What is a vhost?

A vhosts will change the appearance of your hostname simply making your IRC info prettier for others to read, they have no functional benefit other then looking cool and making you stand out from the un-cool people :)

For example:

Candeh without a vhost looks like this:

* candeh (candeh@85A55242.68068540.F09FC89C.IP) has joined #dark-future

candeh is candeh@85A55242.68068540.F09FC89C.IP * candeh-cane
candeh is a registered nick
candeh on #dark-future
candeh using irc.dark-future.org Dark Future IRC
candeh has been idle 1sec, signed on Wed Apr 16 17:00:20
candeh End of /WHOIS list.

Candeh with a vhost looks like this:

* candeh (candeh@sweet.for.you) has joined #dark-future

candeh is candeh@sweet.for.you * candeh-cane
candeh is a registered nick
candeh on #dark-future
candeh using irc.dark-future.org Dark Future IRC
candeh has been idle 1sec, signed on Wed Apr 16 17:02:10
candeh End of /WHOIS list.

How do I get a vhost?

Virtual Hosts are available free of charge to those with a registered nickname older then 30 days, vhosts are limited to one per user, the vhost can contain an ident and host or just a host, the ident is the part before the @ and the host is the part after the @ (ident@your.host).

The ident section must be no longer then 9 characters and the host part no longer then 64 characters, though rarely will a host of 64 characters be allowed.

Once you have obtained a vhost you will not be permitted a new one for the next three months so make sure you choose one that you know you like, also you may not use the same vhost as another user or a domain name registered to another person.

If you would like a vhost please join #DarkIRC and ask for one in public, to get one set faster I suggest you say something like "Hi, could I please have a vhost, the one I would like is (the.host.you.want)".

Examples of valid vhosts:
pickle@in.the.barrel
@i.am.a.legend

Note: If you use a vhost to evade a channel ban or attempt to evade a channel ban you will lose your vhost forever and be put on a blacklist so you can never get one again, you may also find yourself banned from the server for evading bans.