The EFNet Frequently Asked Questions - By Disciple

The Official and most recent copy can be obtained from:

http://www.irchelp.org/ircd/efnetfaq.html

All other copies may be old and/or obsolete.

Last Updated: May 30, 2002


Many of the answers to these questions were obtained from http://www.irchelp.org/ and http://www.the-project.org/efnet/opermyth.html. Most of these questions are answered elsewhere, but not all in one place, hence this text. These are the questions that I’ve seen asked multiple times, and instead of sending people to a bunch of different places, I decided to compile them into one text. This text will become more detailed as time goes on, but if I have left anything out, or I have made a mistake, you may /msg me (Disciple) on efnet.

This FAQ may be distributed freely. You may use parts from it for anything else, or for another FAQ, as long as due credit is given.


QUESTION INDEX:

1. What are servers I can run bots on?

2. Why can’t I register a channel or nickname?

3. Can an IRC Operator help me with a taken over channel or opless channel? and/or What is CHANFIX?

4. My channel is opless and there are a few idle people in there, can an operator get rid of them for us?

5. How do I find an active operator?

6. How do I see a list of all the operators on the server I’m on?

7. I was killed and I want to know why, but when I ask no one gives me an answer or tells me to go away.

8. what are all the /stats commands I can use?

9. What are all the user modes and what do they do?

10. Will operators kill spammers and flooders?

11. Will operators kill or kline for my nick?

12. I was talking to someone and they changed their nick. Can an operator tell me what their new nick is?

13. Will operators kill or kline because someone is “nuking” me?

14. Is there a way I can see operwalls without being an operator?

15. How do I become an IRC Operator?

16. How do I link my own efnet server?

17. New server guidelines clarification.

18. Where can I get the actual IRC server itself?

19. Where can I get Hybserv?

20. If I decide to send in a server application, where will the discussion and voting of it take place?

21. Are there any other mailing lists like the Routing one?

22. What is a TCM, and what is a TCM Oper?

23. Where can I get TCM Dianora and help/information about it?

24. Where can I get OOMon and help/information about it?

25. What are the new features in Hybrid6?

26. Someone has banned be from a channel, is there anything an oper can do?

27. I need help setting up my irc server, will someone help me?

28. I’m looking for a small irc network to chat and maybe link a server to. Where can I find one?

29. What is timestamp and what does it do?

30. When I do /list I get disconnected. What can I do to see a list of channels?

31. What is a wallop/operwall and a locop message?

32. Someone is bothering/spamming/flooding/etc. me, and there are no active opers on the server they are on. What do I do?

33. I would like to find out more about efnet and how it’s run. Where can I find this information?


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Question 1:

Q: What are servers I can run bots on?

A: Most servers allow non-abusive bots. To check which servers allow (non- abusive) bots, do /motd [server name here] and look for their bot policies.

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Question 2:

Q: Why can’t I register a channel or nickname?

A: It is a common belief on efnet that nicks and channels are not owned. They are simply “occupied” or “in use”. The debate whether to add services to efnet has gone on for many years, but there are no services on efnet, and there probably never will be services. If you would like an irc server with services, dalnet offers both chanserv and nickserv.

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Question 3:

Q: Can an IRC Operator help me with a taken over channel or opless channel?

A: It depends. If your channel was taken over by people whom you’ve never seen, then IRC Operators may be able to assist you in getting your channel back.

EFnet has a service called “CHANFIX” that keeps a record of the top 10 ops in a channel over a recent period of time. If a channel becomes opless, CHANFIX will automatically join the channel and re-op the correct ops, based on the record of who’s been op’d longest previously.

If a “normal op” (someone who is usually op’d in a channel) decides to “take control” of a channel - it is an internal matter and no IRC Operator can help you in this instance.

If you believe you need assistance with CHANFIX, please see the CHANFIX guide which contains more information on how CHANFIX works and how to seek help with it.

If you need an IRC Operator to have a CHANFIX issued, please /stats p [your server] and /msg the least idle operator for assistance.

Please note that IRC Operators and Administrators can NOT choose who to op. Who CHANFIX op’s is dependent upon who has been op’d previously.

For more information on services.int and CHANFIX, please see the following:

CHANFIX guide at

http://www.demolished.org/qurve/efnet/jupes- faq.txt

https://voting.blackened.com/pastvotes/index.shtml

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Question 4:

Q: My channel is opless - what do I do?

A: If your channel becomes opless, CHANFIX should automatically join your channel and op the correct ops based on the recorded scores (see question #3). If for some reason, CHANFIX does not join an opless channel, please do /stats p [your server here] and /msg an active operator for assistance.

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Question 5:

Q: How do I find an active operator?

