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> Types of Bans
Glines, Akills, Klines, and Bans
Over the past two and a half years (as of 5/02), I've helped in various IRC help channels and it never ceases to amaze me how many people don't know the difference between the terms, Ban, Kline, Gline, and Akill. It can be frustrating to network administrators or IRCops when someone says they were akilled when they were only klined, or vice versus. The following is my attempt at explaining the differences between these different types of ban. Note: I call them "ban-types" for lack of a better word. "Ban-types" do not have anything to do with "bans."
Bans
Bans are the method of blocking a certain user from joining a certain channel. Bans are placed with full a IRC hostmask format (nickname!username@hostname). They can be set or unset by channel operators. Bans stay set until the channel becomes empty or a channel operator unsets them. IRCops will not remove channel bans on request.
Klines
Klines are also known as K-Lines or K:lines. Klines are server bans. They only effect one server. Klines are set by local IRCops or global IRCops on their own server. They use the format of username@hostname which does not include the nickname. Klines can be temporary (until removed or the server restarts) or permanent (placed in the server's configuration file so they can only be removed by editing the server's configuration file). Only IRCops on the server that the Kline was placed can remove the Kline.
Glines
Glines are global Klines. When a Gline is set, it propagates to all of the servers on the network like a ban does. Glines are never permanent; an expiration time (in unixtime) must be specified.
Akills
Akills are another method of spreading Klines over the whole network. Most networks either have Akills or Glines, but not both. Some large networks have neither. When an Akill is created, it gets sent to every server and also gets stored in a list maintained by OperServ until it expires. Akills are not kept between server restarts, but if someone that is Akilled connects to a server, OperServ will re-set the Akill on all the servers again. Akills may be temporary or permanent, at the IRCop's discretion.