Viewerhelp:Glossary

A

abuse report

An official report of intentional or malicious violation of the Terms of Service that you can file. Choose Help > Report Abuse to display the Report Abuse window that enables you to submit an abuse report. See When and how to file an Abuse Report.

account

A basic, free Second Life account can access basic support and rent land on private estates. See also premium account.

Adult

See maturity rating.

Advanced menu

Contains advanced technical commands, officially unsupported. To display on Windows and Linux, press Ctrl+Alt+D; some systems require Ctrl+Alt+Shift ⇧+D. On Mac, press Ctrl+Opt ⌥+D. See Advanced Menu Guide.

Age Verification

An account status that indicates there is Resident-shown identification on file that verifies they're an adult. See What are the different types of Account Verification?.

agent

See avatar.

Agni

The public Second Life grid. See main grid.

alpha

In computer graphics, alpha compositing is the process of combining an image with a background to create the appearance of partial transparency. Textured objects and avatars in Second Life can be rendered partially or completely transparent through the use of alpha masks.

alt

Short for "alternate account"; one person can have multiple Second Life accounts. See Alt Account FAQ.

animation

A set of instructions that causes an avatar to engage in a sequence of motions. You can use animations to make your avatar clap hands, dance, blow a kiss, and so on.

animation override

A scripted attachment that replaces standard animations (such as walk, jump, stand, run). Commonly abbreviated "AO."

asset

A data resource such as an image, sound, script, object, and so on; identified by UUID and type. An asset can be non-technically referred to as an item.

attachment

An object (for example: clothing, weapons, jewelry, or shoes) that can be attached to an avatar at a specific location, usually set by the object's creator (by default: right hand). See How to attach and detach objects from your avatar.

autoreturn

As a landowner, set auto-return to the number of minutes after which to return objects to their owners. Set to zero (0) to never return objects to their owners automatically. See About Land - Objects.

avatar

Representation of a Resident or bot in the Second Life virtual world.

avatar impostor

Performance-improving feature for rendering distant avatars. See Avatar Impostors.

B

baked

Freshly donned clothing will often look clear and sharply defined and then, a short time later, become fuzzy and clear again. Once this process occurs, the texture is said to be "baked."

ban

(1) Forbidding entry to a parcel, region, or estate. (2) A permanent termination of a Second Life account by Linden Lab, generally a consequence of violating the Terms of Service or Community Standards.

banlines

Lines of floating red letters spelling out "no entry" that appear on the boundaries of a land parcel from which you are banned.

banlist

List of Residents that the estate owner (or estate managers) has banned from the estate. To view or change (if you have rights to do so), choose World > Region/Estate, then select the Estate tab.

basic account

A standard, free Second Life account that can access basic customer support and rent land on private estates. See also premium account.

beacon

Colored locators that help you pinpoint certain objects. For instance, if you lost a physical ball that rolled off somewhere, or if you want to know which prims in your build contain scripts. Beacons will also work for avatars when appropriate, such as when an avatar plays a gesture with a sound.

block

To eliminate text chat from an object or text and voice chat from a Resident. To block someone, move your mouse over them inworld, click the inspector, then click the Gear and choose Block.

body part

Inventory item types which contain customizable attributes of your avatar's appearance: shape, skin, hair, eyes. Unlike mesh clothing and attachments, you can't remove body parts — they must be swapped with other body parts of the same type.

bot

An avatar controlled by a software program, rather than by a human.

box

An object that contains contents that you need to unpack to use, such as clothing. See Opening boxes.

build

(v) To create/make something out of prims in Second Life. (n) Something built in Second Life. As in, "That zoo is a beautiful build!"

busy

A state in which your avatar does not hear nearby chat, other Residents' IMs receive the "busy mode" response, and you automatically refuse all inventory and teleport offers. Choose Me > My Status > Busy to set busy mode.

C

cache

A configurable area of your hard drive setup to load previously accessed data faster. Second Life has two caches: one for inworld content, such as object information, textures, and inventory item names, and another for webpages.

