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Overview

Message events are fired when messages are created, updated, deleted, or when users interact with them through reactions or polls.

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Required Intents

Message events require the following Gateway Intents:
  • GUILD_MESSAGES - For messages in guild channels
  • DIRECT_MESSAGES - For messages in DMs
  • MESSAGE_CONTENT - For accessing message content (privileged)
JDA jda = JDABuilder.createDefault(token)
    .enableIntents(
        GatewayIntent.GUILD_MESSAGES,
        GatewayIntent.DIRECT_MESSAGES,
        GatewayIntent.MESSAGE_CONTENT
    )
    .build();

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Message Lifecycle Events

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MessageReceivedEvent

Fired when a message is sent in a channel your bot has access to. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message 
@Override
public void onMessageReceived(MessageReceivedEvent event) {
    Message message = event.getMessage();
    User author = event.getAuthor();
    MessageChannel channel = event.getChannel();
    
    // Check if message is from a bot
    if (event.isWebhookMessage()) {
        System.out.println("Message from webhook");
        return;
    }
    
    // Get member (null in DMs)
    Member member = event.getMember();
    if (member != null) {
        System.out.println("Guild message from: " + member.getEffectiveName());
    }
    
    // Access message content
    String content = message.getContentRaw();
    System.out.println("Message: " + content);
}
Key Methods:
  • getMessage() - The message that was received
  • getAuthor() - The user who sent the message
  • getMember() - The member who sent the message (null in DMs)
  • getChannel() - The channel where the message was sent
  • isWebhookMessage() - Whether the message was sent by a webhook

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MessageUpdateEvent

Fired when a message is edited. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message 
@Override
public void onMessageUpdate(MessageUpdateEvent event) {
    Message message = event.getMessage();
    
    System.out.println("Message updated: " + event.getMessageId());
    System.out.println("New content: " + message.getContentRaw());
    
    // Check if message was edited
    if (message.isEdited()) {
        System.out.println("Edited at: " + message.getTimeEdited());
    }
}
Key Methods:
  • getMessage() - The updated message
  • getMessageId() / getMessageIdLong() - The message ID
  • getChannel() - The channel containing the message

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MessageDeleteEvent

Fired when a message is deleted. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message 
@Override
public void onMessageDelete(MessageDeleteEvent event) {
    long messageId = event.getMessageIdLong();
    MessageChannel channel = event.getChannel();
    
    System.out.println("Message " + messageId + " deleted in " + channel.getName());
}
Note: This event only provides the message ID, not the full message object, as the message has been deleted. Key Methods:
  • getMessageId() / getMessageIdLong() - The deleted message ID
  • getChannel() - The channel where the message was deleted

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MessageBulkDeleteEvent

Fired when multiple messages are deleted at once (bulk delete). Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message 
@Override
public void onMessageBulkDelete(MessageBulkDeleteEvent event) {
    List<String> messageIds = event.getMessageIds();
    int count = event.getMessageIds().size();
    
    System.out.println(count + " messages were bulk deleted");
    System.out.println("Deleted IDs: " + messageIds);
}
Key Methods:
  • getMessageIds() - List of deleted message IDs
  • getChannel() - The channel where messages were deleted

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Reaction Events

Reaction events fire when users add or remove reactions from messages.

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MessageReactionAddEvent

Fired when a user adds a reaction to a message. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.react 
@Override
public void onMessageReactionAdd(MessageReactionAddEvent event) {
    User user = event.getUser();
    MessageReaction.ReactionEmoji emoji = event.getReaction().getEmoji();
    
    // Handle custom emoji
    if (emoji.getType() == MessageReaction.ReactionEmoji.Type.CUSTOM) {
        System.out.println("Custom emoji: " + emoji.getName());
    } else {
        // Unicode emoji
        System.out.println("Unicode emoji: " + emoji.getAsReactionCode());
    }
    
    // Retrieve the message
    event.retrieveMessage().queue(message -> {
        System.out.println("Reaction added to: " + message.getContentRaw());
    });
}
Key Methods:
  • getUser() - The user who added the reaction
  • getUserIdLong() - The user ID
  • getReaction() - The reaction that was added
  • getEmoji() - The emoji of the reaction
  • retrieveMessage() - Retrieves the full message (RestAction)

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MessageReactionRemoveEvent

Fired when a user removes a reaction from a message. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.react 
@Override
public void onMessageReactionRemove(MessageReactionRemoveEvent event) {
    User user = event.getUser();
    MessageReaction.ReactionEmoji emoji = event.getReaction().getEmoji();
    
