Comment 3 for bug 810774

Keep in mind, the nick length will be different for each network. If you type '/version' (you might need to do '/raw version' or '/quote version'), you will see something like this:

SAFELIST ELIST=U CASEMAPPING=rfc1459 CHARSET=ascii NICKLEN=16 CHANNELLEN=50 TOPICLEN=390 ETRACE CPRIVMSG CNOTICE DEAF=D MONITOR=100 are supported by this server

The 'NICKLEN=16' is what sets the max nick length. This information is usually sent along with the MOTD when you connect to the network.

The password does not have this same length restriction.