1 Many of the old compile-time options are now configured through the
2 server configuration file, ircd.conf. This file is intended to
3 document each of these features. Logging, although also configured
4 through the use of Feature entries, is documented in doc/readme.log. NOTE
5 THAT THESE NAMES ARE CASE SENSITIVE! Values are not case sensitive
6 unless stated otherwise in the documentation for that feature.
10 * Default: picked by ./configure from /etc/resolv.conf
12 This option allows you to specify what you consider to be "local." It
13 is only used for statistics. When you issue the IRC command /STATS w,
14 the server will respond with statistics of how many clients have been
15 connecting to your server in the last minute, hour and day. It will
16 give these statistics for all connections (including the servers), all
17 clients (from anywhere) and also for clients whose hostname ends on
18 the domain you specify here. So if you are an ISP and you want to
19 know what the client load from your own domain is, specify that domain
20 here. If you are unsure what to do, then it isn't really important
21 what you give here, just don't give an empty string. A good guess is
22 the last two parts of your own hostname (i.e., if your hostname is
23 foo.bar.nowhere.org, specify "nowhere.org"). Note that the string you
24 give should NOT start with a "." and you should not use quotes.
30 You should really ONLY specify "TRUE" here when your system clock is
31 stable and accurate at all times (within a few seconds). If you are
32 running ntpdate on a regular basis, or an equivalent like xntpd, to
33 keep your system clock synchronized over the network, then you might
34 have an accurate clock. However, this is not guaranteed; for example,
35 it is known that xntpd gives unstable results on Linux in some cases.
36 Note that an unstable clock is worse then an clock that has a constant
37 offset, because the servers attempt to correct for a constant offset,
38 but do not correct jumps of your system clock! In general you SHOULD
39 be running ntpdate or equivalent AND make sure it works when you run a
40 production server on Undernet. Otherwise leave your clock alone and
41 specify "FALSE" here. If unsure specify "FALSE"!
47 This specifies the maximum amount of RAM that your server will
48 allocate for buffering sendQs. Small leafs can use a value as little
49 as 1000000, while large HUBs need to specify a value as high as
50 20000000. If you run out of memory, clients and/or servers are
51 dropped with the error "Buffer allocation error"; then you will have
52 to increase this number (and install more RAM if appropriate). If you
53 want a more educated guess for this value then realize that any value
54 is good if you _really_ would rather drop servers and clients than
55 allocate more memory; this will be the case when there is the danger
56 you may run out of memory for other allocations. Even if you run the
57 daemon on a dedicated machine, specifying all of the RAM you have is a
58 bad thing, because running out of memory is a lot worse than dropping
59 clients in a controlled way; if possible you should have memory left
60 for all the internal structures (channels, clients, ban lists, receive
61 buffers) at all times. On average, clients seem to use 150 bytes of
62 sendQ, but at peak moments this can easily increase to 2032 bytes per
63 client (sendQs are allocated in chunks of 2032 bytes). The maximum
64 possible amount that can be allocated for sendQs is the number of
65 connected clients times whatever you specified as the maximum sendQ in
66 your Class blocks in the ircd.conf file. That value will likely be larger
67 then the amount of RAM you have. The educated guess I talked about
68 earlier would be "number of clients" times * 2048 bytes + "size of
69 net.burst" * n, where "n" is 1 for leafs and up to 5 for HUBs. The
70 "size of net.burst" is about 125 bytes per online client (on the whole
71 network). For large HUBs with 4000 clients on a network with 30,000
72 users, this results in 27 Mb. Leafs could use 12 Mb. Of course you
73 can use less when you have less than 4000 local clients. This value
80 If you have a server with a lot of resources available, this option
81 will cause the server to attempt to flush its internal buffers before
82 dropping clients during a net break. Don't define this if you don't
83 know for certain; if you're not careful this can end up rebooting
84 FreeBSD boxes. For more information, refer to freebsd.txt, also in
91 Currently, everything that a client sends to a server is read by the
92 server and stored in a buffer (the clients receive queue). The server
93 will process messages from this queue one by one (running over all
94 clients each time). When a client sends new messages faster they get
95 processed, and the size of its receive buffer reaches this value, the
96 client is dropped with the error "Excess flood." A reasonable value
97 is 1024 bytes. The maximum size is 8000 bytes.
103 When an IRC operator attempts a connect to another server, he or she
104 may not know which port the connect should go to. In this server
105 version, that operator may use the special port 0, in which case the
106 server will take the port from the Connect block. If no port is
107 specified in the Connect block, however, the port specified by this
108 option will be used instead.
