Messages
The Messages window provides two related features: a friends list for keeping track of known clients on the network, and a chat system for direct messaging between clients.
Friends List
The friends list is on the left side of the Messages window:
Friends remain in the list permanently unless you explicitly remove them. This allows you to keep track of clients even when they are offline — unlike the Downloads window, where clients appear only when they are actively connected.
Friends currently confirmed as connected are shown in blue; friends that are not connected use the system's default text colour.
Each entry represents one friend client:
Adding a Friend
Right-click anywhere in the friends list and select Add a friend:
The Add Friend window opens:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IP | Yes | The friend's IP address |
| Port | Yes | The friend's standard client TCP port (usually 4662) |
| Username | Optional | Displayed in the list until the client is contacted and the real username is confirmed |
| Userhash | Optional | The friend's userhash. Providing this prevents another client reusing the same IP/port from being mistaken for your friend, since every client has a unique userhash |
Click OK to add the friend, or Cancel to close without adding.
Removing a Friend
Select a friend, right-click and choose Remove Friend:
Alternatively, select the friend and press the Delete key.
Sending a Message
There are two ways to start a chat with a friend:
-
Right-click the friend and select Send Message:
-
Double-click the friend directly.
Both methods open a new chat tab.
Viewing Client Details
Right-click a friend and select Show Details to open the Client Details window for that client:
This option may be disabled if the friend is not currently confirmed as online.
Viewing a Friend's Shared Files
Right-click a friend and select View Files to request a list of that client's shared files:
If successful, the shared file list appears as a new tab in the Searches window with the friend's username as the tab name.
Whether a client honours the request is governed by its Who can see my shared files setting (Everybody, Friends, or No one), configured on the Security preferences tab. The default is No one, so by default clients deny shared-file-list requests for privacy reasons. A failure is reported in the log and the status bar:
Establishing a Friend Slot
You can reserve a dedicated upload slot for a specific friend, guaranteeing them upload bandwidth regardless of queue position. Only one friend slot can be active at a time. The menu entry acts as a toggle — selecting it again releases the slot — and the assignment is remembered, so it persists across reconnections and aMule restarts.
Right-click the friend and select Establish Friend Slot:
This option may be disabled if the friend is not currently confirmed as online.
Messaging
The right side of the Messages window contains the chat panel:
Starting a Chat
When you send a message or receive one, a chat tab appears:
Chatting
The conversation panel displays the full message history:
Each message is preceded by the time it was sent/received and the sender's username:
- Your username is displayed in green.
- The other client's username is displayed in blue.
The panel also shows control messages such as connection/disconnection events, the other party's IP and port, and other informational messages.
To send a message, type in the message input box:
Press Enter or click Send to send:
A single message is limited to 450 characters; anything longer is truncated before being sent.
Closing a Conversation
Click the Close button in the chat area or close the tab:
Chat Tabs
Each conversation opens in its own tab. The tab label shows the username of the client:
Starting a new conversation adds a new tab; previous conversations remain accessible in the background:
Click any tab to switch to that conversation.
Closing a Tab
Hover over the friend icon in the tab header — it becomes an X button. Click it to close:
You can also click the Close button in the conversation area.
Scrolling Tabs
When more tabs are open than can fit in the window, scroll arrows appear at each end of the tab bar:
Tab Right-Click Menu
Right-clicking a tab shows options:
| Option | Action |
|---|---|
| Close tab | Close this tab |
| Close all tabs | Close all open tabs |
| Close other tabs | Close every tab except this one |
Detecting Incoming Messages
When a message arrives while you are not on the Messages window:
-
The Messages icon in the toolbar blinks alternately blue and red:
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The status bar log displays a notification message:
Incoming messages can be filtered before they ever reach the Messages window. The Filters preferences tab lets you ignore messages from people not on your friend list, from unknown clients, or containing specific words, as well as log every received message. Independently, an advanced spam filter may require a client that is not your friend to solve a CAPTCHA before its first message gets through; clients that send URLs in a first message or keep messaging without a reply are flagged as spammers and their session is closed automatically.
Miscellaneous
aMule messaging uses direct IP:port connections, not the eD2k or Kademlia network overlay. This means:
- You can message a client even if you are only on eD2k and they are only on Kademlia, or vice versa.
- You can even message a client when neither of you is connected to any network — as long as both clients are online (running with an internet connection) and know each other's IP and port.