A small, retro-flavored chat service in the spirit of Battle.net: public channels, channel operators, simple profiles and bots. It is not attached to any game. It is named after Konrad Zuse, who built the first programmable computer.

Free, with no ads and no selling of data. It is a hobby project run by AstroPanda Games.

With Google, Discord, or an email address and password. Signing in with a method you have not used before creates a separate account, so to use several ways into the same account, sign in first and add the others under Settings → Sign-in methods.

At least 13, or older where your local law requires it. See the Terms.

Click a channel in the list, or type /join name. Use the + button to create your own (public or private); each person can own only a limited number. Channel names are 2 to 32 characters: letters, digits,- and _.

• Everyone: /join, /leave, /who, /me action, /report user reason, /help
• Operators: /topic, /kick, /ban, /mute user [minutes], /unmute, /op, /trust, /unop, /untrust, /speakers everyone|trusted|ops

◆ Zuse admin, ◇ Zuse moderator, ⚙ bot, ♛ channel owner, ⚑ channel operator (op), ♪ trusted (can speak where speaking is limited).

Either an operator has muted you (the box tells you until when) or the channel limits who may speak. For example, The Void is a quiet channel only operators can speak in. You can still read, and use the Leave button or pick another channel.

Yes: recent messages are shown when you join a channel. Older ones are kept: use "Load earlier messages" at the top of the chat to read further back.

Messages can be up to 500 characters. To stop flooding you can send 5 messages in a quick burst, then about 1 per second.

Yes: **bold**, *italic* or _italic_, __underline__, ~~strikethrough~~, ||spoiler|| (hidden until someone clicks it), a line starting with > (a quote) and `code` (nothing inside code is formatted). Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I and Ctrl+U wrap your selection. Put a backslash before a marker to show it as typed. Zuse stores your message exactly as you typed it; formatting is only how it is shown.

Web addresses (http and https) become links that open in a new tab, always showing the real address, so a link cannot pretend to go somewhere else. Staff keep a list of blocked link hosts and words: a message that contains one is not sent, and you are told why. A few words may instead be starred out. You cannot hide a link behind other text. A link to a picture or GIF on a host staff have allowed (such as Giphy or Imgur) can also show the picture under the message. The host learns that you are reading when it loads; if you would rather it waited for a click, or never loaded, change that in Settings. New accounts cannot post links for their first day, and staff can turn links or pictures off in a channel. Ops can also set slowmode in a channel, which asks people to wait between their own messages (trusted people and ops are exempt).

In Settings you can pick a colour for your own messages from a set of presets (everyone who reads your messages sees it; your role colour on your name is separate), and recolour the site for yourself: background, panels, text, accent and chat names. Backgrounds have to stay dark and text readable, so a colour that would be hard to read is not accepted. Your theme colours are saved to your account and are not shown to anyone else.

Yes: type /tutorial in the chat, or open Settings and choose Take the tour again. New accounts see it once when they first open the chat; you can skip it at any time.

On the sign-in page choose “Forgot your password?”, enter your email address and we send a link to choose a new one. If nothing arrives in a few minutes, check your spam folder. When you are signed in you can change it in Settings, under Password. If you signed up with Google or Discord you have no Zuse password, but you can add one in Settings.

Ask someone to be your friend from their profile, with /friend <name>, or in the Friends tab of the side panel; they accept or decline. The Friends tab shows who is online. In Settings you choose who can see when you are online or were last online (everyone, only your friends, or nobody), whether friends may see which public channel you are in (off to start with), and whether to be told when a friend comes online (also off). You can block someone from their profile, the right-click menu or /block: they can no longer send you friend requests, whispers or invitations to private channels, any friendship ends, and they are not told. Zuse staff cannot be blocked; report them instead.

Small badges for things you do on Zuse: your first message, using a spoiler, hitting a milestone, being around for a while, and a few secrets to find. You are told when you earn one, and the badges you have show on your profile. The Achievements page in your menu lists them all with how far along you are. They are just for fun: they give no XP. Bots and staff in stealth mode do not earn them, and the rules about automating accounts apply here too.