114 Every time a client connects to your server, the full Message of the
115 Day (as specified by the Motd blocks or by the file specified by the MPATH
116 option) is sent to the client. The server sends the Message of the
117 Day even though many clients permit the user to ignore it. Many users
118 never read the message of the day anyway, making it a huge waste of
119 bandwidth. If you specify "TRUE" here, then the server won't send the
120 MOTD to the client by default; instead, it will only tell the client
121 when the MOTD was last changed, and give instructions on how to obtain
128 If you enable NODEFAULTMOTD, this specifies a one-line banner to be sent
129 to the client in addition to the instructions mentioned above.
135 This string as added to the 001 numeric prefixed with "via" before the nick.
136 It's used for providing promotional space to providers as per CFV-202
142 When a client connects to your server, the IP address of the client is
143 reverse-resolved to obtain a hostname. Then that hostname is resolved
144 to an IP address and compared with the IP address of the client. If
145 they don't match, the client will appear with the IP address instead
146 of the hostname, unless KILL_IPMISMATCH is "TRUE," in which case the
147 client is simply disconnected.
153 The IRC command WHOIS gives an idle time for clients. If you want
154 this idle time to be set to zero only when the client sends a PRIVMSG,
155 then you should specify "TRUE" here. If you specify "FALSE," then the
156 idle time will be nullified on all messages except the server
163 All servers of an IRC "network" are connected in a "tree" (no loops).
164 Servers that are only connected to one other server (called the
165 "uplink") are called "leafs"; servers that are connected to more than
166 one other server are called HUBs. If you specify "FALSE" here then
167 your server will prevent itself from accidentally connecting to two
168 servers at once, thus keeping servers in poor network locations from
169 routing traffic. Note that on Undernet, all newly linked servers are
170 linked as leafs during their test phase, and should specify "FALSE"
177 Setting this option removes the ability for clients that are not IRC
178 operators to see wallops messages.
184 If you are playing with the server off-line, and no DNS is available,
185 then long delays occur before the server starts up because it tries to
186 resolve the name given in the General block (which usually isn't given
187 in /etc/hosts) and for each connecting client. If you specify "TRUE"
188 here, then a DNS lookup will be done only for the real hostname, and
189 the server will not try to resolve clients that connect to
190 "localhost." Note that other DNS lookups are still done for outbound
197 When a client connects, the server sends the client a "cookie,"
198 consisting of a random number. The client must return the cookie to
199 the server verbatim. This is done to prevent IP spoofing. The cookie
200 is generated by a pseudorandom number generator included in ircd.
201 This generator must be seeded with a phrase that is kept secret, to
202 ensure that the numbers it generates are not easily guessed. The
203 value given to RANDOM_SEED may be a string of any length. It should
204 not contain any characters that are considered special by the
205 configuration file system, such as ":" or "#"; the string should be at
206 least 8 characters long, but longer strings are better. The
207 RANDOM_SEED may not be retrieved online.
213 The LIST command takes a single optional argument. If given, that
214 argument is either a channel or a filter. If that argument is not
215 given, then by default, /LIST will list all channels on the network.
216 Needless to say, this can generate a large amount of data on large
217 networks with many channels, as well as chewing up a lot of CPU time.
218 Server administrators can therefore set a default filter to be applied
219 to the channel list if the optional argument to LIST is omitted.
221 NICKNAMEHISTORYLENGTH
225 This value specifies the length of the nick name history list, which
226 is used for /WHOWAS and some nickname chasing in /KILL and /KICK. It
227 uses about 300 to 400 bytes per entry. Note that at a net break, so
228 many client disappear that the whole "whowas" list is refreshed a few
229 times (unless you make it rather large). A reasonable value is "total
230 number of clients" / 25.
236 This selects whether local users can set umode +x, thus allowing them
237 to hide their hostname if they have also registered with a channel
238 service (i.e. they have the ACCOUNT flag set).
242 * Default: users.undernet.org
244 This selects the suffix for the hidden hostmask (see HOST_HIDING).
250 This selects a fake IP to be shown on /USERIP and /WHO %i when the
251 target has a hidden host (see HOST_HIDING).
257 This feature controls the generation of server notices when a user
258 connects to or disconnects from the server. Enabling this feature may
259 have a performance impact.
265 If a user changes his or her nickname just before an operator issues a
266 /KILL, the /KILL will be changed to follow the user the operator
267 intended to get. This option specifies the time limit, in seconds,
268 for this nickname change; if the user changed his or her nickname more
269 than this many seconds ago, the /KILL will not be changed. Don't
270 change this unless you really need to.
