Maintenance has successfully concluded, and Eggy BNC can now automatically detect whether an IRC server supports IPv6 or requires IPv4—then apply the correct connection setup without extra buttons, guesswork, or scrambled eggs.
Today’s maintenance has been successfully completed, bringing an important improvement to how IRC networks are added across Eggy BNC.
Whether someone adds a network from the Networks tab inside the dashboard or creates a completely new Eggy BNC account, the submitted IRC server is now checked automatically in the background before the connection setup is completed.
The system determines whether the entered server is:
- IPv4-only; or
- compatible with IPv6.
This works with both our built-in network presets and manually entered IRC server addresses. Users do not need to know the technical capabilities of the server beforehand, and they do not need to run a separate compatibility test themselves.
What happens with an IPv4-only server?
Eggy BNC accounts are normally assigned one of our automatic IPv6 vhosts. That works perfectly when the IRC network supports IPv6, but an IPv6 address cannot connect directly to a server that only accepts IPv4 connections.
Previously, this could result in a network being added correctly but failing to connect, leaving the user wondering whether the hostname, port, TLS setting, nickname, or even the BNC itself was at fault.
That little networking gremlin has now been shown the door.
When the automatic background check determines that an IRC server is IPv4-only, Eggy BNC applies the approved legacy IPv4 vhost as a per-network BindHost during the networkper-network BindHost** during the-add process.
The network can then connect using IPv4 without changing the user’s main assigned IPv6 vhost or affecting their other networks.
In practical terms:
IPv4-only server detected → IPv4 BindHost applied automatically → network connects using the compatible address.
No manual BindHost command is required, and users do not need to understand the difference between IPv4 and IPv6 just to connect to IRC.
What happens when IPv6 is supported?
When the submitted IRC server supports IPv6, no IPv4 override is applied.
The network continues using the account’s automatically assigned IPv6 vhost as intended. This keeps the normal Eggy BNC connection flow intact and ensures users continue benefiting from their assigned IPv6 hostname wherever the IRC network supports it.
In equally practical terms:
IPv6-compatible server detected → no IPv4 override needed → assigned IPv6 vhost remains in use.
The system only intervenes when intervention is actually required. No unnecessary settings, no redundant BindHost overrides, and no poking the network with a technical stick for no reason.
Why this change was vital
An IRC server hostname does not always make its supported address family obvious.
A hostname might resolve only to IPv4, only to IPv6, or to both. Even well-known network round-robin addresses can behave differently from their dedicated IPv6 alternatives.
That created a compatibility problem for a service such as Eggy BNC, where users may have an IPv6 vhost assigned by default but still want to connect to an IPv4-only IRC server.
Without an automatic check, the user would need to:
- know that the connection failure was caused by an IPv4 and IPv6 mismatch;
- identify whether the IRC server had an IPv6-capable alternative;
- manually change the network BindHost to an IPv4 address; and
- reconnect the network.
That is far too much networking homework for something that should simply connect.
The new flow handles the compatibility decision at the exact moment the network is created. It removes uncertainty, prevents avoidable failed connections, and ensures the correct BindHost is selected before the user is left staring suspiciously at a disconnected network.
Goodbye to the two-button plan
Our original maintenance plan included two separate dashboard controls:
- Check IPv4 Only
- Set BindHost to IPv4
Those controls would have helped, but they still relied on the user noticing a connection problem, understanding what the result meant, and pressing another button to correct it.
After reviewing the complete network-add process, it became clear that Eggy BNC could do something far better.
Instead of asking the user to perform two separate actions, the system now performs the check and applies the required correction automatically during registration or while adding a network through the dashboard.
The two-button approach has therefore been retired before it ever needed to clutter the nest.
There is no reason to ask users:
“Would you like to check whether this server is IPv4-only?”
…and then immediately follow it with:
“Would you now like to apply the IPv4 BindHost required to make it work?”
Eggy already knows what needs doing, so Eggy now does it.
One smoother connection flow
This maintenance update means network creation is now more intelligent from beginning to end:
- The IRC hostname and port are checked automatically.
- IPv4-only servers receive the approved IPv4 BindHost.
- IPv6-compatible servers continue using the assigned IPv6 vhost.
- The setting applies only to the relevant network.
- Other configured networks remain untouched.
- The same protection applies during registration and from the dashboard.
The goal is simple: users should be able to enter an IRC server and connect without first earning an honorary degree in IP address families.
Maintenance is complete, the automatic compatibility check is live, and adding networks is now considerably less likely to end with a confused user, a disconnected server, and an egg staring awkwardly at an IPv6 address.
Thank you for your patience while we completed the work. The nest is open again—and it has become a little smarter.