Setting up NickServ
NickServ offers two possible configurations, based on your preference for network management. NickServ offers nickname-based account registration; in this configuration, users will own their nickname or group of nicknames. UserServ offers account-based registrations; users will own an account, but that account does not give them ownership over any specific nicknames. See no_nick_ownership for additional details.
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NickServ BlockThe nickserv{}
block contains settings for the NickServ service bot and related nick/account management options.
A fully configured nickserv{}
block may look like:
nickserv { spam; nick = "NickServ"; user = "NickServ"; host = "misconfigured.network"; real = "Nickname Services"; aliases { "ID" = "IDENTIFY"; "MYACCESS" = "LISTCHANS"; }; maxnicks = 5; expire = 30; enforce_delay = 30; enforce_prefix = "Luser"; waitreg_time = 60; cracklib_dict = "/var/cache/cracklib/cracklib_dict"; #pwquality_warn_only; shorthelp = "REGISTER IDENTIFY LOGOUT GROUP DROP";};
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Services Bot OptionsNickServ supports all standard services bot options.
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spamThe spam
value defines if NickServ should tell new users about the option to use services on your network. If enabled, a new user will receive the following message from NickServ:
Welcome to <network>, <nick>! Here on <network> we provide services to enable registration of nicknames and channels! For details, type /msg NickServ HELP and /msg ChanServ HELP
This value may be either enabled (spam;
) or disabled by commenting it out (#spam;
) or removing it.
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no_nick_ownershipEnabling this value will disable nickname ownership on your network. This will change "nickname" to "account" in most messages, disable GHOST on users not logged in to the same account and disables the spam directive.
If using no_nick_ownership
, it is suggested that the nickname for this service be set to UserServ, and the nickserv/login
module be loaded instead of nickserv/identify
.
This value may be either enabled (no_nick_ownership;
) or disabled by commenting it out (#no_nick_ownership;
) or removing it.
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maxnicksIf GROUP is loaded, maxnicks
defines the maximum amount of nicknames one user can register.
Example: maxnicks = 5;
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expireThe number of days without use before an inactive nickname registration will expire.
You may either set the value to 0 or comment out this block to disable nickname expiration entirely.
Example: expire = 30;
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Enforce SettingsWhen NickServ is configured to allow nickname ownership, users may enable the ENFORCE option on their account to activate nickname enforcement. When enforcement is enabled, after a short grace period, any user with a nickname grouped to the owner's account is automatically renamed to a different nickname unless they authenticate to the correct account within the grace period.
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enforce_expireThe number of days without use after which ENFORCE is ignored.
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enforce_delayThe number of seconds before a user using an enforced nickname is renamed.
Example: enforce_delay = 30;
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enforce_prefixThe prefix to use when changing a user's nickname after enforcement is applied. This is always <prefix><random numbers>
, e.g. Guest12345
.
Example: enforce_prefix = "Guest";
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waitreg_timeThe amount of time (in seconds) users have to wait after connecting to the network before they are allowed to register an account with services.
Requires
modules/nickserv/waitreg
to be loaded.
- Minimum value, 0, disables the enforced delay.
- Maximum value, 43200, delays registration for 12 hours.
Example: waitreg_time = 0;
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Password Quality Options#
cracklib_dictThe location and filename prefix of the cracklib dictionaries for use with nickserv/pwquality
. This must be provided if you are going to use nickserv/pwquality
with cracklib support enabled.
If not using cracklib support, you may safely leave this value commented out.
Example: cracklib_dict = "/var/cache/cracklib/cracklib_dict";
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passwdqc_*If using nickserv/pwquality
with passwdqc support enabled, these values are used to configure your passwdqc settings. Please see the passwdqc.conf(5)
documentation for a detailed explaination of these values.
Example:
passwdqc_max = 288; /* (8 <= value <= 288) */passwdqc_min_n0 = 20; /* (0 <= value <= passwdqc_max) */passwdqc_min_n1 = 16; /* (0 <= value <= passwdqc_min_n0) */passwdqc_min_n2 = 16; /* (0 <= value <= passwdqc_min_n1) */passwdqc_min_n3 = 12; /* (0 <= value <= passwdqc_min_n2) */passwdqc_min_n4 = 8; /* (0 <= value <= passwdqc_min_n3) */passwdqc_words = 4; /* (2 <= value <= 8) */
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pwquality_warn_onlyIf this option is enabled and nickserv/pwquality
is loaded, NickServ will still allow users to register with low-quality passwords, but will warn them of their insecure password and recommend they change it.
If this option is unset, NickServ will refuse to register the user until they choose a higher quality password.
Example: #pwquality_warn_only;
to prevent low-quality passwords in registration or pwquality_warn_only;
to allow this.
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show_custom_metadataSetting this option will allow users to display user-set metadata in INFO output.
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emailexemptsA list of email addresses exempt from account registration limits. Any email address in this block may register an unlimited number of services accounts.
Example:
emailexempts { "services@example.int";}
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shorthelpA list of commands that are displayed with their full description in the output of /msg NickServ HELP
. Commands not in this list will be listed, but not with their descriptions. All commands with descriptions are still listed in /msg NickServ HELP COMMANDS
regardless of the value set here.