276 This is the maximum number of channels a user can be in at a time.
277 The "mandatory" value on Undernet is currently 10. Since it only
278 influences the local server when you decrease it, its up to you to
279 decide if you want to use a smaller value. Do not use a larger value
280 however, because it DOES cost more memory and bandwidth on all other
281 servers when you allow users to join more channels simultaneously.
282 One of the most important reasons to choose a smaller value is the
283 fact that the "GUI" clients tend to stay on every channel they join
284 (they aren't bothered by flooding in other channels). It DOES take
285 your bandwidth however to send all those messages for 10 different
286 channels to all your users.
292 This is the expected average ban mask length. Leave it at 40.
298 This is the maximum number of bans a user may set on a given channel.
304 This is the maximum number of masks a user can silence at a time. The
305 silence command allows users to filter messages directed at them from
306 certain users or domains, at the source server. Increasing this
307 number allows users to use up more memory with inefficient use of the
308 command. If you're not sure, don't change this.
314 Often the net breaks for a short time and it is useful to try to
315 reestablish the same connection faster than CONNECTFREQUENCY would
316 allow, but to keep from trying again on a bad connection, we require
317 that the connection be open for a certain minimum time. The
318 recommended value is 300 seconds.
324 When attempting to quickly reestablish a connection to a good link, we
325 give the net a few seconds to calm down. This time must be long enough
326 for the other end to also notice that the connection is broken. The
327 recommended value is 10 seconds.
333 Number of seconds to wait for a connect(2) call to complete. NOTE:
334 this must be at *LEAST* 10. When a client connects, it has
335 CONNECTTIMEOUT - 10 seconds for its host to respond to an ident lookup
336 query and for a DNS lookup to complete. It is recommended that you not
337 change this value, but if you do, consider the fact that users whose
338 clients do not support NOSPOOF will have to type /QUOTE PING <big
339 number> before registration.
345 This is the maximum number of links for the built-in client class 0.
346 Leave this value at 1.
352 If the daemon doesn't receive anything from any of its links within
353 PINGFREQUENCY seconds, then the it will attempt to check for an active
354 link with a PING message. If no reply is received within
355 (PINGFREQUENCY * 2) seconds, then the connection will be closed. This
356 value may be overridden by a Class block in "ircd.conf" if the
357 connection's Client or Connect block in "ircd.conf" assigns a specific
358 class to the connection (recommended).
364 This is the default frequency that the server attempts to reconnect
365 with its uplink server if it is set to auto connect to it. Note that
366 this value is overridden by a Class block in ircd.conf if the Connect
367 entries in ircd.conf assign a specific class to the connection.
369 DEFAULTMAXSENDQLENGTH
373 This is the default value of the maximum sendQ length of connection
374 classes (see doc/example.conf for details on Class blocks). You will
375 generally override this value in your "ircd.conf" with a Class block.
381 G-lines that affect too many users have to be set with a special
382 command, to prevent accidental G-lines of large blocks of users. This
383 feature sets that particular threshold.
387 * Default: "ircd.motd"
389 MPATH is the filename (relative to DPATH) or the full path of the
390 "Message of the Day" file. The contents of this file will be sent to
391 every client that connects to the server, after registration.
395 * Default: "remote.motd"
397 RPATH is the filename (relative to DPATH) or the full path of the
398 "Remote Message of the Day" file. The contents of this file will be
399 sent to every remote client that issues a /MOTD <your server name>.
400 Only the first three lines are sent, so you might want to keep that in
401 mind while writing the file.
405 * Default: "ircd.pid"
407 PPATH is the filename (relative to DPATH) or the full path of the
408 "PID" file. It is used for storing the server's process ID so that a
409 ps(1) isn't necessary.
415 This option is used to specify the type of service that will be
416 requested for connections to other servers. The value may be given as
417 a hexadecimal integer.
423 This option is used to specify the type of service that will be
424 requested for connections to users. The value may be given as a
431 Some of the engines used by the event interface get a number of events
432 from the kernel at once. Since the number retrieved can impact
433 performance, it can be tuned by modifying this value. The engines
434 enforce a lower limit of 20.
440 Since u2.10.11, several new oper-only features have been added that
441 involve changes to the server<->server protocol. This configuration
442 option provides a single switch to prevent the use of these features
443 until the entire network has been upgraded. It is not required that
444 all servers set this to "TRUE" in order for the features to be used,
445 as long as all servers are running u2.10.11 or above.
451 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /MAP from users.
457 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes server notices from users.
459 HIS_SNOTICES_OPER_ONLY
463 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes server notices from users.
469 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes server wallops from users.
475 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes operator wallops from users.
481 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /LINKS from users.
487 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /TRACE from users.
