Community:Terminology

Template:Noticebox/community 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 world “avatar”.
Badge	Icons that may appear on a user's profile to signify an achievement.
Canny	Referring to VRChat's Feedback Forum, also known as Canny.
Crash	A malfunction or error that causes VRChat to forcibly close or freeze.
Crasher	A malicious avatar or world that is made to crash the user. Please be aware that these are against [VRChat's Guidelines VRChat's Guidelines] and using them can result in action taken against your account.
Cloning	A feature in VRChat that allows a user to change into a selected user's avatar.
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".

G-N

Terms	Explanation
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.
Inv	Short 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.
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.
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.
Physbones	A feature in VRChat that allows a way to add fluid motion to avatar bones.
Prefab	A premade asset made to be used on avatars or in worlds, such as GoGo Loco by Franada or VRCBilliards: Community Edition.
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	Short for “Request” in the context of invites. Such as “req off of me” meaning “request an invite off of me.”
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.
Shield	Referring to "Safety" shields on the Quick Menu, a method to instantly filter out users to increase performance and enhance your experience.
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.

T-Z

Terms	Explanation
Viseme	Portmanteaux of "visual phonemes" (vai-zeems), a type of shapekey that refers to mouth positioning, and movement animations on an avatar.
Udon	VRChat's C# based programming language and visual programmer built into the VRChat World SDK.
Unity	The game engine VRChat utilizes.
VRChatter	(plural: VRChatters) A user of VRChat.