Community:Terminology

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[Reason: VRChat's community has a diverse lingo!]

This article contains a list of terms, abbreviations, and slang commonly used by users on VRChat.

A-F

Terms	Explanation
Ask Forum	A forum service that VRChat operates for users to ask questions, search for answers, and view Developer Updates.
Avi	(plural: avis) Abbreviation for the word “avatar”.
Badge	Icons that may appear on a user's profile to signify their contributions to the platform.
Base	Short for 'Avatar Base', an avatar made available for download or purchase by an avatar creator to act as a template or starting point for a user to create their own custom avatar.
Big Menu	A colloquil name for the Main Menu.
Canny	Referring to VRChat's Feedback Forum, also known as Canny.
Circle Menu	(also: Radial Menu, or erroneously, Expressions Menu) A colloquial name for the Action Menu.
Cloning	A feature in VRChat that allows a user to change into a selected user's avatar.
Crash	A malfunction or error that causes VRChat to forcibly close or freeze.
Deskie	Shortening of "Desktop User", someone who uses the desktop version of VRChat.
Crasher	A malicious avatar or world that is made to crash the user. Please be aware that these are against VRChat's Guidelines and using them can result in action taken against your account.
EAC	Abbreviation for "Easy Anti-Cheat" - a security program used by VRChat on the PC version.
Earmuffs	A feature in VRChat that allows a user to limit the range of their hearing. This can be useful in instances with many people in close proximity.
FBT	Abbreviation for "Full-Body Tracking". FBT is defined as anything that adds the ability to track, at minimum, hips and feet. Some users may also refer to this as "obtaining legs".
FT	Abbreviation for "Face Tracking". Facetracking can include eye tracking as well as tracking of the lower face.

G-N

Terms	Explanation
Home	(also: home world) The world a user will spawn into when entering VRChat. This, by default, is the VRChat Home world and can be changed to any world.
IK	Abbreviation of “Inverse Kinematics”, an algorithm calculated in Unity, which VRChat uses to properly track the movement of bones and Physbones on an avatar.
Instance	An instance is a copy of a world that up to 80 users can join. Multiple instances can exist, each hosting different groups of users. There are different instance types.
Inv	Abbreviation for “Invite” in the context of invites. Such as “inv me” meaning “invite me.”
Kitbashing	A method of creating models, especially avatars, from a myriad of assets from various sources using the VRChat SDK. The term comes from real-world scale model making.
Meet	(also: meet-up) A scheduled gathering taking place in VRChat by a community with a similar interest such a hobby, a content creator or users of a specific avatar. Meets normally take place using a Group or Group+ instance and organised in game or via a community Discord server.
Mute	Referring to either a user who is unable to use voice communication, either by choice or due to disability; may also refer to the action of silencing the sound of a user, world, or a video player.
Notifs	Abbreviation for “notifications”, referring to one of the tabs in the Quick Menu.

O-S

Terms	Explanation
OSC	A protocol to allow external devices and applications to connect to VRChat, and communicate with each other, usually on an avatar or world.
Performance	The level at how optimized an asset in VRChat is, usually referring to avatars.
Phantom Sense	A sensation of experiencing one or more senses because of virtual stimuli, e.g. touch, smell, taste.
Physbones	A feature in VRChat that allows a way to add fluid motion to avatar bones.
Ping	The number referring (in milliseconds) to track latency, showing how much time it takes for a sample of data to travel from your device to the VRChat server, and back to your device.
Polys	Abbreviation for polygons. Refers to the 2D shapes that make up avatars and worlds in VRChat. Synonymous with 'tris' (triangles).
Portal	A placeable object that allows multiple users to teleport to the same instance of a different world.
Prefab	A premade asset made to be used on avatars or in worlds, such as GoGo Loco by Franada or VRCBilliards: Community Edition.
Pretzel	Refers to a user whose full-body tracking has broken or lost tracking, causing their avatar to fold in on itself like a pretzel.
Quest	Refers to the Meta Quest headset, or Quest-compatible content; synonymously used with the "Android" build of VRChat.
Questie	Refers to someone using VRChat on standalone Quest. Context and tone for this word may vary, but unfortunately can have a pejorative connotation.
Req	Abbreviation for “Request” in the context of invites. Such as “req off of me” meaning “request an invite off of me.”
Retexture	The act of changing the textures of a common avatar to customize it and make it specific and unique to a given player. A person who does this for others is known as a 'Retexture Artist'.
RP	Abbreviation for "Role-play" - assuming/playing a role, solo or in a group. There are dedicated groups and themed worlds for RP in VRChat.
SDK	“SDK” is short for Software development kit, it's a collection of tools that allow people to develop software for certain platforms. The VRChat SDK is what is used to create worlds and avatars in VRChat.
Shader	In Unity, a shader is a program that contains instructions on how to render materials. These are used in conjunction with materials. An example of a shader is Poiyomi's Toon Shader.
Shapekey	Also known as “Blendshapes”, allows for the deformation of a model for animation purposes, most often used for creating mouth movements and blinking. An animation that goes from Point A to Point B, and back again.
Shield	(also: safeties) Referring to "Safety" shields on the Quick Menu, a method to disable aspects of users' avatars, as well as voice, to increase performance and enhance your experience.
Skin	Informally used by newer players coming from other games when referring to a customized version of a common avatar. See Retexture.
Small Menu	(also: little menu) A colloquial name for the Quick Menu.
Spawn	Usually the starting point of a world or the act of summoning an object.
Status	Statuses allow a user to vary the extent to which friends can join them and see their location. Users can also write a message to accompany this.

T-Z

Terms	Explanation
Udon	VRChat's C# derived object-oriented programming editor for the VRChat World SDK.
Unity	The game engine VRChat utilizes.
Viseme	Portmanteaux of "visual phonemes" (vai-zeems), a type of shapekey that refers to mouth positioning and animatics on an avatar.
VRC	Abbreviation for VRChat.
VRChatter	(plural: VRChatters) A user of VRChat.
World hopping	A solo or group activity involving exploring several worlds in a short period of time.

Official resources

• Avatar Basics - Terminology on YouTube, posted by VRChat Learning Channel