A: use “/stats p [irc server]”. The number by the operators name tells you how long, in seconds, they have been idle.

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Question 6:

Q: How do I see a list of all the operators on the server I’m on?

A: “/stats o” will show you the list of all the operators in the conf file. If the server is running tcm-hybrid you may also see the TCM Operators. Some servers have disables users ability to do “/stats o”. If this is the case, you will not be able to easily obtain an oper list from that server. Question Index

Question 7:

Q: I was killed and I want to know why, but when I ask no one gives me an answer or tells me to go away.

A: If you were killed, you were either pissing someone off or breaking one or more of the servers rules. Read the servers /motd to see if you were in violation of any of their rules. Operators do not have to answer for their actions to users however. EFNet is a private network, run by private servers and not a democracy. If however you feel an operator was out of line, feel free to do “/admin [irc server]” and contact their Administrators.

Question Index

Question 8:

Q: What are all the /stats commands I can use?

A: The modes are (use /stats [letter]):

   (Some of these are no longer available to non-opers)
      ?	  Server connection statistics
      b   B-lines
      c	  C/N-lines
      d	  D-lines
      e	  E-lines
      h   H/L-lines
      i	  I-lines
      k	  K-lines
      l	  Data transfer statistics by connection
          The numeric fields are as follows:
                  sendQ (outgoing message queue)
		  sendM (protocol messages sent)
                  sendK (total kilobytes sent)
	          receiveM (protocol messages received)
                  receiveK (total kilobytes received)
		  time in seconds since the connection was created
      L	  Same as STATS l, except shows IP address instead of host
      m	  Command statistics
      o	  O/o-lines
      p	  Current opers online
      t	  General server statistics
      u	  Server uptime
      v	  Server link information
      y   Y-lines
      z	  More server statistics

For more information see ircopguide section: VIII. Server Information Commands (TRACE, STATS, LINKS, and HTM), or the documentation included in ircd-hybrid. For more information on what some of these modes do see section: VII. IRCD and Associated Files on the same page.

Question Index

Question 9:

Q: What are all the user modes and what do they do?

A: Below are the usermodes for ircd-hybrid at the time of this FAQ.

      +O - Designates this client is a local IRC Operator.
           Use the /oper command to attain this.
      +o - Designates this client is a global IRC Operator.
           Use the /oper command to attain this.
      +i - Designates this client 'invisible'.
      +w - Can see server wallops.
    * +z - Can see oper wallops (operwalls).
      +s - Can see generic server messages and oper kills.
    * +c - Can see client connections and exits.
    * +r - Can see 'rejected' client notices.
      +k - Can see server kill messages.
    * +f - Can see 'I-line is full' notices.
    * +y - Can see stats/links/admin requests to name a few.
    * +d - Can see server debug messages.
    * +n - Can see client nick changes.
    * +b - Can see possible bot warnings.
    * +x - Can see new server introduction and server split
           messages.

    * Oper-Only usermodes

Question Index

Question 10:

Q: Will operators kill spammers and flooders?

A: Usually. If you /whois the spammer/flooder, /stats p [the server they are on], and /msg an active oper, they will usually handle them.

Question Index

Question 11:

Q: Will operators kill or kline for my nick?

A: No. It is a general belief that nicks are not owned on efnet.

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Question 12:

Q: I was talking to someone and they changed their nick. Can an operator tell me what their new nick is?

A: No. Not only would this be an invasion of privacy, but it is outside the realm of IRC Operators duties.

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Question 13:

Q: Will operators kill or kline because someone is “nuking” or “DoS’ing” me?

A: Usually Not. All logs are fakable, and it is in IRC Operators and Administrators best interests to stay out of user-to-user disagreements.

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Question 14:

Q: Is there a way I can see operwalls without being an operator?

A: No. Only IRC Operators can see them.

Question Index

Question 15:

Q: How do I become an IRC Operator?

A: In short, you don’t. Becoming an IRC Operator requires not only a strong working knowledge of IRC and this IRC network, but also a working relationship with server admins and other opers. Opers are selected when there is a need, and never given based on who is asking for it. See ircopguide section VI for more details.

Question Index

Question 16:

Q: How do I link my own efnet server?

A: A general rule of thumb is, if you have to ask “how”, you’re probably not ready to run an efnet server. If you do not already know how efnet works, and how to link a server, it is a pretty safe bet that your server will not be linked. Never the less, if you feel you are ready, the new server guidelines and server application are at ftp://ftp.blackened.com/pub/irc/new-server- guidelines.

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Question 17:

Q: In the new server guidelines, it says “it is in the applicant’s best interest to do some homework on what applications have been approved in the past and which ones haven’t and, more importantly, why they were approved or denied.” What does this mean, and where can I find this information?

