I've currently got
on *:NOTICE:*you need to be identified with services*:?:{
ns identify xxxxxx
}
but it isn't being triggered at all. It isn't a server message, and it does not show the sender. It does show every minute or so, so a timer isn't needed. It seems mIRC is not capable of seeing or acting on this message.
Maybe I need to use a timer to blindly authenticate every 15 minutes "just in case". I can't think of anything else.
If anyone wants to try investigating, you need to connect to freenode, and then try connecting to a channel that requires registration, such as #mame-dev .