493 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS a from users.
499 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS c from users.
505 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS d from users.
511 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS e from users.
517 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS f from users.
523 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS g from users.
529 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS i from users.
535 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS j from users.
541 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS J from users.
547 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS k from users.
553 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS l from users.
559 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS L from users.
565 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS M from users.
571 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS m from users.
577 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS o from users.
583 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS p from users.
589 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS q from users.
595 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS r from users.
601 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS R from users.
607 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS t from users.
613 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS T from users.
619 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this allows users to perform /STATS u.
625 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS U from users.
631 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS v from users.
637 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this allows users to perform /STATS w.
643 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS x from users.
649 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS y from users.
655 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes /STATS z from users.
661 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this disables /STATS IAUTH and
662 /STATS IAUTHCONF from users.
668 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes server names in replies to /WHOIS.
674 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes idle time in replies to /WHOIS.
680 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes server names in replies to /WHO.
686 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this replaces hopcount to a static 3 in
693 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this doesn't show which server performed a channel
700 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this doesn't show which server set a ban.
706 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this doesn't show which server or oper performed a
713 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this remaps remote numerics to come from the local
720 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this disallows remote queries. (*sob!*)
726 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes server names in net break sign-offs.
732 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this removes local channels in replies to /WHOIS.
736 * Default: "*.undernet.org"
738 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this is the "name" of the server shown to users on a
739 /WHOIS of another user.
743 * Default: "The Undernet Underworld"
745 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this is the "info" of the server shown to users on a
746 /WHOIS of another user.
750 * Default: "http://www.undernet.org/servers.php"
752 As per UnderNet CFV-165, this is the URL shown to users when they do a /MAP or
757 * Default: "UnderNet"
759 This defines the network name as reported in the 005 "supported features"
760 numeric, and as used by the "Failed to deliver" message.
764 * Default: "ftp://ftp.undernet.org/pub/irc/clients"
766 This defines a URL that users may visit to find compatible IRC clients.
772 This is the allowed length of the nickname length. It may not be
773 larger than the NICKLEN #define, and should usually be the same
774 length. The real purpose of this feature is to permit easy increases
775 in nickname length for a network.
781 This is the number of attempts the irc daemon's resolver will have at
782 trying to solicit a response from the DNS server.
788 When a DNS query is sent, the irc daemon's resolver will wait this many
789 seconds for a reply. After this timeout has expired, it will retry again,
790 for as many retries as IRCD_RES_RETRIES allows. This can be cut short by
791 AUTH_TIMEOUT expiring.
792 NOTE: Has no effect when using the adns resolver.
798 This is the maximum number of seconds to wait for the ident lookup and
799 the DNS query to succeed. On older (pre 2.10.11.06) servers this was
800 hard coded to 60 seconds.
806 The number of times you are allowed to connect within IPCHECK_CLONE_PERIOD
807 seconds before you are considered abusing the server and throttled.
813 The number of seconds you are allowed to connect IPCHECK_CLONE_LIMIT times
814 within before you are considered abusing the server and throttled.
815 For instance if you set IPCHECK_CLONE_LIMIT to 1, and IPCHECK_CLONE_PERIOD
816 to 10, then a user is only allowed to connect once in 10s, if they connect
817 again within 10s, then they are considered to be connecting too fast and
824 The number of seconds grace after restarting the server before the throttle
825 code kicks in. Even if a user connects repetitively during this period,
826 they will never get throttled. This is so after a restart users on a
827 multiuser box can all connect to a server simultaniously without being
828 considered an attack.
834 The send window size used for connections to other servers.
840 The receive window size used for connections to other servers.
846 If set, send RPL_ISSUEDINVITE (345) to a channel's operators to
847 announce when someone is invited to the channel.
853 If set, allow users to create local channels.
859 If set, send the current topic value and timestamp for channels during
860 burst. This generally only makes sense for hubs to use, and it causes
861 a large increase in net.burst size.
867 This is the allowed length of locally created channels. It may not be
868 larger than the CHANNELLEN #define. Like the NICKLEN feature, this is
869 intended to ease changes in channel name length across a network.
875 This allows local users to set the +A and +U modes (admin and user
876 passwords, respectively) on channels where they are marked as channel
877 managers. This feature must be disabled until all servers on the
878 network are able to interpret and handle these modes correctly.
884 This preserves empty channels with no admin password so that it is
885 impractical to become the channel manager by clearing out the channel.
886 It must be set to FALSE if there are both 2.10.11.x servers and
887 2.10.12.y servers on the network where y < 4. It should be set to
888 TRUE whenever the OPLEVELS features is TRUE.