CS

Second Life Community Standards.

classified

Personal advertisement for a product, service, or other offering. Added as a pick in your profile.

clear cache

"Refreshing" the cache can help with various problems, such as allegedly missing inventory items.

click action

Makes an object easier to use with a single left-click. For example, sitting down or zooming in on an object. Click actions are set in Build Tools - General. Sometimes referred to in full as "left-click action." See Click action video tutorials.

coalesced object

Multiple objects that appear as one entry in your inventory, marked with the icon. This can happen either via auto-return or when you select and take multiple objects together.

collision

When an object or avatar collides with something. Also, the LSL scripting calls related to collision events.

combat

Second Life has a built-in health system that is represented by , activated when Safe (no damage) is disabled. Scripted objects can be programmed to inflict damage on participants; when your health drops to 0%, you're teleported home. Unlike other virtual environments, death incurs no permanent penalties aside from a brief inconvenience. Non-consensual combat can be a violation of the Community Standards. Residents have also created their own combat systems when the built-in one was found lacking.

Community Standards

Second Life Community Standards, the basic rules that govern social interaction in SL.

contribution

An amount of land you voluntarily move from your personal land use tier into the allocation for a group to which you belong.

coordinate

Your position in 3D space represented in the form of a vector (x, y, z), visible in the Map window. These coordinates are the position in the sim ("sim-local", not "global").

copy

Object permission that controls whether you can make copies of an object. If allowed the object is said to have "copy permission," if not, it is no copy. Other permissions include: move, modify, and transfer. See How do I set permissions on an object?.

contents

An object's inventory, which can be transferred into a Resident's inventory or vice-versa, if permissions allow it. An object's contents enable interaction: for example, a plane contains scripts that model its physical behavior.

covenant

Agreement between an estate owner and Resident who purchases land in the estate. Specifies whether the land can be resold, zoning, code of conduct, and other restrictions. See Covenants.

crash logs

Information the Viewer can automatically send to Linden Lab when it crashes. You may also want to include crash logs when reporting a bug.

D

damage-enabled

See combat.

deed

To give a parcel of land or object to a group. A deeded object can also change parcel media information on a parcel with which it shares a group.

detach

To remove an item that has been attached to a specific part of your avatar’s body and return it to your inventory.

display name

A name you choose that is visible to other Residents, both above your avatar and in chat logs. It is separate from your username and you can change it periodically. See Display names. Requires Viewer 2.3.

draw distance

How far you can see in the far distance. To change, choose Me > Preferences then select the Graphics tab to display the Preferences - Graphics window.

drop

To remove an attached item from your avatar and drop it on the ground, instead of returning it to your inventory.

E

estate

One or more regions with a single owner and a particular shared set of rules, such as banned users, sun position, and so on. Aside from the mainland, most estates are privately owned by Residents. See Estate FAQ and Land.

estate owner

The one Resident a privately-owned estate belongs to and is billed to. All estate owners are Concierge customers and have full powers over regions in their estate, including selling land, enforcing the covenant, resolving disputes, adding managers, and so on.

estate manager

Manager of a privately-owned estate who can assist the estate owner with administrative and other duties. See Estate Manager.

event

A group activity, led by a host, that starts and ends at specific times, listed on the Search/Events calendar.

F

face

One side of a prim.

facelight

An invisible attachment, sometimes scripted, that illuminates an avatar's face and body to enhance appearance. Commonly used in fashion photography.

favorites bar

Area near the top of the window, just below the location bar, where you can save often-used landmarks for ease of access. Right-click on the menu bar to show or hide the favorites bar.

flexible

Property of a prim that enables it to "flex" when it moves or is blown by the wind, such as flags and hair. To set, right-click on an object, choose Edit, select the Features tab; and select Flexible Path.

flexiprim

A flexible prim; also "flexi."

fly

One of the ways to move inworld. To fly, click Move, then Flying mode or press f. Then click Fly Forward or Fly Backward icons; or press w, s, a, and d or ←, →, ↑, and ↓. Move vertically up or down by clicking the Fly Up or Fly Down icons or press e or c. See also walk, run, and teleport.

flycam

Special camera view that allows a third-party device like a 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator to perform cinematic, freeform camera motions. Setup in Joystick Configuration.

full perm

Full permissions: You can freely copy, modify, and transfer objects with this permission.

