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 a 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.