Why can’t I use my Nickname?

There may be cases where your Nickname is either in use or held by Services — either of which can be resolved. (If you have registered your nickname with NickServ.)

• In most cases, this is due to a ghost connection that has not timed out yet.  You can /WHOIS myNickname to see if you have a ghost connection (that has not timed out yet) due to connectivity issues.
• There may also be times where another user is using the nickname, if you have turned protection (KILL) off.  (By default, this is set to ON and gives a user 60 seconds to IDENTIFY to the nickname.)
• Additionally, there are also times when NickServ is holding your nickname — this happens when another user was using your nickname and did not IDENTIFY to NickServ, as prompted repeatedly before the countdown expired and their nickname was forcibly changed.  When NickServ forcibly changes the user off of your nickname, it connects a pseudo-client (also referred to as a JUPE) from it’s server – using your Nickname, for a few minutes.  This is to prevent the user (or even in some cases, bots) from changing right back to your nickname and causing NickServ to again loop through the process.

How to get your nickname back

In any of the above cases, you can use NickServ’s RECOVER command to regain control of your nickname.  (If another user is using your nickname, they will be disconnected by NickServ so that you may /nick to the nickname.  Be sure to use the /nick command quickly, as the user will be able to reconnect as quickly as their client allows.)

See: /ns RECOVER nickname YourPassword

If you have any concerns or questions, please join #Help