence

Registering a Nickname

/msg NickServ REGISTER <password> [email]

Example:

/msg NickServ REGISTER mysecretpass user@example.com

Requirements:

• Password minimum length: 6 characters (configurable)
• Email: optional by default (configurable as required)
• Connection age: server may require you to be connected for a minimum time (wait_register_time, default: 120 seconds)

If email is provided and email verification is configured, you’ll receive a verification code. Verify with:

/msg NickServ VERIFY <nickname> <code>

Note

If email_required: false (the default), you can register without an email. In that case, no verification is needed and the nick is immediately active.

Identifying (Logging In)

Once registered, identify yourself each time you connect:

# Using your current nick (if it matches the registered nick)
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY <password>

# Using a different nick
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY <registered_nick> <password>

After successful identification:

• Your user mode changes to +r (Registered)
• Your identified_as is set to the registered nickname
• Clients with ACCOUNT-NOTIFY will see your account name

SASL Authentication (Pre-Registration)

A better approach is SASL PLAIN authentication, which logs you in before your connection completes. Configure this in your IRC client using the SASL mechanism PLAIN with your registered nickname and password.

See SASL Authentication for details.

Logging Out

/msg NickServ LOGOUT

This removes the +r mode and clears your identification. Does not disconnect you.

Note

If you authenticated via SASL, you’ll see a message saying to use LOGOUT before re-identifying with IDENTIFY.

Nick Protections

When someone else is using your registered nickname:

# Disconnect the ghost (another session using your nick)
/msg NickServ GHOST <nickname> <password>

# Forcefully recover your nick and reserve it temporarily
/msg NickServ RECOVER <nickname> <password>

# Regain your nick from another user (reserves it temporarily)
/msg NickServ REGAIN <nickname> <password>

# Release a nick you've reserved (from REGAIN/RECOVER)
/msg NickServ RELEASE <nickname>

GHOST — disconnects a connection that is using your nick with the message “This nickname is owned by someone else”.

RECOVER — disconnects the other user using your nick and reserves it for recover_reservation_duration seconds (default: 60s). During this time, only you can claim the nick.

REGAIN — similar to RECOVER but also changes your current nick to the recovered nick immediately.

RELEASE — releases a reserved nickname before the reservation expires.

Dropping a Nickname

/msg NickServ DROP <nickname> <password>

Permanently removes the registration. This cannot be undone.

Account Settings

Adjust your account settings with NickServ SET:

/msg NickServ SET HIDEMAIL ON   # Hide your email in NickServ INFO
/msg NickServ SET HIDEMAIL OFF  # Show your email in NickServ INFO

Access Lists

The access list allows automatic identification from trusted hostmasks:

/msg NickServ ACCESS ADD *!*@trusted.host.com
/msg NickServ ACCESS DEL *!*@trusted.host.com
/msg NickServ ACCESS LIST

Users connecting from a hostmask that matches an entry in the access list are automatically identified without needing to provide a password.

Checking Registration Status

# Check if a nick is registered (and if you're identified)
/msg NickServ STATUS [nickname1 nickname2 ...]

Returns a status for each nick:

• 0 — Not registered
• 1 — Registered but not currently online
• 2 — Online but not identified
• 3 — Online and identified

Viewing Account Info

/msg NickServ INFO <nickname>

Shows: registration date, last seen date, email (unless hidden), and other details.

The +r Mode and Channel Access

Several channel modes interact with account registration:

Mode	Effect
+R (channel)	Only registered users (+r) may join
+M (channel)	Only registered users may speak
+R (user)	Only registered users may PRIVMSG you

Users without +r cannot join +R channels or speak in +M channels.

Channel Registration

See the ChanServ documentation for channel registration details.