<p>The IRC bootstrapping method is deprecated and default off since the 0.6 release. It's still implemented and can be enabled using the -irc command line option.</p>

<p>The function of the IRC bootstrapping system will get replaced by DNS seeding and peer exchange, however.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T01:24:10.627Z
And the dns seed can be disabled using:
"Don't bootstrap list of peers using DNS"
-nodnsseed 

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Running_Bitcoin

Related: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Satoshi_Client_Node_Discovery#Discovery_Methods
Stephen Gornick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-25T17:15:06.783Z
is there a more in depth description of dns seeding and peer exchange available?
osmosis
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-20T22:01:44.360Z
2012-04-20T22:01:44.360Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>I recently read an <a href="http://bitcoinmedia.com/the-irc-bootstrap-method-is-flawed/">article on Bitcoin Media</a>, that claimed:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Jeff Garzik pointed out that Bitcoin-Qt no longer operates using the IRC bootstrap, and on inspection he’s right. This mainly applies to older versions of bitcoin.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Implying that the IRC channel is no longer used by Bitcoin-QT. Is this true, and if so, which version of the standard Bitcoin client was the first not to use the IRC channel?</p>

<bitcoin-core><irc>
Does Bitcoin still use the IRC channel?
ThePiachu
# Does Bitcoin still use the IRC channel?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-04-20)

I recently read an [article on Bitcoin Media](http://bitcoinmedia.com/the-irc-bootstrap-method-is-flawed/), that claimed:

> Jeff Garzik pointed out that Bitcoin-Qt no longer operates using the IRC bootstrap, and on inspection he’s right. This mainly applies to older versions of bitcoin.

Implying that the IRC channel is no longer used by Bitcoin-QT. Is this true, and if so, which version of the standard Bitcoin client was the first not to use the IRC channel?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, irc


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-04-20. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

The IRC bootstrapping method is deprecated and default off since the 0.6 release. It's still implemented and can be enabled using the -irc command line option.

The function of the IRC bootstrapping system will get replaced by DNS seeding and peer exchange, however.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: And the dns seed can be disabled using: "Don't bootstrap list of peers using DNS" -nodnsseed    - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Running_Bitcoin  Related: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Satoshi_Client_Node_Discovery#Discovery_Methods  
> **username_3**: is there a more in depth description of dns seeding and peer exchange available?  

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