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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/AresChat/sb0t/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Ares desktop clients carry a rich set of per-user profile data — a small avatar image, a personal status message, a custom font style, and more. sb0t tracks all of this state per connected user, synchronises it to joining clients, relays updates in real time, and exposes it for scripting. Web clients (ib0t) that negotiate extended protocol (>= 2000) receive the same profile data over WebSocket.

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Avatars

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User Avatars

Each connected user has an IUser.Avatar property (byte[]) holding their raw JPEG avatar image bytes. When a new user joins, every other client in the same Vroom receives the avatar:
  • Ares clients receive a TCPOutbound.Avatar() TCP packet
  • Web clients (extended mode) receive a WebOutbound.AvatarTo() packet containing the image Base64-encoded
The Avatars.CheckAvatars(time) method runs every 2 seconds inside the server loop (triggered by the fast_ping_timer). If a default avatar is configured and a user has not yet provided their own avatar and their AvatarTimeout expired more than 10 seconds ago, the default avatar is applied automatically: 
UserPool.AUsers.ForEachWhere(x =>
{
    x.Avatar = default_avatar;
    x.OrgAvatar = default_avatar;
    x.AvatarReceived = true;
    x.DefaultAvatar = true;
},
x => !x.AvatarReceived &&
     x.LoggedIn &&
     time > (x.AvatarTimeout + 10000));

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Server (Bot) Avatar

Avatars.UpdateServerAvatar(byte[]) sets the bot’s avatar. It is immediately broadcast to all logged-in Ares clients via TCPOutbound.BotAvatar(). Web clients joining later receive it via Avatars.Server(ib0tClient). If no server avatar is set, a clear packet is sent instead. All avatars — user-supplied and server-supplied — are scaled to 48 × 48 pixels JPEG at quality 69 before being stored, via Avatars.Scale(), ensuring consistent size across all clients.

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IUser.RestoreAvatar()

Calling IUser.RestoreAvatar() from a script resets a user’s avatar to their original (OrgAvatar) and re-broadcasts it to the room, useful after a script has temporarily replaced it.

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Personal Messages

IUser.PersonalMessage (String) is a short status line that appears beneath a user’s name in supporting Ares clients. It is synchronised the same way as avatars:
  • Set by the client via the standard Ares personal-message packet
  • Broadcast to all users in the same vroom on join and on change
  • Web clients in extended mode receive PERSMSG packets: PERSMSG:<namelength>,<textlength>:<name><text>
Scripts can read and write this property directly: 
// Read
string status = user.PersonalMessage;

// Write (triggers broadcast automatically)
user.PersonalMessage = "Away for lunch";

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Custom Fonts

Ares supports per-user coloured display names and coloured message text. sb0t models this through IFont (interface) and AresFont (concrete implementation): 
class AresFont : IFont
{
    public bool Enabled { get; set; }
    public String NameColor { get; set; }   // HTML hex colour, e.g. "#FF0000"
    public String TextColor { get; set; }   // HTML hex colour
    public String FontName { get; set; }    // Font family name
    public bool IsEmote { get; set; }
    public byte oldN { get; set; }          // Legacy Ares name colour index
    public byte oldT { get; set; }          // Legacy Ares text colour index
    public byte size { get; set; }          // Font size
}
IUser.Font exposes the IFont interface. When a web client in extended mode joins, each logged-in Ares user whose Font.Enabled is true has their font data relayed as a FONT packet: 
FONT:<namelength>,<oldN length>,<oldT length>:<name><oldN><oldT>
Custom font rendering in the web client is limited to the legacy oldN and oldT colour-index values. The full NameColor/TextColor hex strings are available to scripts via IFont but are not forwarded to web clients in the current protocol.

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Custom Names

IUser.CustomName (String) is an admin-assigned display name override. When set, the server substitutes it for the user’s real name in public text and emote packets dispatched to clients that do not have BlockCustomNames enabled. Scripts and the hub link can set this remotely: 
user.CustomName = "[VIP] Alice";   // replaces display name in chat
user.CustomName = String.Empty;    // clears override, restores real name

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Virtual Rooms (Vrooms)

IUser.Vroom (ushort) places a user into an isolated sub-room. Users with different Vroom values do not see each other’s joins, parts, or messages. The main room is vroom 0. Scripts can move users between vrooms: 
user.Vroom = 1;   // move to private sub-room 1
user.Vroom = 0;   // return to the main room
IUser.SetLevel(ILevel level) promotes or demotes a user through the four admin tiers:
ILevelByte valueRole
Regular0Standard user
Moderator1Can kick, muzzle, etc.
Administrator2Extended admin powers
Host3Room owner, full permissions

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Cloaking

IUser.Cloaked (bool) hides a user from the visible user list while they remain connected. Other users receive a PART packet when cloaking is applied, as if the user left, but the underlying socket stays open. Cloaked users cannot receive private messages from non-cloaked users — senders receive an OFFLINE response instead. 
user.Cloaked = true;    // hide from user list
user.Cloaked = false;   // re-appear (sends a JOIN to the room)

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Scribbles

IUser.Scribble(string sender, byte[] img, int height) sends a drawable scribble image to a user if their client supports it. For Ares clients this requires CustomClient to be true. For web clients it requires the extended protocol flag. The scribble is sent in two parts — a SCRIBBLE_HEAD packet carrying sender name and image dimensions, followed by one or more SCRIBBLE_BLOCK packets carrying the image data chunks.

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URL Tags

IUser.URL(string address, string text) sets a clickable hyperlink tag displayed beneath a user’s name in the client UI. The URL packet format is: 
URL:<addresslength>,<textlength>:<address><text>
URL tags are also broadcast at login via WebOutbound.UrlTo() using the room-wide link configured in Settings.Get<String>("link", "url") and Settings.Get<String>("text", "url").

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Nudges

IUser.Nudge(string sender) sends a nudge notification to the target user. Nudges produce a screen-shake or sound effect in supporting Ares desktop clients. They are not delivered to web clients — only users connected with a standard Ares desktop client that supports the nudge packet will receive it.

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AvatarPMManager

AvatarPMManager (in commands) provides per-session tracking of custom avatar and private-message state for admin operations:
  • AddAvatar(IUser) — records that a custom avatar was applied to this user’s GUID
  • CanAvatar(IUser) — returns true if no custom avatar has been applied yet this session
  • AddPM(IUser, string) / GetPM(IUser) — stores and retrieves a custom per-user PM text keyed by GUID
This data is in-memory only and is reset with AvatarPMManager.Reset() on server start.
Scribbles, nudges, and full font customisation are features of the Ares desktop client protocol. Web clients receive a subset: avatars (Base64-encoded JPEG), personal messages, and basic font colour indices. Older Ares client versions may not support all of these features — sb0t silently drops packets for features the target client does not advertise support for.

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