Click a name to open their profile: picture, roles, a short status, pronouns and up to three links if they added them, when they joined, and when they were last online. In Settings, under About you, you can change all of that, and turn off showing when you were last online (then nobody else sees that you are online or when you were last here). Your status can clear itself after a while. Status, pronouns and links follow the same rules as chat, so blocked links and words are not allowed there either.

A private channel is not listed, and only its members can join. The owner (or Zuse staff) can switch a channel between public and private in its settings. Ops invite people by name with /invite <name>; you are told when you are invited, and open your invitations with /invites to join or decline. Invitations expire after a few days.

Not as direct messages: they are not part of Zuse for now, and private channels are the closest thing. What does exist is a private message inside a channel: channel operators and Zuse staff can send one that only you see (for example a warning), and bots with permission can answer you privately (a help bot, a game hint). These are never stored, so they are gone when you reload. They are always labelled “Only you can see this”. You can mute a bot’s private messages with the Mute link on the message (undo it in Settings), and report one with the Report link: your copy of the text goes to staff, marked as unverified because Zuse cannot look it up.

A channel set up like an old help desk. You see only your own messages and the answers addressed to you; other people’s questions are hidden from you, and you are hidden from them. Zuse staff and the channel’s operators see everything and answer one person at a time. Your messages there are stored like any other, and the people who answer can read them.

An operator can pin a message so it stays in view just above the input box (up to three per channel). The close button hides it for your current visit only; it stays pinned for everyone else and comes back when you reload.

In your own time zone, taken from your browser. Hover a time to see the full date. A line across the chat marks where a new day starts at midnight. You can pick another zone or a 12 or 24 hour clock in Settings; that choice is kept in this browser.

You earn XP for chatting in public channels (a little at a time, with a short cooldown) and for being active with other people around, plus a bonus for your first activity each day and for coming back day after day. Repeating yourself, flooding, chatting alone, and private or support channels earn nothing. Levels get further apart as you go, and some levels give a role. Your level is public on your profile, and the leaderboard lists name, picture, level and XP; hide yourself from it in Settings. Staff can change the numbers and run double-XP events.

Settings has your invite link. When someone signs up with it (within their first days) and then becomes genuinely active over several days, you both get XP. Invites that look suspicious wait for staff to review instead of paying, and there is a limit per person.

2 to 24 letters, digits or underscores. Staff-style and official-looking names, brand names and offensive words are not allowed, and the check also catches look-alikes (such as adm1n). Change yours any time in Settings, where you can also add a display name (up to 48), a picture and a bio (up to 500).

Zuse does not host pictures, so there is nothing to upload. In Settings you can use the picture from your Google or Discord account, or a Gravatar by entering the email it is registered with (we turn it into the picture’s address and do not keep the email). Without one, you get your initial in a circle. Everyone who sees your picture loads it from Gravatar, Google or Discord.

Yes. Sign in, open Settings and add the other under Sign-in methods. You can remove one later, as long as you keep at least one. Two accounts that already exist cannot be merged: delete the one you do not want first, then add its login to the other.

In Settings, choose Download my data. You get a file with your profile, channels, messages, bots and any restrictions placed on you.

In Settings, choose Delete my account, check what will happen, and type your username to confirm. It is immediate and cannot be undone. The Privacy Policy has the details, or email contact@zuse.chat if you cannot sign in.

A channel nobody else has joined is deleted. A channel other people have joined is handed over to Zuse staff, so they do not lose it; its operators stay operators. If you would like a particular person to take over, make them an operator and email contact@zuse.chatbefore you leave, and staff can hand it to them.

Tell the channel’s operators, or type /report username what happened to tell Zuse staff. You can also leave the channel at any time.

Operators run their own channels, so ask them first. For Zuse-wide action, or if you think something was a mistake, email contact@zuse.chat.

Not from the people in the channel, and private channels are not encrypted. Zuse staff can also watch a channel, including a private one, without appearing in it, to look into abuse; those visits are logged. Read the Privacy Policy for who can see what.

Yes. Bots are first-class: they have their own labelled accounts, revocable tokens, and limited permissions. A TypeScript SDK is in the works and developer documentation will follow. Bots must follow the rate limits and the rules in the Terms (section 7).