Name: how-to-connect-znc-to-xchat

Last reviewed by: Clipper, April 2026

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How to connect ZNC to XChat / HexChat

⚠️ The Bytesized IRC server (irc.bytesized-hosting.com) has been decommissioned. Bytesized now uses Discord for community support and announcements.

This guide remains useful if you want to use ZNC as a bouncer for other IRC servers or channels — for example private tracker IRC rooms. The setup is identical regardless of which IRC server you connect to.

Note: XChat has been abandoned since 2016. Its actively maintained fork, HexChat, has an identical interface and works the same way. The steps below apply to both.

ZNC is an IRC bouncer that keeps your IRC connection alive and logs messages even when your client is disconnected, so you never miss anything.

Table of Contents

• ZNC setup
• XChat / HexChat setup

ZNC setup

Open your ZNC web interface and go to Your Settings.

Under IRC Information, fill in the following using your IRC username:

Field	Value
Nickname	YourUsername
Alt. Nickname	YourUsername_
Realname	bytesized-hosting.com

Scroll to the bottom and press Save and return.

Under Networks, press Add.

Under Network info, fill in the following:

Field	Value
Network Name	Name of your choice
Nickname	YourUsername
Alt. Nickname	YourUsername_

Make sure to check Active: Connect to IRC & automatically re-connect.

Under Servers of this IRC network, add your target IRC server and port, e.g. irc.yourserver.net 6667.

Scroll to the bottom and press Save and return.

Under Channels, press Add. Enter the channel name and set Buffer Count to 1000.

If saved successfully it should look like this:

Under Modules, enable the recommended modules:

XChat / HexChat setup

Open XChat or HexChat and add a new network, giving it a name of your choice.

Select your new network and press Edit.

Under Servers, enter your Bytesized server address and ZNC port. You can find your port in the URL when your ZNC web interface is open.

Press Add to confirm the server.

Enable the following options as shown below:

Field	Value
NickServ password	Your IRC password
Server password	YourZNCUsername:YourZNCPassword

Press *Close