Full Region

The region type that offers the highest performance, capable of supporting a maximum of 15,000 prims and 100 avatars.

G

General

See maturity rating.

gesture

An inventory item that triggers a combination of animations, sounds, and/or text chat. For example, your avatar saying "YAY!" in text chat while accompanied by a dance and happy music. Gestures are popularly shared as memes. See Gestures.

Governor Linden

Default owner of land on the mainland; abandoned land reverts to ownership by Governor Linden.

grid

A connected set of Second Life simulators, defining an individual virtual world. The main public Second Life grid is known as Agni; others exist for development and testing.

grid coordinates

The name of a region combined with three numbers between 0 and 255 for the X and Y (north-south & east-west) coordinates, and from 0 to 4,096 for the Z (up-down) coordinate. Higher altitudes are possible but uncommon.

griefing

An activity intended to make another Resident's life or experience in Second Life unpleasant. Choose Help > Report Abuse to report griefing.

group

An organization of two or more Residents that you can join. To see the groups you belong to, click People - Groups. See What are groups? for details.

group title

Label designated for group members. A group title can appear over an avatar’s name when that group is active.

H

Havok 4

See physics.

HUD

Heads-up display, a 2D control panel for an object that only appears on the screen of the avatar wearing it. Some common uses of HUDs include avatar customization, vehicle dashboards, and game scoring systems.

home

Location to which you teleport when you click the Home icon, click Home in the World Map, window or when you "die." Choose World > Landmarks > Set Home to Here to set your home location. See Setting your Home location.

Homestead

A region type intended for lightweight uses such as low-density rentals, light commercial or quiet residential use. Homestead regions have lower usage limits than full regions. See About Homesteads.

I

inworld

In the Second Life virtual world.

infohub

A Linden Lab-owned information and social area. See Infohub.

IM

Instant Message. Private text conversation between two Residents. See Instant Message.

inspector

Dialog that appears when you hold your mouse pointer over objects or avatars inworld. Click to display a menu. See Inspector.

inventory

The collection of all the items that you own or have access to in Second Life; does not include items currently placed within the 3D world, but does include items attached to your avatar. Click My Inventory or choose Me > My Inventory to display your inventory. See My Inventory and Managing_your_inventory.

invisiprim

A prim with a special transparent texture that "hides" most items behind it; a venerable workaround. See invisiprim.

island

One or more regions detached from the mainland and only accessible by teleportation.

Issue Tracker

The JIRA public issue tracker, a searchable database used to organize issues (bugs and feature requests) submitted by the Second Life community.

item

General term for all inventory asset types, like clothes, landmarks, and objects.

K

kick

The forced log-off of a Resident from Second Life by a Linden.

L

L$

See Linden dollar.

lag

Apparent slow response time when using the Second Life Viewer, with three basic sources: client lag due to processing power limitations of your computer running the Second Life Viewer, network lag due to communications latency and limitations, and server lag due to processing limitations of the Second Life simulator software. See Reducing lag.

land

An area of the Second Life virtual world. The smallest division of land is called a parcel; a region consists of one or more parcels. An estate consists of one or more regions. See also private estate, mainland.

landmark

Shortcut to a place in Second Life stored in your inventory. See How do I use Landmarks?

library

Folder in your inventory containing stock content provided by Linden Lab. Works similarly to a "read-only shared drive" on a computer network: All Residents share the same content at all times, but can't change it. See Library.

lock

See Build Tools - Object.

limits

Second Life has many numerical limits about avatars, land, etc. See the comprehensive list.

Linden

An employee of Linden Lab, with the Second Life account last name "Linden."

Linden dollar

Abbreviated "L$", the unit of currency for all monetary transactions in Second Life. Use Linden dollars to pay for goods and services provided by other Residents. You can buy Linden dollars and exchange them for US dollars and other real-world currencies on the official Lindex and on other third-party exchanges.

Linden Home

A Linden Home is an easy "starter kit" for Premium account holders who want to have a virtual home in a themed community. Learn more.

Linden Lab

The company that makes and maintains Second Life. See lindenlab.com.

