4d2 dot org Matrix Quick Start Guide

Updated 5 March 2024

Here are some quick tips for newcomers to the 4d2 dot org Matrix homeserver.

Getting Started

To sign up for a free Matrix account, go to Element and click the option to register. You must use our instance of Element to sign up for a new account.

Our Matrix server name is matrix.4d2.org. The server portion of your Matrix ID (MXID) is 4d2.org, e.g. @sarah:4d2.org. You can use any Matrix client you like to connect to the server once you have an account. For an easy option, you can use our locally-hosted (and frequently updated) instance of either Element or Cinny.

Although we don't require an email address to register for a Matrix account, we strongly recommend that you provide one to avoid losing your account. Having an email address on file will allow you to reset your password if you forget it. It will also allow us to contact you outside of Matrix if your account is banned from the server for any reason. If you didn't provide an email address at first and want to add one, or if you need to change your email address, you can do so via the Settings in Element.

Bridges

Bridges are available to bring your third-party chats into this Matrix server, making all your contacts accessible through one app. To set up bridging, start a chat with the appropriate bridge bot and say "help" -- you'll get a help message with a list of commands, which vary slightly from one third party product to another. The bridge bots are:

Clients

Two web-based clients are available here at 4d2 dot org - Element, which is full-featured and more or less the "reference client", and Cinny, which is lighter and can be a bit more responsive. Popular mobile apps include Element (Android | iOS), SchildiChat (Android), and FluffyChat (Android | iOS) - check your app store for downloads. You can find other clients on the Matrix.org Foundation's list of clients.

Voice and Video Chat

There are 3 different ways you can start a voice and/or video chat on this server. First, you can use the voice or video icon in a 1-to-1 Direct Message (in Element) to begin an end-to-end encrypted two-party voice or video chat. We also host an instance of Jitsi that allows you to host multi-party voice and video chats (similar to Zoom, Skype, MS Teams, etc.) anonymously and without registration. If you are using Element or a compatible client and are in a room with more than 2 members, you can press the same voice or video button, and a Jitsi widget will automatically be inserted into the room inviting everyone there to a Jitsi chat.

Whenever possible, 1-to-1 voice/video calls via Element will use our server to set up a direct encrypted connection between you and the other party, meaning we will not handle any of your actual call traffic. When this is not possible for one party or the other due to restrictive NAT or a firewall, we will act as a proxy for that party (see the Wikipedia page for the TURN protocol for more information on this). When engaging in group calls via Jitsi, the server must handle your traffic itself, and the performance you experience will be impacted by your distance from our host in Finland, whether you are behind a VPN, etc.

Public Rooms

Anyone can create a public room and list it in the server's room directory to advertise it to other users. Please feel free to create rooms for any topic that interests you! When we find new public rooms, we add our Abuse Management Bot as an admin to automatically bounce known spammers from other homeservers who might try to join your room.

Public rooms run by the instance admins, like #coffeeshop:4d2.org, lean pretty strongly left-libertarian. We moderate these rooms in an effort to keep the conversation kind. We leave moderation of other public rooms entirely up to the admins of those rooms, unless something violates our ToS. Which brings me to...

Policies

We trust our users by default, and we strive for free speech with minimal guardrails. Our rules are spelled out in detail in our Terms of Service, but here's a tl;dr: no piracy, no hate speech, no doxxing, no CP. These are all illegal in at least one jurisdiction where we operate, so don't expect flexibility. For any other issues that occur, we prefer warnings and dialogue to bans. If you see content that you think should be removed, use the report button or DM @sarah:4d2.org.

Other 4d2 dot org Services

If you're enjoying our Matrix server, you may also enjoy our simple file sharing service, or our ad-free link shortener. See our home page for complete details of all our public services. Details on how to donate to support our services are also available there.


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