# WHATPORT(6668)

## NAME

port 6668 — IRC (alternate) — Another plaintext IRC port from IANA's 6665-6669 ircu block.

Protocol: TCP  
IANA registry

## DESCRIPTION

6668 carries exactly the same IRC protocol as 6667 and exists because IANA assigned the whole 6665-6669 range to ircu, letting a server offer several entry points. Networks bind it so clients behind a filter that blocks 6667 can still get in, and some run separate listeners per port for load or policy reasons. On a scan it means an IRC daemon, not a distinct protocol.

## EXPOSURE

**Expose with care.** Same cleartext exposure as 6667; the TLS port is 6697 per RFC 7194.

## CHECK

```sh
printf 'QUIT\r\n' | nc -v TARGET 6668
```

## SEE ALSO

- spec — [RFC 1459 — Internet Relay Chat Protocol](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1459.html) (rfc-editor.org)
- iana — [IANA Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry — 6665-6669 (ircu)](https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml?search=6668) (iana.org)

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HTML: <https://whatport.net/6668/> · JSON: <https://whatport.net/6668.json> · full dataset: <https://whatport.net/ports.json>