LindeX

Currency exchange service offered by Linden Lab. See LindeX™.

link

To connect multiple prims, so they act as as one unit, moving together and transferring to and from inventory together. See unlink. See also Link.

linkset

See link and object.

LSL

Linden Scripting Language. The programming language you can use to control the behavior of inworld objects. LSL has syntax similar to C. See the LSL Portal.

M

machinima

A combination of "machine" and "cinema" that refers to movies made in graphical 3D environments like Second Life. For example, a action-packed thriller starring avatars and featuring exotic builds. See machinima.

main grid

The primary Second Life grid to which users connect; other grids exist for testing and development.

mainland

Large land area created and designed by Linden Lab, owned by Governor Linden and with estate ID one. Residents with a premium account can buy mainland parcels and must pay a monthly land use fee when they own more than 512m².

map

Choose World > World Map to display the World Map or World > Mini-Map to display the Mini-Map. See Map.

marketplace

Second Life Marketplace, the official website for buying and selling virtual items for use in Second Life.

mature

See maturity rating.

maturity rating

Regions, events, and other content are rated General, Moderate, or Adult. For example, a region containing sexually explicit or intensely violent content is rated Adult. "PG" and "Mature" are older terms being phased out. See Maturity ratings: an overview.

media

Rich content, such as a video or webpage, which can be displayed on a land parcel or on a prim's face.

mesh

A type of model created in an external application (such as Maya, 3DS Max, or Blender), exported to the COLLADA standard interchange format, and uploaded to Second Life. For more information, see Mesh.

mesh clothing

Clothing items which are not made of prims and can be found in the APPEARANCE EDITOR alongside body parts.

mini-map

Simplified small version of the world map. To display, choose World > Mini-map.

Moderate

See maturity rating.

morph

See Voice Morph.

Morph Pack

A packaged set of Voice Morphs, grouped by a common category. When you subscribe to a Morph Pack, you get access to all morphs in the pack for 30 days. Subscribing to the same pack again adds an additional 30 days to the expiration date.

MOTD

Message of the Day, that appears as you log into Second Life. See MOTD.

modify

Object permission that allows you to change properties, such as item name or scale, as well as delete the object. Other permissions include: copy, move, and transfer. See How do I set permissions on an object?.

Mono

Scripting engine used to run LSL scripts with increased performance.

move

Object permission that controls whether the object can be moved. Other permissions include copy, modify, and transfer. See How do I set permissions on an object?.

mouselook

Viewer mode in which you see from a first-person perspective. You still use the keyboard to move your avatar, but use the mouse to look around. To enter, click View, See as avatar, then Mouselook View; to leave it, press Esc.

mute

See block.

N

Navigation Bar

Area near the top of the window just below the menu bar that displays your location inworld, buttons to teleport home, and your teleport history, along with other information about your current location.

non-physical

Avatars and other objects can pass through non-physical objects. Avatars may also become non-physical when seated on objects, which prevents them from being bumped or pushed.

notecard

Inventory item intended to convey some information; typically contains text, but may also contain embedded textures, snapshots, objects, or other notecards.

no-copy

Object permission that does not permit the current owner to make additional copies of the object. Compare to copy.

no-fly

Any land parcel that does not permit flying. You can fly through no-fly parcels, but as soon as you touch down and stop flying, you’ll be unable to fly again until you exit the no-fly parcel.

no-modify

Any object whose permissions do not permit the current owner to make changes to the object. These objects have (no modify) in their inventory name.

no-transfer

Any object whose permissions do not permit the current owner to resell or give away the object. These objects have (no transfer) in their inventory name.

NPIOF

No Payment Info on File

O

object

A collection of one or more linked prims (also referred to as a linkset). Not to be confused with item, since an object is a specific item type.

object bonus

A multiplier for the number of prims allowed on a parcel. May be between 1.0 (the default) and 10.0. For example, at 1.0 a 512m² parcel is allowed 117 objects. Set at 2.0, a 512m² parcel is allowed 234, or twice as many, and so on. The maximum number of prims per per region is 15,000, regardless of the object bonus. NOTE: Lowering the object bonus after builds have been established in a region may cause objects to be returned or deleted.

off world

When an object or avatar is sent out of the bounds of the grid. This usually results in it being returned to inventory, but on occasion, inventory loss may occur.

officer

A predefined group role that has more abilities than the Everyone role, but fewer abilities than the Owner role. Group members who are officers can change various group options.

