sQOTd (smol/small Quote Of The daemon) is a simple TCP-only Quote of The Day server I wrote on Lua, but unlike the rest, it has some extra features:

• Custom footers
• Normal/strict rate limiting (one connection per seconds)
• IP logging
• "Retro mode" (follows RFC 865 standards of classic QOTD)
• Docker!

I actually created this as an "easter egg" for Headcrab Party's main server (which is still running) and also for trolling those port scanners back in October 2025, but I ended up converting this as a personal project to at least say I did something (and also to learn Lua and how TCP sockets works).

Downloads

Check also the Git repo of this project for latest changes and related.

• Version 0.3.1 (latest)
Released: 2026-03-17

Older versions are available here, but please, don't use them. They're so buggy as hell and I only keep them as archive.

How-To

1. Install Lua 5.4 or latest and LuaRocks in your OS.
2. Install LuaSocket and Lua-INI libraries with luarocks install luasocket and luarocks install ini.
3. Get the latest version and uncompress the ZIP file.
4. Edit the config.ini and quotes.txt files with your own settings.
5. Run the server with lua sqotd.lua.
6. Run nc IP/HOST PORT or telnet IP/HOST PORT in your terminal and there you go, your own QOTD serving your favorite quotes.

Docker

1. Install Docker or Podman (along w/ the Composer plugin) in your OS.
2. Follow steps 3 and 4 from main How-To.
3. Run the server with docker/podman compose up -d.
4. Run nc IP/HOST PORT or telnet IP/HOST PORT in your terminal and there you go, your own QOTD serving your favorite quotes.

FAQ

There will be UDP?

Sorry but no. Implementing UDP would require rewriting the entire client-handling function, and I don't feel like doing that.

License

As of v0.2, this project is licensed under MIT License.