Chat & Mentions
TinyGenerals has a built-in chat system so you can communicate with other players before, during, and outside of games.
Chat channels
Section titled “Chat channels”The chat panel has two tabs:
- Room — Messages in your current room or match. In the lobby, this is your pre-game chat. Once the game starts, lobby messages carry over into the match so you don’t lose context.
- General — A server-wide chat visible to everyone. Use it to find opponents, chat between games, or just hang out. General chat has its own page: open Chat in the top navigation (or the menu on mobile) — you don’t need to be in a room or a game.
Both tabs show an unread badge when new messages arrive while you’re on the other tab. Messages you sent yourself never count as unread. In a match, the small dot on the collapsed chat button means there are unread match messages from other players; General activity doesn’t trigger it.
Chat history loads in pages. Scroll to the top and press Load earlier to see older messages.
Sending messages
Section titled “Sending messages”Type your message in the input field and press Enter or tap Send. Shift+Enter inserts a new line.
- Messages have a 500 character limit — a counter in the bottom-right shows how many characters you’ve used. The limit is enforced by the server, so it applies no matter which client you use.
- Cooldowns prevent spam: 3 seconds between messages in General chat, 1 second in room/match chat (room and match share the same cooldown). If you send too quickly, the message is not posted and you’ll see how long to wait.
- Who can post:
- You must be logged in with a registered account to send messages.
- Guests and people who aren’t logged in can read chat but cannot post.
- Room chat: only players who are in the room (battle slots or waiting room).
- Match chat: only players taking part in the match. Spectators can read it but cannot post. If you surrender or are eliminated, your chat becomes read-only.
- General chat: any registered player.
- When you can’t post, the input is disabled and explains why.
@Mentions
Section titled “@Mentions”Mention another player by typing @ followed by their username, for example @Alice. Mentioned players receive a notification in their notification bell, even if they’re not looking at that chat.
Autocomplete
Section titled “Autocomplete”You don’t need to remember exact usernames. Type @ at the start of your message or after a space or a new line, then at least two letters — a dropdown will appear with matching players. From there:
- Tab — inserts the highlighted name. Press Tab again to cycle through other matches.
- Enter — inserts the highlighted name and closes the dropdown.
- Arrow keys — move the highlight up or down.
- Escape — closes the dropdown without inserting anything.
- Click — pick a name directly from the list.
The dropdown also shows a green dot next to players who are currently online. @ directly after punctuation (like hi,@al) doesn’t open the dropdown.
Where mentions work
Section titled “Where mentions work”| Chat channel | Who can you mention? |
|---|---|
| General | Any registered player |
| Room/lobby | Any registered player |
| Match | Only players in that match |
During a match, the autocomplete only suggests players who are in the game, and mentions of anyone else don’t send a notification — you can’t ping someone who isn’t part of the battle. In the lobby and General chat, you can mention anyone, which is handy for inviting players to join.
What the mentioned player sees
Section titled “What the mentioned player sees”When someone mentions you:
- Your notification bell shows a new alert with the sender’s name and a preview of the message.
- Clicking the notification takes you to where you were mentioned: the room, the game, or the Chat page for General.
- Every
@namein chat is highlighted, and a mention of your name gets a distinct highlight so it’s easy to spot.
Bots and guest accounts cannot be mentioned, and mentioning yourself doesn’t create a notification.
Mute and report
Section titled “Mute and report”Hover over (or focus) another player’s message and open its ⋯ menu:
- Mute hides that player’s chat messages from you, in every channel. It only affects what you see — other players still see their messages, and game system messages are never hidden. You can Unmute from the same menu on any of their messages.
- Report message sends the message to the moderators with a reason (spam, harassment, impersonation, other) and an optional comment. You can report each message once. You can’t report your own messages or system messages.
System messages
Section titled “System messages”Some messages are posted automatically by the game — for example, when a player joins the lobby, surrenders, is eliminated, or when the game ends in a victory or a draw. These are created by the server (players can’t fake them) and appear with icons and distinct styling so you can tell them apart from player messages.