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by caf 3543 days ago
The prefix is discoverable by client A though: it can send a self-message and thereafter knows the maximum length it can send to any given target.
1 comments

They will only know the prefix for the server they are connected to. On a larger network such as Freenode, client B could be connected to another server with a different prefix length.
The prefix doesn't involve the server. The prefix that's prepended to your messages when another server passes them on to a client is ":nick!user@host " and is the same for all messages that you originate.

(On Freenode and other networks with a similar service, your hostname can be changed by services, but the client is notified of this and can update its knowledge about the prefix).

D'oh, you're right! I looked at a non message command to refresh my memory.