Restricted Access channels
From Blitzed
Restricted Access channels are those with the ChanServ RESTRICTED option set.
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[edit] Purpose
"Restricted Access" means that only those users listed on the channel's access list may remain in the channel. All other users will be kicked and banned by ChanServ as soon as they join.
The common use of Restricted Access is as a more powerful and flexible alternative to the invite-only mode (+i). If a channel is set invite-only then any user could still join it as long as they are invited by an existing op. With Restricted Access, who may be in the channel is decided by those who can modify the channel's access list.
[edit] Setup
Only two steps are required to have a basic functioning Restricted Access channel.
[edit] Add users to the access list
To be allowed into the channel they only need to be on the access list at all. They don't need any special level of access. Even access level 1, the lowest useful level, is enough.
/msg chanserv access #yourchannel add theirnick 1
Don't forget to add yourself even though you are the channel's founder!
[edit] Set the channel RESTRICTED
/msg chanserv set #yourchannel restricted on
[edit] Disadvantages
There are some downsides to using Restricted Access.
[edit] People can still get information about the channel
Unlike invite-only, if a user knows the name of the channel they can still join it. For a moment until ChanServ catches up they will be in the channel, before being kicked and banned by ChanServ.
This means they can read the topic and get a list of everyone in it. If ChanServ is particularly lagged then they may even be able to get a line or two of text out, or see text that others write.
One way to lessen the impact of this is to keep the channel secret (+s). That will make it more difficult to find out the name of the channel.
[edit] Legitimate users forget to identify and get banned
When users join the channel, ChanServ checks their access level. If they aren't identified to their nicks then their access level is zero and they will be kicked and banned whether their nick is on the access list or not.
Once they are banned they will need an existing channel op to unban or invite them before they can join again, whether they identify to their nicks or not.
One way to get around this is to give the users enough access to use the ChanServ INVITE command, which by default is access level 5:
/msg chanserv access #yourchannel add theirnick 5
If you do this then bear in mind that with access level 5, then by default users will also get opped. If you don't want that then you could reduce the level for INVITE down to below 5 and then add users at that lower level instead:
/msg chanserv levels #yourchannel set invite 3 /msg chanserv access #yourchannel add theirnick 3
To see what different access levels can do:
/msg chanserv levels #yourchannel list
If a user should now get banned then in order to get into the channel without anyone else's help they can do the following:
/msg nickserv id theirnickpassword /msg chanserv invite #yourchannel *** ChanServ invites you to #yourchannel /join #yourchannel
You could also get your users to make use of NickServ's AutoJoin feature instead of joining manually or using their irc client's autojoin features. That way as soon as they identify to their nick, they will also be joined to your channel. They should issue the following command:
/msg nickserv autojoin add #yourchannel
AutoJoin will also take care of getting them in if they are banned, as long as they have enough access.
[edit] Alternatives
If Restricted Access isn't right for you, there are a couple of alternatives.
[edit] Invite-only (+i)
Invite-only coupled with giving users access to the ChanServ INVITE command may be preferred.
Users would have to use
/msg chanserv invite #yourchannel
every time they want to get in, unless they are using the NickServ AutoJoin feature.
Channel ops will also be able to invite any other user.
[edit] Keyworded (+k) channel
If you set the channel's keyword with +k then no one may join without knowing the keyword. Distributing the keyword amongst all users and making sure they don't tell it to others may be problematic.