IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is the internet chat medium for talking to other furs. Alternatively, of course, you could choose a fur from our profiles and contact them through that.

The main IRC network for furs is , which attracts over 1500 furs at any given time. The servers are maintained by fellow furs, and a friendly, respecting and tolerant atmosphere is encouraged. On the Furnet IRC servers you can literally lose yourself in a world of fur!

How to get onto IRC

If you don't already have one, you'll need to download an IRC client for your computer. We recommend one of the following:

• mIRC (Windows) - Probably the best known Windows IRC client. First released in February 1995, and still just US$20 to register.
• XChat (Linux/*BSD/Solaris/Windows) - Possibly the most popular multi-platform client, though the Windows version is shareware, with a €14,95 one-time registration fee.
• X-Chat Aqua (MacOS X)

Once you've downloaded and installed your client, you'll need to set it up to connect to one of the Furnet servers. This can vary slightly from client to client; refer to your client's help if the general instructions below don't work.

You have a choice of available servers. In general, you should choose the one nearest you.

• us.irc.furnet.org
• eu.irc.furnet.org

The servers use port 6667 (or 6697 if you wish to establish an SSL secured connection), and no password is required.

Once you're logged onto the network, our channel is #NorthernFurs. To join, simply type:

/join #NorthernFurs

Alternatively, try clicking on this link and your client should connect to an appropriate IRC server and take you straight into the channel.

NB: You'll need to register with nickserv, and you can find details on how to do so at: http://www.furnet.org.

#NorthernFurs is a loosely moderated channel by all the members who want use it. Please do NOT come in and cause unnecessary bother. Troublemakers will be warned, then kicked out if they do it again. If you re-offend afterwards, you may be permanently banned.

Our channel is not the only one. If you type "/list" (or "/channels", depending on your client), you'll get a listing of all the furry IRC channels on the server.

The ones you get with your program do not necessarily exist on the furnet servers.

Recommended channels are

• #UK - The UK Channel
• #NorthernFurs - Northern UK Channel
• #LondonFurs - The LondonFurs channel
• #EuroFurs - Meet European furries here!
• #ConFuzzled - Semi-official IRC channel for the Northern furry convention
• #Fursuit - For Fursuiting Furs!
• #SoftPaws - For nice furs :)
• #Furry - Does It Need An Explanation? ;)

Note that it's recommended that you register your nickname with NickServ, the furnet Nickname keeper.

You can do this once you're logged in with the following command (replace with your information):

/msg NickServ register <password> <e-mail>

Replace <password> with your chosen password and <e-mail> with a valid e-mail address as you will be sent an e-mail containing instructions on how to confirm your registration.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy!