What is an RLV relay, and how do I use one?
An RLV relay lets other people, furniture, cages, or region devices apply RLV restrictions to you; the most common choice is the relay built into an OC (OpenCollar) collar. This covers the two kinds of restriction, the three modes, and the safeword.
Two sources of restraint
The restrictions you feel in Second Life come from two different places:
- Items you are wearing: restraints, collars, locks. They carry their own scripts, so once worn they can stop you from taking them off, moving, seeing, or speaking. These only need RLV to be enabled; no relay is required.
- Things outside you: furniture, cages, traps, or special region gameplay. They are not attached to you, so they cannot restrict you directly.
The second kind is the problem a relay solves.
What a relay does
Your viewer only executes RLV commands from your own attachments. For outside furniture, cages, or region devices to restrict you, they must hand their commands to an RLV relay you are wearing, which forwards them to your viewer (force sit, prevent detach, block teleport, etc.).
Without a relay, other people's furniture and region traps do nothing to you; with one, they can recognise you.
How to use one
- Use an RLV-capable viewer with RLV enabled.
- Wear an RLV relay. We recommend an OC (OpenCollar) collar, which has one built in.
- Pick a mode (below). To be grabbed by furniture or traps automatically, use auto mode.
The three modes
- Off: the relay does nothing; outside furniture and devices cannot affect you.
- Ask: every command opens a dialog and runs only if you accept. Good when you do not want to be grabbed at random.
- Auto: commands run immediately without asking. Use it to be sat by furniture automatically or to play automated regions.
Safeword
OC's default safeword is RED (all caps). You can say it in any of these ways:
- In public chat:
RED - On channel 1:
/1 RED(nearby people will not see it) - In OOC brackets:
((RED))(most RLV restrictions do not block OOC)
Saying it resets all collar restrictions and clears the relay, but does not change the collar's access settings (who the owner is, etc.).
Note: restraints that are worn and locked cannot be removed with the safeword; you need to turn RLV off.
Common relays
- OC collar (OpenCollar): a popular open-source scripted collar system with a built-in RLV relay, plus restraints, poses, leash, and more. Wear it and enable the relay from the collar menu. See What is OpenCollar? and the OpenCollar Quick User Guide.
- Satomi's MultiRelay: a standalone relay that answers multiple sources at once; use it when you don't want collar features.