Openspace

The "lightest" region type, limited to 750 prims and ten avatars, available for ownership by Residents who own at least one Full Region. See Information about Openspaces (Void Regions) and Openspaces FAQ.

P

packet loss

An error when a piece of data fails to make it from Second Life's servers to your computer. Significant packet loss results in perceivable network lag.

parcel

The smallest division of land in Second Life, at least 16m², owned by a single Resident or group.

partner

An optional relationship listed in a Resident's profile. Partnership confers no special status; it's symbolic and can done be for business, romance, or just for fun. See Partnering.

Payment Information on File

A status shown in a Resident's profile indicating they have a valid billing relationship with Linden Lab. See What are the different types of Account Verification?

permission

Permissions include: copy, move, modify, and transfer. For more information, see How do I set permissions on an object?.

PG

See maturity rating.

physics

The Second Life virtual world is powered by the Havok 4 physics engine, which affects appropriate avatars and objects with calculated forces such as gravity and friction. See physics-enabled.

physics-enabled

When an object has the Physical flag set. See Build Tools - Object.

pick

Location in a Resident's profile that they have chosen to display; a profile can contain up to ten regular picks and unlimited classifieds.

premium account

Enables you to buy mainland, receive a monthly stipend, and to access premium support. See also account.

prim

Primitive, a 3D shape like a cube, sphere, or cone. More complex shapes are possible with sculpted prims. All Second Life objects are made of prims. Prim allocations are land-dependent; see creative ways to optimize prim usage.

private estate

See estate.

profile

Information about yourself that you share with other Residents, including an image, descriptive text, and picks. To view or edit your profile, choose the Profile tab in the sidebar.

push script

Script in an object that can exert physical force on avatars and other objects. For example, a gun capable of slamming blocks into a wall. When used in a consensual gaming environment, this can be desired, but push scripts are also be used for griefing. To prevent malicious use, push scripts can be disabled at the region and parcel levels. See llPushObject.

R

region

A named 256m x 256m (65,536 m²) area hosted on a sim. In common usage, the term "simulator" or "sim" may also refer to a region, but in fact a single server process can host multiple regions. See region type and maturity rating.

region type

There are three types of regions: Full, Homesteads, and Openspaces. See Private Region Types.

relog

A term for the action of selecting Me > Exit Second Life (Ctrl + Q), and then opening Second Life again. It's a first step to solving many problems, so if you don't know where else to start, try a relog.

Resident

A user of Second Life software and a participant in the Second Life virtual world. Always capitalize. See Resident.

rez

To create or to make an object appear inworld. To rez an object, drag it from your inventory or create a new one using the Build window.

rezday

The day a Resident's account is started. The Second Life equivalent of a "birthday."

rolling restart

Second Life server upgrades are done in waves, meaning a group of servers containing a set of regions is restarted, then another group, and so on. This is more resilient than shutting down all servers at once, because Linden Lab engineers can analyze if any problems occur along the way, while Residents can teleport to regions that are still up. Rolling restarts are announced in the Grid Status Reports.

run

One of the ways to move in Second Life. To run, click Move, then Running mode, or double-tap the W, S, A, and D keys. See also walk, fly, and teleport.

S

script

Executable objects (shown in inventory with the icon) written in LSL that can affect how objects look, move, interact with avatars, and communicate. See LSL Portal.

scripted object

Object that has one or more scripts attached. Scripted objects can be made visible as a beacon through the View Menu.

sculptie

See sculpted primitive.

sculpted primitive

A prim whose shape is determined by an array of x, y, and z coordinates stored as RGB values in an image file; can create more complex, organic shapes than ordinary prims. Also called "sculpted prim."

Second Life

3D online virtual world created by Linden Lab, containing persistent content created by its Residents.

shout

Text chat (including by scripted objects) viewable within a 100m radius.

Showcase

Highlights some of the best inworld venues and locations of interest to new Residents. Also called the Destination Guide.

sim

Simulator, which can refer to a single region or the hardware or software simulating one or more regions.

skin

Texture image that replaces the default skin of your avatar, in inventory marked by the following icon: . Newly created skins appear in the Body Parts folder by default.

