Frequently Asked Questions

This page answers some frequently-asked questions about the Jabber.org messaging service and Jabber technologies in general.

  1. What is Jabber?
  2. What is Jabber.org?
  3. How do I create an account at Jabber.org?
  4. How do I use my Jabber.org account?
  5. What can I do after I create an account?
  6. I can't log in! What should I do?
  7. I forgot my password! How can I reset it?
  8. I don't like my password. How can I change it?
  9. I don't need my account any longer. Can you delete it?
  10. What is a JID?
  11. What is the "Resource" setting for in my client?
  12. Is Jabber.org secure?
  13. I get a certificate warning. What can I do?
  14. I'm behind a firewall — can I still log into Jabber.org?
  15. Can I chat with people on other messaging services?
  16. Does Jabber.org support chatrooms?
  17. How can I create my own room on the conference server?
  18. I noticed that some of the chatrooms are logged — can you log my room, too?
  19. Why don't you provide a crossdomain.xml file on Jabber.org for Flash-based clients?
  20. Can I use the Jabber logo in my product/website/T-shirt?
  21. How can I find out about service updates?
  22. How can I provide comments about the service?
  23. How can I contact the administrator?
  24. My question isn't answered here, where do I go for help?

1. What is Jabber?

Jabber is the original open instant messaging (IM) technology, invented by Jeremie Miller in 1998 and formalized as the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) by the IETF as an Internet Standard for messaging and presence.

2. What is Jabber.org?

Jabber.org is a free messaging service run by volunteers since 1999 and hosted at USSHC in Iowa, USA.

3. How do I create an account at Jabber.org?

There are many other Jabber/XMPP services on the Internet, so you might try to create an account at one of them because automated account creation is currently disabled at the Jabber.org messaging service. From August to November of 2017 we ran an experiment with manual account creation (Peter Saint-Andre wrote a brief report in this blog post). Based on the results of that experiment, we plan to implement automated account creation (though perhaps invitation-only) sometime in 2023.

4. How do I use my Jabber.org account?

You can use your Jabber.org account with any of the dozens of free messaging clients that support the XMPP standard (a list is here).

5. What can I do after I create an account?

When you first log in, we strongly encourage you to add your preferred email address to your "user profile" (vCard) that is stored on the server. We do not capture your email address during account registration, so if you ever forget your password we will need to know your email address!

After that, you can chat with friends on other XMPP-based services, join chatrooms, and so on.

6. I can't log in! What should I do?

If you haven't forgotten your password, it might be that the service is temporarily offline. Please check the website for notices.

7. I forgot my password! How can I reset it?

If you have lost your password for the Jabber.org messaging service, please send an email message to Peter Saint-Andre with a subject of "Lost Password", and provide the following information:

  1. Your Jabber.org account name (e.g., "maineboy@jabber.org")
  2. The email address that you added to your user profile, if any
  3. The usernames of at least two people in your contact list (e.g., "romeo@example.net" and "juliet@example.com")
  4. The approximate time of your last login, and the IP address from which you connected.

If the information that you provide matches what we have on file, we will do the following:

  1. Disable your account for one week. This helps to prevent social engineering attacks, in which someone other than the rightful owner tries to gain control over an account.
  2. If after one week the rightful owner does not complain that they can't log into the account, we will the change the password and send you the new password. (For security reasons we will not give you the old password.)

Note: We can change passwords only on the Jabber.org messaging service!

8. I don't like my password. How can I change it?

You can change your password using any full-featured messaging client (see the list here).

9. I don't need my account any longer. Can you delete it?

We actually don't delete accounts, but we will disable accounts upon request. If you want us to disable your account, please send an email message to Peter Saint-Andre with a subject of "Disable Account", and provide the same information that you would provide for a Lost Password request (see above).

10. What is a JID?

Your Jabber ID or "JID" identifies you on the Jabber network. It looks like an email address, but it's used for instant messaging instead. If you create an account at the Jabber.org messaging service your JID will be of the form "username@jabber.org", but your friends might have JIDs from any other XMPP service.