If not set, this value defaults to "ACCESS CERT DROP GHOST GROUP IDENTIFY INFO LISTCHANS LISTGROUPS LISTLOGINS LISTOWNMAIL LOGOUT REGAIN REGISTER RELEASE SENDPASS SET UNGROUP"
If set to an empty string (shorthelp = "";
), listing command descriptions in /msg NickServ HELP
will be disabled.
A command in this list will only be printed if the corresponding module is loaded and the user has permission to use it.
Examples:
- Custom list:
shorthelp = "REGISTER IDENTIFY LOGOUT";
- No list:
shorthelp = "";
- Default:
#shorthelp = "";
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ModulesBy loading or choosing not to load specific modules, you can customize what features of NickServ are available on your network. You can even choose to disable NickServ entirely by not loading any of the modules/nickserv/*
family of modules โ please note that an authentication service (either NickServ or UserServ) is required for proper services functionality.
Module | Features | Notes |
---|---|---|
modules/nickserv/main | Core components | |
modules/nickserv/access | Nickname access lists | |
modules/nickserv/badmail | Bad email address blocking | |
modules/nickserv/cert | CertFP fingerprint management | |
modules/nickserv/drop | DROP command | |
modules/nickserv/enforce | Nickname enforcement | Also enables enforcement commands |
modules/nickserv/ghost | GHOST command | |
modules/nickserv/group | GROUP and UNGROUP commands | |
modules/nickserv/help | HELP command | |
modules/nickserv/hold | Nickname expiry override (HOLD command) | |
modules/nickserv/identify | IDENTIFY command | Either this module or modules/nickserv/login must be loaded for users to identify to services. Select this module if allowing nickname ownership. |
modules/nickserv/info | INFO command | |
modules/nickserv/info_lastquit | Shows last quit message in INFO | |
modules/nickserv/list | LIST command | |
modules/nickserv/listlogins | LISTLOGINS command | |
modules/nickserv/listmail | LISTMAIL command | |
modules/nickserv/listownmail | LISTOWNMAIL command | |
modules/nickserv/login | LOGIN command | Either this module or modules/nickserv/identify must be loaded for users to identify to services. Select this module if no_nick_ownership is enabled. |
modules/nickserv/logout | LOGOUT command | |
modules/nickserv/mark | MARK command | |
/modules/nickserv/pwquality | Password quality validation | See password quality options for settings for this module. |
modules/nickserv/freeze | FREEZE command | |
modules/nickserv/listchans | LISTCHANS command | |
modules/nickserv/register | REGISTER command | This module is required for users to register an account with services. |
modules/nickserv/regnolimit | Bypass registration limits (REGNOLIMIT command) | |
modules/nickserv/resetpass | Password reset (RESETPASS command) | |
modules/nickserv/restrict | RESTRICT command | |
modules/nickserv/return | Password return (RETURN command) | |
modules/nickserv/sendpass | Password retrieval (SENDPASS command) | Requires a functional MTA to work properly. |
modules/nickserv/sendpass_user | Password retrieval allowed to normal users (SENDPASS command) | Requires a functional MTA to work properly. |
modules/nickserv/set_accountname | Allow a user to change their primary nickname (SET ACCOUNTNAME command) | |
modules/nickserv/set_email | SET EMAIL command | |
modules/nickserv/set_emailmemos | SET EMAILMEMOS command | |
modules/nickserv/set_enforcetime | SET ENFORCETIME command | Only usable if ENFORCE is enabled. |
modules/nickserv/set_hidemail | SET HIDEMAIL command | |
modules/nickserv/set_language | SET LANGUAGE command | |
modules/nickserv/set_nevergroup | SET NEVERGROUP command | Only usable if GroupServ is enabled. |
modules/nickserv/set_neverop | SET NEVEROP command | |
modules/nickserv/set_nogreet | SET NOGREET command | |
modules/nickserv/set_nomemo | SET NOMEMO command | |
modules/nickserv/set_noop | SET NOOP command | |
modules/nickserv/set_nopassword | SET NOPASSWORD command | |
modules/nickserv/set_password | SET PASSWORD command | |
modules/nickserv/set_privmsg | PRIVMSG the user instead of NOTICE (SET PRIVMSG command) | |
modules/nickserv/set_private | Account info hiding (SET PRIVATE command) | |
modules/nickserv/set_property | SET PROPERTY command | |
modules/nickserv/set_pubkey | SET PUBKEY command | |
modules/nickserv/set_quietchg | SET QUIETCHG command | |
modules/nickserv/setpass | Password retrieval uses code (SETPASS command) | |
modules/nickserv/status | STATUS command | |
modules/nickserv/taxonomy | Nickname metadata viewer (TAXONOMY command) | |
modules/nickserv/vacation | VACATION command | |
modules/nickserv/verify | VERIFY command | |
modules/nickserv/vhost | VHOST command | |
modules/nickserv/waitreg | Delay services account creation |