SLurl

Second Life URL, that identifies a location inworld. See Using SLurls.

snapshot

Picture taken inworld by clicking on Snapshot.

stipend

Weekly allowance of Linden dollars paid to Residents with a premium account. See How do I get my stipend?

system folder

Special inventory folders that can't be moved inside of other folders or deleted. They are Animations, Body Parts, Calling Cards, Clothing, Current Look, Favorites, Gestures, Landmarks, Lost And Found, My Looks, Notecards, Objects, Photo Album, Scripts, Sounds, Textures, Trash. Related, see library.

T

Teen Second Life

Second Life grid for teens, ages 13-17, closed in January, 2011, when the main grid became open to users aged 16 and above.

telehub

Short for "teleport hub"; an optional landing point set by an estate owner or manager at which Residents arrive. See Telehub.

teleport

To instantly change your location inworld. One of the primary means of transportation in Second Life; see also walk, run, fly. See Teleporting and Landmarks Video Tutorial.

Terms of Service

The terms you agree to when you log into the Second Life virtual world. See Terms of Service.

terraform

To change the shape and elevation of land using the Land Tool. To terraform, right-click on the ground and choose Edit Terrain, or choose Build > Select Build Tool > Land Tool.

texture

An image that can be applied to the faces of a prim to give the appearance of a material. Textures appear in inventory and can also be put in a notecard.

tier

The maximum amount of land you can own. Tier isn't land itself, but is the potential to own land. There are different levels of tier as shown on Land Use Fees. For example, if you're you're at a tier level that allows you to hold 4,096 m² of land, you can buy a 1024m² and another 3072m² parcel without exceeding your tier. But if you buy another parcel on top of that, your tier fees, and land allocation, increase. see Tier.

transfer

Object permission that allows the owner to transfer the object to another person. Other permissions include: copy, move, and modify. See How do I set permissions on an object?.

U

UUID

Universally Unique Identifier, a 128-bit (16 byte) value used to identify things in Second Life, including all types of objects, avatars, and groups. See UUID.

unlink

To disconnect a linked set of prims, so that they're separated into individual prims and no longer function as a unified group.

username

The unique identifier you use to log into Second Life. See Usernames.

V

vendor

Scripted object designed to sell objects to Residents.

Viewer

Program you run on your computer to use Second Life; sometimes referred to as the client. Capitalized when referring to the official Second Life Viewer from Linden Lab. Not capitalized when referring to third-party viewers.

voice chat

Feature of the Viewer that enables you to speak to and hear other Residents. Use a headset for the best experience. To enable or disable voice chat on a parcel, choose World > About Land, then click the SOUND tab. See Voice FAQ.

Voice Morph

A preset filter that changes the sound of your speaking voice to any listeners in voice chat. See Voice Morphing.

Voice Morphing

Feature of the Viewer that enables you to alter the sound of your speaking voice when using voice chat. To preview voice morphs and subscribe to morph packs choose Communicate > Voice Morphing.

W

walk

Default method of movement inworld. To walk, click Move, then click the Walk Forward or Walk Backward icons; or use the movement keys (W, S, A, and D or the arrow keys). See also run, fly, and teleport.

welcome area

Location inworld where new Residents arrive after leaving Orientation Island or Help Island. See Welcome Area Guidelines.

whisper

Voice chat (usually by a scripted object) audible within a ten-meter radius.

WindLight

Proprietary codename for Second Life's atmospheric rendering system that enhances the skies, lighting, and other graphical aspects. Found in the Advanced Sky Editor, "WindLight" is commonly used by Residents to refer to photographs and machinima that include such effects. See WindLight.

X

X-axis

East-West axis of the inworld coordinate system. When editing objects, represented by a red arrow.

Xstreet

Old Second Life web-based marketplace, now replaced by Second Life Marketplace.

Y

Y-axis

North-South axis of the inworld coordinate system. When editing objects, represented by a green arrow.

Z

Z-axis

Up-down (vertical) axis of the inworld coordinate system. When editing objects, represented by a blue arrow.