A private encrypted chat client for the original Xbox, built by Team Resurgent / Darkone83.
SceneChat is a from-scratch homebrew chat application for the original Microsoft Xbox (2001). It implements a custom encrypted network protocol, real-time multi-room messaging, private direct messages, an offline mailbox, USB keyboard support, inline emoji rendering, over-the-air client updates, and a web-based admin panel — all running natively on Xbox hardware via the RXDK SDK.
This is not a port of an existing chat application. Every layer — from the bignum DH implementation to the Poly1305 MAC to the D3D8 font renderer — was written specifically for 733MHz Xbox hardware.
Desktop clients for Windows (WPF) and any platform (Python) connect to the same server using the identical SCCP protocol.
⚠️ Private Use Notice — SceneChat is designed for use on private, trusted networks only. It is not hardened for public internet deployment. See SECURITY.md for a full breakdown of the security model and known limitations before deploying.
- Custom encrypted protocol (1024-bit DH + ChaCha20-Poly1305 + HKDF)
- User registration and login with bcrypt-hashed credentials
- Auto-login via saved credentials on the Xbox hard drive
- Multi-room chat with real-time message broadcast
- Direct messages — private one-to-one conversations, opened from the online users overlay
- Offline mailbox — send and receive messages that are delivered on next login
- Over-the-air updates — the client checks the server version on login and can download and apply a new release as an XBA package, then relaunch
- Message word wrap and newline rendering
- Real-time deleted message sync — admin deletions reflect on-screen instantly
- USB keyboard input via RXDK debug keyboard path
- On-screen keyboard (OSK) for controllers-only setups
- Inline emoji rendering via a pre-baked 256x256 BGRA atlas
- Analog stick navigation and D-Pad cursor control
- Password protected and access-controlled rooms
- Back button returns to login screen without disconnecting uncleanly
- Version number displayed on login/connecting screen
- 480p display output targeting original Xbox hardware
Notes: Use darkone83.myddns.me unless you plan on running your own server
- Windows (WPF) — native .NET 8 desktop client
- Python (PySide6) — cross-platform desktop client
- Both implement the full encrypted protocol, multi-room chat, DMs, mailbox, emoji, and password/ACL rooms
- DMs and mailbox open in dedicated windows for desktop flexibility
- Python asyncio TCP server on port 8943
- Per-connection DH key exchange with fresh session keys
- ChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption on every packet
- MySQL/MariaDB backend for users, rooms, message history, DM participants, and mailbox
- bcrypt password hashing (rounds=12) with per-user salt
- Room management (text and voice room types)
- Direct message rooms — private rooms between two users, delivered to both regardless of active room
- Mailbox — offline message storage and delivery on login, including send-by-username for offline recipients
- OTA update hosting — version string and XBA package served to Xbox clients
- Helper bot (
scene_bot) —/help,/online,/rooms,/emoji,/kick,/ban,/mute,/announceand more - Admin message broadcast to live connected clients
- Real-time deleted message broadcast to connected clients
- Online presence persistence — last seen and last room per user
- Rotating log files with logrotate config included
- Internal admin API on localhost:8951 (not externally accessible)
- Flask web application on port 8950
- Role-based access: superadmin / admin / moderator
- Live chat monitor with per-room message view and real-time delete broadcast
- Admin can send messages to any room with live broadcast to all clients
- Emoji picker with all 33 SceneChat emoji
- Message deletion with real-time sync to connected clients
- User management: ban, unban, delete, role assignment, last seen, last room
- Room creation and deletion
- Mailbox — inbox with mark-read, compose, and full audit view
- DM management — metadata-only view of DM channels (participants, message counts, activity) for moderation; message content is never exposed
- Update hosting — host the XBA package and set the client version string
- Log viewer with level filtering, text search, auto-scroll, and auto-refresh
- Maintenance page: DB health stats, purge tools, backup, download, restore
Direct messages are private. DM rooms are excluded from the public room list and are walled off from the admin panel — the only DM data an admin can see is channel metadata (who is talking to whom, message counts, activity times) for moderation purposes. Message content is never accessible to administrators.
All emoji are referenced inline using :token: syntax, identical across the Xbox, Python, and WPF clients and the admin panel.
Faces:
:smile: :wink: :laugh: :cry: :angry: :sad: :surprised: :thinking:
:cool: :love_face: :dead: :party: :question:
Reactions:
:thumbs_up: :thumbs_down: :check: :x: :alert:
Objects:
:heart: :fireheart: :star: :skull: :fire:
SceneChat Originals:
:scenechat_sc: :scenechat_softmod: :scenechat_fire: :scenechat_modchip:
:scenechat_controller_chat: :scenechat_ping: :scenechat_lobby: :scenechat_dpad:
:scenechat_buttons: :scenechat_devbuild:
- DH key exchange — fresh 1024-bit DH per connection, no session key reuse
- HKDF derivation — shared secret derived with info string
scenechat-session - ChaCha20-Poly1305 — all post-handshake traffic encrypted and authenticated
- bcrypt — passwords hashed with bcrypt before storage, never stored plaintext
- Token auth — 64-byte random hex session token for auto-login
- No server verification — no certificate pinning; designed for a trusted private network
See SECURITY.md for the full security model and known limitations.
- Original Xbox with modchip or softmod
- RXDK (Repackaged Xbox Development Kit)
- MSVC 2003 / Xbox SDK toolchain
- USB keyboard optional (RXDK debug keyboard path)
- Windows 10 or 11
- .NET 8 SDK (for building)
- Python 3.10+
- Dependencies install automatically on first run (
PySide6,cryptography)
- Python 3.10+
- MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
pip install mysql-connector-python bcrypt cryptography flask requests pillowmysqldumpandmysqlCLI tools for backup/restore feature
- Accessible via browser on port 8950
Team Resurgent / Darkone83
Built as part of the original Xbox homebrew and preservation community.