Hi,
remember that if you are running this timer from the command line you gotta use double / in order to let mIRC evaluate identifiers first.
//timer 1 10 if 5 != 5 $({,) echo -a boo $(},) $(|) else $({,) echo -a yay $(},)
Alternatively, instead of $(char,) you can use their ASCII value along with $chr.
//timer 1 10 if 5 != 5 $chr(123) echo -a boo $chr(125) $chr(124) else $chr(123) echo -a yay $chr(125)
Greets