A: This means you need to go through some of the applications that have been submitted and see what works and what doesn’t. You can view past applications at http://www.the-project.org/efnet/votes/closed.votes/, and the discussion about them at http://www.the-project.org/routing/.

Question Index

Question 18:

Q: Where can I get the actual IRC server itself?

A: Hybrid is archived at ftp://ftp.blackened.com/pub/irc/hybrid/, and IRCD Comstud is archived at http://www.codestud.com/ircd/.

Question Index

Question 19:

Q: Where can I get Hybserv?

A: http://www.srce.hr/~kreator/projects/tarballs/.

Question Index

Question 20:

Q: If I decide to send in a server application, where will the discussion and voting of it take place?

A: The Routing List. It is archived at http://www.the- project.org/routing/current/. Most of efnets routing/connection “issues” are discussed there.

Question Index

Question 21:

Q: Are there any other mailing lists like the Routing one?

A: Yes. There is the IRC3 mailing list that is archived at http://www.the- project.org/ircd/, and (the old) Operlist which is at http://www.the-project.org/operlist/current/threads.html.

Question Index

Question 22:

Q: What is a TCM, and what is a TCM Oper?

A: TCM stands for Texas Connection Monitor. It is a connection monitor bot. It checks for clones, flooders, and other abusive clients. A TCM Oper is someone with oper access to this bot. A TCM Oper has the same power as a local oper, with the exception that they cannot /squit or /connect their server.

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Question 23:

Q: Where can I get TCM-hybrid and help/information about it?

A: http://www.ircd-hybrid.org/tcm/.

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Question 24:

Q: Where can I get OOMon and help/information about it?

A: http://toast.blackened.com/oomon/.

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Question 25:

Q: What are the new features in Hybrid-6?

A: A list of all the new features and changes in Hybrid-6 are available at hybrid6, or in the ircd-hybrid documentation.

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Question 26:

Q: Someone has banned be from a channel, is there anything an oper can do?

A: No. EFnet IRC Operators do not have any kind of “special” control over other peoples channels. This is something you will have to work out with the the channel ops of that channel.

Question Index

Question 27:

Q: I need help setting up my irc server, will someone help me?

A: If you need help setting up, your irc server, try reading the help files first, and if you still need help after that, try asking on the ircd-hybrid mailing list.

Question Index

Question 28:

Q: I’m looking for a small irc network to chat and maybe link a server to. Where can I find one?

A: There is a list of IRC networks by size at networks.

Question Index

Question 29:

Q: What is timestamp and what does it do?

A: Timestamp is a protocol which disallows netsplit ops and channel desynchs. EFnet has implemented TS5, which makes it impossible for any user (Oper or “normal user”) to “hack” ops in a channel via a server split. For more information on TS5, see https://voting.blackened.com/docs/ts5.txt.

Question Index

Question 30:

Q: When I do /list I get disconnected. What can I do to see a list of channels?

A: Use the efnet channel list at http://www.efnet.org/index.php?p=channels.

Question Index

Question 31:

Q: What is a wallop/operwall and a locop message?

A: A Wallop has been made obsolete on EFnet. An Operwall, is a message that is sent to all other opers on the entire network. Only operators can see these messages. A locop is the same thing, but it only sends the message to the opers on the same server you are currently connected to.

Question Index

Question 32:

Q: Someone is bothering/spamming/flooding/etc. me, and there are no active opers on the server they are on. What do I do?

A: Opers generally will not kill or kline someone if they are merely “bothering” you, but if somone is spamming and/or flooding and there are no active operators on the server to take care of them. The best thing you can do is /ignore them until either an oper becomes active or they /quit.

Question Index

Question 33:

Q: I would like to find out more about efnet and how it’s run. Where can I find this information?

A: The easiest way to learn how efnet works is to just stick around. It takes time, but reading these url’s will give you a “heads up”. Some of these url’s have been stated in above questions. Think of it as a basic overview/crash course/reference guide, of how things work on efnet.

http://www.efnet.org/ - Official EFNet Website

http://www.the-project.org/efnet/opermyth.html - List of what efnet opers do and don’t do (IRC Bible)

http://www.the-project.org/routing/current/ - US Routing archive

http://www.the-project.org/ircd/current/ - IRC3 Mailing list

efnetfaq - EFnet FAQ (This Document)

ircopguide - A basic but very informative guide for irc operators

ftp://ftp.blackened.com/pub/irc/new-server- guidelines - New server guidelines and server application

http://www.efnet.org/ircdb/servers.php EFNet servers and stats

http://www.ircd-hybrid.org/tcm/ - tcm- dianora help and information

http://www.toast.blackened.com/oomon/ - OOMon help and information

http://www.efnet.org - Misc. EFNet information

Question Index