What “Connection refused” means

Connection refused usually means the target server actively refused the connection attempt.

This often happens on the BNC-to-network side, not your client-to-BNC connection.

Common causes

• wrong server hostname
• wrong port
• SSL/TLS enabled on a plain port
• plain IRC used on an SSL-only port
• server temporarily down
• network blocks BNC/VPS ranges
• firewall or routing issue

What to check

Confirm the IRC network's current server and port. If the network documents both plain and SSL/TLS ports, make sure the dashboard setting matches.

Examples:

irc.example.net 6667
irc.example.net +6697

Do not confuse this with bnc.eggy.net +5000

Your IRC client should still connect to Eggy BNC using bnc.eggy.net +5000. Connection refused for a remote network does not automatically mean the Eggy BNC listener is down.

When to open a ticket

If the same settings work elsewhere but fail through Eggy BNC, provide the server, port, SSL setting, network name, and exact error text.