11. What is the "Resource" setting for in my client?

Jabber allows you to use the same account and log in from multiple devices at the same time. For example, you might have a client at home, one at work, and one on your mobile phone. Any of them can be connected at once. The resource is used to identify each of these individual clients for message delivery. Just make sure to set each one differently (or let the server assign a resource to you).

12. Is Jabber.org secure?

The Jabber.org service uses industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt your connection to the server. Our security certificate is issued by Let's Encrypt, a widely-recognized certification authority.

Furthermore, the Jabber.org messaging service is hosted in a secure data center by USSHC, with strict physical security as well as up-to-date security patches on a Debian GNU/Linux operating system.

The Jabber.org administrators take your privacy and security very seriously — please read the Service Policy for full details about our security measures. If you have any questions about security, please ask in the jabber@conference.jabber.org chatroom or contact Peter Saint-Andre directly (see also below).

13. I get a certificate warning. What can I do?

On occasion our automated scripts fail and the certificate isn't updated on time. We're working to improve this process.

14. I'm behind a firewall — can I still log into Jabber.org?

Yes, you can, but you need to make sure that outbound port 5222 is open (this is the IANA-registered port for XMPP client connections). To check whether your connection is blocked, type 'telnet jabber.org 5222' in a terminal or console window.

15. Can I chat with people on other messaging services?

Yes! The Jabber.org service connects with all messaging services that use XMPP, the open standard for instant messaging and presence over the Internet. However, you can't connect from Jabber.org to proprietary services like Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, or Discord (without a gateway ) because they use their own proprietary protocols.

16. Are there any gateways, transports, or bridges?

None hosted as part of the Jabber.org service, but the broader nework has many options for these to connect to various legacy and proprietary networks. Check out, for example, cheogram.com and slidge.im.

17. Does Jabber.org support chatrooms?

Yes! In Jabber these are known often as Multi-User Conferences, or 'MUCs' for short. Usually you will find the option to join rooms in the menu of your client. At Jabber.org the MUC service is conference.jabber.org (e.g., our "help room" is jabber@conference.jabber.org, see below).

If you have an account at the Jabber.org messaging service, you can also join chatrooms at other XMPP servers on the Internet. You can search for rooms of interest at <https://search.jabber.network>.

18. How can I create my own room on the conference server?

Because we experienced a lot of abuse from public chatrooms, we have disabled the ability for anyone to create a room. Now only the Jabber.org administrators have permission to create rooms. If you would like us to create a room for you, please join the jabber@conference.jabber.org chatroom (see below) and request a room there.

19. I noticed that some of the chatrooms are logged — can you log my room, too?

We do indeed archive the conversations in a few of the more public chatrooms hosted at conference.Jabber.org — see logs.jabber.org for a complete list. In general we don't like to turn on room logging because of privacy concerns and space limits on our servers, but if you ask really nicely in the jabber@conference.jabber.org chatroom (see below), we might do that for you.

The Jabber logo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, so you are free to use it. Feel free to contact Peter Saint-Andre if you have questions about the logo.

21. How can I find out about service updates?

To find out major service updates, including changes to our service policy, follow us on Twitter or Mastodon, or subscribe to the juser@jabber.org mailing list.

22. How can I provide comments about the service?

For general comments and questions, please post to the public juser@jabber.org discussion list.

23. How can I contact the administrator?

The person ultimately responsible for this service is Peter Saint-Andre. His email address and JabberID are listed at his contact page. You can also send him physical mail via P.O. Box 787, Parker, CO 80134 USA. If you need to call him, please ask for his phone number via email or IM.

24. My question isn't answered here, where do I go for help?

The best place for help with the Jabber.org messaging service is the jabber@conference.jabber.org chatroom.

You can also post to the public juser@jabber.org discussion list.

As a last resort, feel free to contact the administrator as described above.