Chat tutorial

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TL;DR

Chat cheatsheet. Read whole text to learn tricks that will save you time in the future.
Description	Command
Send a message to a player (playername) with a sound notification	`@playername private message text`
Send a message to all players around you, <32 nodes away	`$ whispered text`
Create a chat channel named local_chat	`/create_channel local_chat,,#666999`
Join a chat channel named local_chat	`/join_channel local_chat`
Send message to the #local_chat channel	`#local_chat message`
Switch to `local_chat` channel, messages without prefix will reach users in `#local_chat`, not `#main` channel, but you'll receive messages from #main	`#local_chat`
Leave main channel	`/lc main`
Send for offline communication	`/mail`

Rules of etiquette
Keep all communication in #main channel in english
Keep `#main` channel clear of local chatter so that help seekers can be heard
Make your own channel or whisper with your guild-members.
Don't tell everyone in `#main` that you have lag. Use `#lag` channel if you really want to.
Beerchat section of `/help` shows all commands

Personal messages (PM)

There are three types of private messages.

Message with a sound notification

If you write @playername message content, a player will hear a sound notification.

You can send a message with sound by typing /msg playername message content, too.

An advantage there is that you can use autocompletion: /msg pla[TAB KEY] will be converted to /msg playername.

Send more messages with notifications

To continue sending notifications and messages to the last player you sent a message with @, just type @ message.

Message for players around you (whisper)

If you want to continue talking to other player, please use whispers commands, because they are already notified.

Start your message with $ if you want to talk only to people around you (< 32 nodes). This command does not require a player name. Example: $ message

Same result is achieved with /whis message

Long distance message without sound notification

For long distance whispers use /tell command: /tell playername message

Minetest provides auto completion for online player names. Invoke with Tab-key: /tell pla[TAB-KEY] is converted to /tell playername.

Channels

Usually channel names start with a # but not in commands to join, leave or create.
Avoid creating channels with space in their names.

Joining a channel

To join a channel and listen to the chat there type:

/jc channelname

Writing to a channel

To speak on a channel you can either:

Type #channelname message to speak once in the channel
Type #channelname and press enter to make channel your default target: all further messages go to that channel until you switch it again.

Language codes

If you want to speak in some other language join or create a channel named by its language code. International Standards Organization has a bit of a long-read for you if you don't know yours: ISO 639-1.

Leaving a channel

To leave a channel use lc command: /lc channelname

Default channel

The default channel for PandoraBox everyone sees is main. You can type #main to switch back to it.

Public channels

There are a number of channels for public use and you probably can find something for your taste. List of public channels

Color, passwords and other options, provided by Beerchat

Pandorabox is using the beerchat mod for chat support, check official thread for more info.

You can download it on GitHub.

Mail

If a player is offline, simply type /mail to see mail menu and write a letter to them.
This command will open a mail UI. Next time target player will login there will be a notification in the center of the screen until the player reads the message.

In-game chat tutorial

If you can't open the browser or want to show this manual to someone else fast, there is a copy of this tutorial, which is located in Commonwealth Hotel. Its coordinates are: X: 4933 Y: 9 Z: -82. You can press F5 to see your own coordinates.

To go there, type "/spawn", go to the Tutorials section and right-click the Starter teleporter.