Public Tor exit nodes are banned on the network due to abuse.

The AnonOps IRC Network does allow access through a Tor hidden service leaf server which users have to be manually added to by network administrators, but only after prerequisites are met by a user. Simply connecting to a standard server or via the webchat to the IRC network will result in an error message and a failed connection.

In order to be added to the Tor leaf, a user need to register its nickname and actively use it for a day or so to show an interest in using the network regularly.

The user is also asked to develop a basic knowledge of usage commands needed for IRC networks which includes learning the connecting user's identification string in the format nickname!username@hostname and understanding what each part means. To see an example of this simply /whois yourself. The first line displays your nick, username(ident)@AN-l33.k38.9vuj2o.IP (your cloaked ip/hostname - it will be random).

When, and only when, these prerequisites are met, a user can request the tor leaf access.

Unlike help given for other topics, setup and configuration of IRC clients to work correctly with Tor is considered a more advanced subject and it is therefore up to the user to self-educate in these matters as step-by-step help will generally not be given.

• Must have a registered nick on our network.
• Must be visibly active in one or more channels for a day or so.
• Must know the hostmask format nickname!username@hostname and understand what each part means.

You must be approved by our network staff to use Tor on our network. All the information you need is on this page.

You will need to make some changes to the setup of your client to work with the Tor proxy.

Make a New Network like AnonopsTor (or whatever you choose to call it) that will be used with Tor since the server address and port are different:

• Server: anonops4att3rwh3tsh2fhb3suwq6g575r6k36fsrc2ijkj75vcxhhyd.onion
• Port: 443
• Check the box for SSL and accept invalid certificates.
• Make sure the User Name under your nickname is the username(ident) you have registered for Tor. Then select from dropdown menu for login method: Server Password (/PASS password) and put your unhashed TOR password in the following box.

Using Hexchat as an example, open Hexchat preferences and select Network Setup. Where it says Proxy Server enter:

• localhost
• 9150 (if you started Tor by the browser, otherwise, 9050)
• SOCKS5
• All Connections

in that order. Change nothing else on that page. Click OK.

You must have Tor running before trying to connect to IRC or it will fail.

Important: To go back to a non-Tor network you will have to come back to this preference and choose (disabled) for the proxy type. You can leave the other fields as they are.

Hexchat is compliant with all Xchat standard commands and can be used to connect to both Tor and non-Tor servers at the same time (Tor must be running!) by using the command line in a new Server tab. This is useful for testing your Tor setup while requesting Tor access with our network. For an example of this please see https://anonops.com/xchat.html.

You can join #help if you need help during the process.

• Must have a registered nick on our network.
• Must be visibly active in one or more channels for a day or so.
• Must know what an hostmask is and know what each part of it is.
• Your Tor access will be linked to your ident, NOT your nick, and this is why you must understand it.

You will be asked to make a SINGLE connection attempt to verify your Tor/client setup is correct. If all is well you will see "Permission Denied."

Please do not spam our network with connection attempts!

You will be asked to provide the following:

• The ident (username) you will be using
• Your password in plaintext (the bot will automatically hash it).

You will have to send `REQUEST <username> <password>` to the bot.

Remember, your Tor access is linked to your ident, not your nick.

/query Octopus

REQUEST username password

After that you'll just have to follow the instructions Octopus sent you.

A staff member will validate your access when everything is done, if your access isn't directly validated after you requested it, please wait a bit, we're not always at our keyboards.