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ElixIRCd

Glossary

A

Section titled “A”

Account A registered identity in NickServ, consisting of a nickname, password, and associated metadata. Multiple connections can share the same account simultaneously.

AUTHENTICATE The IRC command used during SASL authentication to exchange credentials with the server.

Away A user state indicating the user is not actively present. Set with the AWAY command. Shown in WHOIS and NAMES replies.

B

Section titled “B”

Ban (+b) A channel list mode that prevents users matching a hostmask from joining. Bans are stored persistently for registered channels.

Ban Exception (+e) A channel list mode that exempts a specific hostmask from matching bans.

BEAM The Erlang virtual machine on which Elixir (and ElixIRCd) runs. Known for high concurrency, fault tolerance, and low-latency process scheduling.

C

Section titled “C”

CAP The IRC capability negotiation command. Clients use CAP LS, CAP REQ, CAP ACK, and CAP END to negotiate IRCv3 features with the server.

ChanServ The channel services bot. Manages registered channel ownership, access lists, settings, and persistence.

Cloak / Cloaking Replacing a user’s real IP address or hostname with a hashed, masked version (+x mode). Protects user privacy.

Cloak Key The secret HMAC key used to generate hostname cloaks. Must be kept private.

CTCP Client-to-Client Protocol. A set of conventions for sending structured data over IRC PRIVMSG/NOTICE. Common uses: VERSION, TIME, PING. The +C channel mode disables CTCP.

D

Section titled “D”

DNS Lookup During the connection handshake, ElixIRCd performs a reverse DNS lookup on the connecting IP to determine the user’s hostname.

E

Section titled “E”

ERR_SASLFAIL (904) Numeric reply sent when SASL authentication fails (wrong credentials, TLS required, too many attempts).

G

Section titled “G”

GECOS The “real name” field in a user’s identity, set via the USER command or updated with SETNAME. Historically stands for General Electric Comprehensive Operating System, but in IRC context simply means the user’s display name.

Ghost A stale connection holding a nickname. The NickServ GHOST command disconnects it.

H

Section titled “H”

Handshake The process of completing a new IRC connection: CAP negotiation, SASL (optional), NICK, USER, async DNS/ident, then the welcome sequence (001–004, LUSERS, ISUPPORT, MOTD).

Hostmask The nick!ident@host string identifying an IRC user. Used in ban masks, access lists, and oper configurations.

I

Section titled “I”

Ident / Identd A protocol (RFC 1413) where the server queries the client’s machine on port 113 to verify the username. ElixIRCd performs this lookup during the connection handshake.

Invite-Only (+i) A channel mode requiring users to be invited before joining.

IRCop / IRC Operator A user with elevated server-level privileges, obtained via the OPER command. Can disconnect users, broadcast messages, reload config, etc.

IRCv3 A set of modern IRC protocol extensions built on top of RFC 2812. Includes capabilities, message tags, SASL, and more. See IRCv3.net.

ISUPPORT (005) A numeric sent during the welcome sequence advertising server feature tokens (e.g., CHANTYPES=#, MODES=4, MAXCHANNELS=20).

L

Section titled “L”

List Mode A channel mode that maintains a list of entries (ban +b, exception +e, invex +I). Multiple entries can be added with repeated MODE commands.

M

Section titled “M”

Mnesia The distributed database system built into OTP/Erlang, used by ElixIRCd to store registered users, channels, and access lists.

MONITOR An IRCv3 command for efficiently tracking user presence (online/offline notifications). More efficient than WATCH (legacy).

MOTD Message of the Day. Sent to users during the welcome sequence. Displayed with /motd.

N

Section titled “N”

Nick collision When a user tries to take a nick already in use. The server sends 433 ERR_NICKNAMEINUSE.

NickServ The nickname services bot. Manages nickname registration, authentication, and account settings.

O

Section titled “O”

O-line An oper configuration entry. Short for “Operator line,” from traditional IRC server config file syntax.

P

Section titled “P”

PRIVMSG The primary IRC command for sending messages — to channels (PRIVMSG #channel :text) or users (PRIVMSG Nick :text).

R

Section titled “R”

Registered (+r) A user mode set by the server when a user is authenticated. Channels with +R or +M modes check for this flag.

REHASH An operator command that reloads the server configuration file without restarting.

S

Section titled “S”

SASL Simple Authentication and Security Layer. A framework for authentication. ElixIRCd supports SASL PLAIN over the IRC AUTHENTICATE command.

Server Notice A message from the server to operators with +s mode, reporting events like new connections or rate limit violations.

Services Bot programs (NickServ, ChanServ) that provide nickname and channel management features. In ElixIRCd, services are built into the server process.

STS Strict Transport Security. An IRCv3 capability that tells clients to always connect over TLS. Non-requestable — informational only.

T

Section titled “T”

ThousandIsland The TCP/TLS socket library used by ElixIRCd for plain IRC connections.

Token Bucket The algorithm used by ElixIRCd’s rate limiter. Users accumulate tokens over time and spend them on messages. When tokens run out, messages are throttled.

TLS Transport Layer Security. Encrypts the IRC connection. Use port 6697 for TLS IRC.

U

Section titled “U”

Umodes User modes. Flags applied to a specific user’s connection. See User Modes.

V

Section titled “V”

Vhost Virtual host. Another term for a cloaked hostname (see Cloak).

W

Section titled “W”

WebIRC A mechanism allowing trusted gateways to pass the real client IP address to the server via the WEBIRC command.

WebSocket A bidirectional protocol over HTTP that allows browsers to maintain persistent connections. ElixIRCd supports IRC over WebSocket (:ws) and WebSocket+TLS (:wss).

Z

Section titled “Z”

Z-Line Not implemented in ElixIRCd (would be a server-wide IP ban). Use firewall rules for IP-level blocking.