AberChat Services

The list below will be sorted on this message indicator, and only the following message fields will be explained. Features which are not present in the original implementation (like mail) are marked with [*].

"0" authentication

This is the first packet send out when connecting to the network. This allows the server to build a mudlist entry for the connected mud. Only after a possitive reply, you will be able to send out other messages.

mudname

The name of the MUD (yes, this is also send in the message header).

mudlib-version

Whatever mudlib you are running.

portnumber

The port on which players can log in to the MUD.

password

Your authentication password: this should be the same every time you attempt to connect. Note that passwords must be registred first.

"1" mudlist

You can use this message to retreive a list of connected MUDs from the server.

fromplayer

The player who wishes to receive this list.

"2" echo

This message is only used for debugging purposes and it's not present in the original client distribution.

"3" tell

Send a personal message directly to a player on another MUD.

fromplayer

The player who sends the messages.

toplayer

The person who is to receive this message.

frommud

The originating MUD.

text

The message which is relayed. If the first character is a semicolon (":") then the message should be interpreted as an emote.

"4" chat

Send a message over the general chat channel. The other two channels are the god- and code-channel. This is one of the few packets which are directed to all other MUDs.

frommud

The MUD sending this message into the world.

fromplayer

The player who has something important to say.

text

The important message that this player has to say ;-)

"5" who request

Check which players are logged in on another MUD.

frommud

The MUD sending this message into the world.

fromplayer

The name of the curious player.

"6" who reply

The list of players that are logged on in a MUD. This packet is only send out in reply to a remote who request.

toplayer

The name of the curious player.

frommud

The name of the MUD on which the players listed below are logged in.

player[i] name

The name of the i'th player who is logged in.

player[i] level

The level of this player (this is a human-readable string).

player[i] title

The title this player has selected or was assigned.

The last three fields are repeated for each player that is logged on. If no player is present in the MUD, then these last tree fields are not even present at all in the packet.

"7" general info message

This packet is used to send an important message to all MUDs on the network at once. Since the receiving MUDs may decide to show this message to all active players, this command is abuse-sensitive and should be restricted to admins (or players you trust).

frommud

The MUD sending this message into the world.

message

The message to relay to the rest of the universe.

"8" message

This packet is used for sending automatic messages which are not initiated by a user at the MUD that sends these out. This is mostly used for error messages. For example in reaction to a remote tell to a player which is not logged on.

toplayer

The player who is to receive this message.

"MUD " mudname

The sender of this message. For MUDs this should always be the keyword "MUD" followed by the mudname.

message

The (error) message which is send out. For instance:
"&*%s is marked as &+Ccoding &*and might not respond right away."

"9" kick

Ban a (remote!) player from the aberchat network. The correct implementation of this ban is left to the MUD that receives this message. If execution is not possible (e.g. "%s is to powerfull"), then an error message should be send using the previous packet.

fromplayer

The player who wants to ban somebody else.

toplayer

The victim who is to be banned.

frommud

The name of the MUD from which the ban is issued.

":" version reply

Send client version information to another player. This is usually send only in reply to a version request (discussed below).

toplayer

The player who is to be informed about the version used.

version

The version of the aberchat client that is used. This is supposed to be a short human readable string. For instance:
"AberChat Client 4.20(pl 7)"

";" filepage

I still have to figure out what this is used for exactly.

"<" abergod

Send a message over the god's (wizards, creators) intermud channel. The arguments for this message are exactly the same as the chat channel (4).

"=" abercode

Send a coding related over the god's (wizards, creators) intermud channel. The arguments for this message are exactly the same as the chat channel (4).

">" version request

Request version information from another MUD. This request is answered with a version reply packet as discussed above.

frommud

The MUD where the curious player lives.

fromplayer

The player that is curious about the used aberchat version.

"?" abermail [*]

Send a MUD-mail message to a player on another MUD. This is acknowledged (denied) with a MUD message ("8").

fromplayer

The person who sends this mail out.

frommud

The MUD from where this player is sending mail.

toplayer

The recipient of the mail.

subject

The subject of the mail (pretend this is email).

date

The timestamp indicating when the mail was sent.

data

The body of the mail: the message that is to be relayed.