uMRC is a full-featured, cross-platform Multi-Relay Chat client for BBSes. It runs as a native door on your system, letting you access Multi-Relay Chat without having to install and maintain a Mystic BBS instance with Python. In other words, as long as your BBS is capable of running 32-bit doors, then you and your users can participate in MRC.
It should be compatible with any DOOR32.SYS capable BBS such as EleBBS, WWIV, Synchronet, Mystic, and others. It runs on Windows 7 and later.
Pre-compiled Linux binaries are also available, or may be compiled from source using the Install Instructions below.
If you use NetFoss to start up your DOS-based BBS, then the NFU utility bundled with NetFoss should run the uMRC Client. As of this writing, Renegade and Oblivion/2 have been confirmed.
- Secure SSL MRC host connections
- Automatic host reconnection & rejoin
- TAB username auto-completion
- Password masking (e.g.:
/identify ********) - Mention counter
- Built-in chat and mention history scrollback
- Pipe code color support
- CTCP command support
- Sysop-editable 2-line ANSI status bar themes
- Twit filter
- setup: Setup utility
- umrc-bridge: MRC host connection program (multiplexer)
- umrc-client: MRC Client door
- [screens]: Subdirectory containing ANSI & text files
- intro.ans: Intro/main menu & status screen
- help.txt: Help file showing basic chat commands
- helpctcp.txt: Help file on CTCP command usage
- helptwit.txt: Help file on twit filter management
- [themes]: Subdirectory containing ANSI files
- *.ans: ANSI theme files
Refer to the readme.txt file inside the archive for files specific to your platform.
This is a condensed set of basic install steps. For more detailed info, check the readme.txt file included in the ZIP archive for your platform.
If you wish to build your own binaries, refer to the build.txt file for basic instructions.
⚠️ If you have any existing MRC process currently running, stop it at this time. The MRC host generally does not play well with concurrent connections from the same BBS.
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Place all files to their own directory, keeping the structure the same as shown above in the list of files included.
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Run setup, and press
1to begin.For the first 3 prompts, you can simply press enter to accept the default values:
a. The MRC host address defaults to mrc.bottomlessabyss.net. If in the future the MRC host address changes, it can be updated here.
b. SSL is recommended for secure connections to the MRC host and should be left enabled, but can optionally be disabled if needed.
c. The MRC host port number defaults to 5001 if using SSL, or 5000 if using a standard socket.
The remaining prompts are about your BBS. Pipe color codes 01 - 23 are allowed in the fields as indicated by setup.
Your settings will be saved to a file called mrc.cfg.
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Run umrc-bridge. This program is responsible for maintaining a connection to the MRC host and passing chat traffic back and forth between the host and your BBS (called . It must run continuously in order for umrc-client to work, so it's recommended to have this program launch on system startup. It will make automatic reconnection attempts as needed.
Check the readme.txt file for a complete description of available umrc-bridge options.
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Set up a menu item to launch a 32-bit door on your BBS.
The command line syntax is:
Windows:
umrc-client -D c:\path\to\DOOR32.SYSLinux & macOS:
./umrc-client -D /path/to/DOOR32.SYS
❗NOTE to Linux Users:
It has been observed that using the DOOR32.SYS drop file type with this door can lead to user-input issues on Mystic under Linux. If DOOR32.SYS does not work properly with your BBS type, then use DOOR.SYS instead.
Also refer to your BBS software documentation on whether the
./prefix needs to be included.
If you get an error saying, "Invalid config. Run setup", it means you either did not run Setup, or you're not launching umrc-client from its own directory. On certain BBSes (like Mystic) it is necessary to use a batch file or bash script to launch the door.
On Windows, include the -SILENT option to prevent the local Windows GUI
from popping up while the door is running. This is highly recommended
since umrc-client takes a noticeable performance hit when outputting
to both the BBS and its own local Window, especially while paging through
the chat scrollback.
umrc-client -D c:\path\to\DOOR32.SYS -SILENT
To run the client locally from the command line, use the -L option:
umrc-client -L
NOTE: It will only run as user number 1 (Sysop) in local mode.
When a user first launches the uMRC client door, they'll be given the option to confirm the user name that was detected, or enter a custom one (in case the BBS passed the user's real name to the door). After the user confirms their name, they'll be given a short list of options to configure, after which point they'll be taken to the main menu. This is explained further in readme.txt.
User settings are saved the userdata subdirectory. One file per user, named using their alias or username on the BBS. If a user's settings ever need to be reset, simply delete (or rename) the file associated with them.
Now that your BBS offers MRC, here's where the most action is!
- Saturdays at 21h00 UK / 16h00 Eastern / 13h00 Pacific
- Host: MeaTLoTioN
- More info at: https://erb.pw
Type /meetups in chat for a current list of meetups.
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Height and width are limited to 80 columns by 24 rows. OpenDoors has a default maximum row limit of 23, but umrc-client is hard-coded with this setting adjusted to 24. As far as I know, OpenDoors cannot automatically detect the terminal's height and width.
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The font size of the local window in Windows cannot be adjusted. This seems to be an internal limitation of the OpenDoors kit.
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At the time of this writing, when using the
!ddialcommand, the MRC host returns extraneous packets missing the BODY field. uMRC treats these as invalid, since they contain fewer than 6 tildes (~). The Syncrhonet mrc-connector service logs similar warnings for!ddial.
uMRC is written in C, and was developed and compiled on Windows using Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022. The Linux binaries were compiled on Ubuntu 22.04 using gcc.
uMRC makes extensive use of threading, both in umrc-bridge and umrc-client. Separate threads are used for establishing connections to the MRC host, listening for and handling client connections from local clients, and handling user input while displaying incoming messages to the output window.
Secure SSL sockets are implemented using LibreSSL, a variant of OpenSSL. SSL is used only from the umrc-bridge to the MRC host, while local umrc-client connections to the umrc-bridge are made using standard TCP/IP sockets, using the same port number as selected in the Setup program.
You should NOT have ports 5000/5001 open on your firewall/router, since umrc-client makes OUTBOUND requests to the MRC host on ports 5000/5001. If you leave these ports open on your end, then you may occasionally see umrc-bridge log odd messages, caused by outside HTTP requests to your system.
Thanks to StackFault at The Bottomless Abyss BBS, MRC HQ!
- https://bbs.bottomlessabyss.net
- telnet://bbs.bottomlessabyss.net:2023
- ssh://bbs.bottomlessabyss.net:2222
StingRay of A-Net Online
StingRay offers a wide array of BBSes and BBS-related services that all sysops should avail themselves of. The main links here will get you on the path to everything he offers.
- https://a-net-online.lol/bbs/
- telnet://a-net-online.lol
- ssh://a-net-online.lol
X-Bit of x-bit.org
xbit is a veteran sysop and league coordinator of the X-League (777) Inter-BBS network which re-launched in 2025. If you're interested in joining the network, check out these links below:
- https://x-bit.org
- telnet://x-bit.org
- ssh://x-bit.org:22222
xbit also contributed the "l33t" and "stars" themes!
Exodus of The Titantic BBS
Exodus is the network coordinator of MetroNet and maintains Renegade BBS. He was instrumental in confirming uMRC could run on DOS-based systems like Renegade.
- https://www.rgbbs.info
- telnet://ttb.rgbbs.info
Shurato of Shurato's Heavenly Sphere
Shurato runs perhaps the most unique and customized instance of EleBBS anywhere, and is always happy to try running new things on his board.
- https://shsbbs.net
- telnet://shsbbs.net
- for SSH, see: https://shsbbs.net/faq.html
See you in chat!
