Bouncer
What is an IRC Bouncer? Why do I need one?
An IRC bouncer is a program that connects to an IRC server on your behalf. You connect to it like it was an IRC server. It relays the commands like /join and /part to the server you are connected to. It remembers what channels you've joined, and stays connected to them even after you disconnect from the bouncer.
You will appear to still be connected to other people in the channels. The bouncer keeps a buffer of what was said in the channel or to you while you were disconnected and plays it back for you when you connect again. This allows you to always be online, even when you loose connection or disconnect. This can be helpful for staying in contact with friends online, or to communicate with people in different time zones from your own.
You can connect to multiple IRC networks and connect to the bouncer from multiple locations at the same time. The bouncer only connects once to each IRC network even if you connected to the bouncer from multiple locations. This reduces load on the servers and allows you to only appear once in channels. See the section on Multiple Connections below for more details.
How do I request a Bouncer?
Planetofnix provides znc bouncer accounts free of charge! To request an account please:
- Connect to irc.planetofnix.com on port 6697 and /join #planetofnix.
- Type !help and follow the instructions given by the bot in a private message.
Bouncer Connection Details
You connect to the bouncer like it was an irc server. It then connects to the irc server on your behalf. Documentation for configuring various clients can be found on the IRCNOW wiki. Keep in mind, the configuration used there are examples or specific to other servers. You want to use these details when connecting to the Planetofnix bouncer.
Server: bnc.planetofnix.com Port: 31337 for SSL (secure connection) Port: 1337 for plaintext
You will need to setup a connection for each network you want to connect to. So, if you want to join ircnow, liberachat, and perl, irc networks, you'd need 3 connections configured to the bouncer from your irc client. The details are the same for each of them, but your password will be different. The password uses a special format:
username/network:password
username is the username you registered when creating your account;
network is the name of the network for the connection;
password is the password you were sent, or that you changed it to.
So if your username is myName, and your password is please, then the password you would use for the three networks above will look like this:
myName/ircnow:please myName/liberachat:please myName/perl:please
Multiple Connections
Multiple connections are allowed - multiple user accounts are not allowed. You can have multiple networks configured and connected, and can connect to the bouncer from multiple locations at the same time. So, you can connect from home, and also from work and a friends house and a tablet/phone all at the same time. The bouncer will only make one connection to each of the irc networks you've configured for. Your connections to the networks and channels will remain even if you have no active connections to the bouncer. When you reconnect, it will show you what you missed to the limits of the buffer.