Staff:Override Guide

Warning! Read the following before using security override!

Any time you are helping in #Support, or as a Network Helper with security-override (god-mode) enabled, you possess the ability to override channel security in certain channels. This access is NOT granted for you to become all-powerful and start circumventing channel security. All overrides must be related to official support business, and must follow certain guidelines as detailed in the guide below. Abuse this privilege and you will lose it.

Acceptable Overrides
The following are acceptable uses of security-override (god-mode):


 * Any staff commands (on official Support duty only) which require override to be enabled.

PEEK
 * This may be used to monitor channels on your watch list.

SET
 * This may be used to view channel settings when helping the channel's owner. NEVER use this override to change any settings. There is only one exception to this rule, which is detailed below.
 * The only setting that you may change via override is ENFTOPIC. This is done ONLY in the case of channels registered to the   account where the owner (499) requests assistance in setting the TOPICMASK. DO NOT set the TOPICMASK for them, only adjust the ENFTOPIC level to allow them to set the TOPICMASK as they wish.

GIVEOWNERSHIP
 * This command may be used when all users with higher access than the requesting users have been gone for four (4) weeks or more, and the owner is not marked as on vacation.

NOTE: If the user is not on the userlist, you may NOT override to add the user to the userlist prior to a  command. Instead, you should use the form:, which will automatically add the user to the userlist.

SUSPEND
 * When there has been a suspected takeover of a channel, you may  the offending user(s), NOT the channel itself. You should then immediately seek a support operator to sort things out. This is very rare, so think twice before doing it.

Unacceptable Overrides
The following overrides are unacceptable at any time. Override access is constantly monitored, so please use extreme caution any time you have "god-mode" enabled, and always think twice about what you are about to do, before you do it. Should you accidentally perform an override that you know will cause suspicion, contact the Abuse Team and reverse the change (or find someone of higher rank who can do so for you) immediately.

Topic Changes
If a topic violates the AUP or Registration Guidelines, contact a support operator. They will investigate the matter, and take action if necessary. Also, please do not use  to view a channel's topic, as it will force the topic to revert to its DefaultTopic setting should the current topic not be the default topic. To view a channel's topic, use  (see above) or.

Userlist Changes
You are NEVER to add, remove or change access for any user in any channel which you do not have the appropriate access to do so yourself without override. We cannot stress this enough. Doing so will cause you to lose access to "god-mode."

The only exception to this, is in the case where a channel is registered to the *DareNET account. In such cases, you must add the requesting user at level 499.

You may not add a user to the userlist (at any level) before a  command if the user is not already on the userlist. Instead, follow the method described above under acceptable overrides.

If a situation similar to the one described below in Banlist Changes arises, which involves a user who is currently on the channel's userlist, follow the instructions provided below, and/or (as appropriate) those described in the SUSPEND section above, under acceptable overrides. Under no circumstances will you be justified in deleting a user from the userlist of a channel.

Banlist Changes
DO NOT  (including timed bans) any user from a channel in which you do not have appropriate access without security-override. Likewise, do not remove any bans from the channel's ban list if you do not have access to do so.

You should always attempt to contact a support operator for cases that you feel might require a staff member to intervene and remove a user from a channel (e.g. no channel operators are available). If (and only if) you have made a reasonable attempt to contact a support operator and none have responded, and the issue at hand is a matter of channel security or an AUP violation, a network helper (+H) may use the  command to temporarily remove the user from the channel, so long as the ban is not added to the channel's lamers list.

In all such cases, you should leave the channel owner a memo explaining the reason for the override, and let them know they can contact you if they have any further questions. These kinds of situations should not occur often, and as such, all cases will be thoroughly investigated, so please, please, do not do it if you do not have to.