We use cookies to understand how the site is used and to improve it. You can accept them, or carry on with them switched off.
Also known as: article ID, local article number
The sequential number a server assigns an article within a single group, counting up from one and never reused. NNTP commands such as ARTICLE and STAT accept it as shorthand for a message in the currently selected group. Numbering is local to each server and each group, so the same article holds different numbers everywhere, and a .newsrc copied between providers marks the wrong things read.
Browse all terms in Core Usenet Concepts, or see the full Usenet glossary.