    System.out.println(user.getName() + " removed reaction: " + emoji.getName());
}

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MessageReactionRemoveAllEvent

Fired when all reactions are removed from a message. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.react 
@Override
public void onMessageReactionRemoveAll(MessageReactionRemoveAllEvent event) {
    long messageId = event.getMessageIdLong();
    System.out.println("All reactions removed from message: " + messageId);
}

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MessageReactionRemoveEmojiEvent

Fired when all reactions of a specific emoji are removed from a message. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.react 
@Override
public void onMessageReactionRemoveEmoji(MessageReactionRemoveEmojiEvent event) {
    MessageReaction.ReactionEmoji emoji = event.getReaction().getEmoji();
    long count = event.getReaction().getCount();
    
    System.out.println("All " + emoji.getName() + " reactions removed (" + count + ")");
}

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Poll Events

Poll events fire when users vote on message polls.

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MessagePollVoteAddEvent

Fired when a user votes in a poll. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.poll 
@Override
public void onMessagePollVoteAdd(MessagePollVoteAddEvent event) {
    long answerId = event.getAnswerId();
    User user = event.getUser();
    
    System.out.println(user.getName() + " voted for answer: " + answerId);
    
    // Retrieve the message to get poll details
    event.retrieveMessage().queue(message -> {
        MessagePoll poll = message.getPoll();
        if (poll != null) {
            System.out.println("Poll: " + poll.getQuestion().getText());
        }
    });
}
Key Methods:
  • getAnswerId() - The ID of the poll answer
  • getUser() - The user who voted
  • getMessageIdLong() - The message containing the poll
  • retrieveMessage() - Retrieves the full message

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MessagePollVoteRemoveEvent

Fired when a user removes their vote from a poll. Package: net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.poll 
@Override
public void onMessagePollVoteRemove(MessagePollVoteRemoveEvent event) {
    long answerId = event.getAnswerId();
    User user = event.getUser();
    
    System.out.println(user.getName() + " removed vote from answer: " + answerId);
}

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Generic Message Events

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GenericMessageEvent

Base event for all message-related events. 
@Override
public void onGenericMessage(GenericMessageEvent event) {
    // Fires for all message events
    System.out.println("Message event type: " + event.getClass().getSimpleName());
}

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GenericMessageReactionEvent

Base event for all reaction-related events. 
@Override
public void onGenericMessageReaction(GenericMessageReactionEvent event) {
    // Fires for all reaction events
    MessageReaction.ReactionEmoji emoji = event.getReaction().getEmoji();
    System.out.println("Reaction event for: " + emoji.getName());
}

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GenericMessagePollVoteEvent

Base event for all poll vote events. 
@Override
public void onGenericMessagePollVote(GenericMessagePollVoteEvent event) {
    // Fires for all poll vote events
    System.out.println("Poll vote event for answer: " + event.getAnswerId());
}

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Example: Command Handler

Here’s a complete example of a simple command handler using message events: 
import net.dv8tion.jda.api.events.message.MessageReceivedEvent;
import net.dv8tion.jda.api.hooks.ListenerAdapter;

public class CommandHandler extends ListenerAdapter {
    private static final String PREFIX = "!";
    
    @Override
    public void onMessageReceived(MessageReceivedEvent event) {
        // Ignore bots
        if (event.getAuthor().isBot()) return;
        
        String content = event.getMessage().getContentRaw();
        
        // Check for prefix
        if (!content.startsWith(PREFIX)) return;
        
        // Parse command
        String[] parts = content.substring(PREFIX.length()).split("\\s+");
        String command = parts[0].toLowerCase();
        
        switch (command) {
            case "ping":
                event.getChannel().sendMessage("Pong!").queue();
                break;
                
            case "info":
                event.getChannel().sendMessage(
                    "Message from: " + event.getAuthor().getAsTag() +
                    "\nChannel: " + event.getChannel().getName()
                ).queue();
                break;
                
            case "react":
                event.getMessage().addReaction(event.getJDA()
                    .getEmojiById("123456789")).queue();
                break;
        }
    }
}

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Tips and Best Practices

  1. Cache Messages - Message objects are not cached by default. Use enableCache(CacheFlag.MESSAGE) if you need to access messages later
  2. Check Permissions - Always verify your bot has permission to send messages before responding: 
    if (event.getGuild().getSelfMember().hasPermission(event.getChannel(), Permission.MESSAGE_SEND)) {
    // Send message
}
  3. Handle Rate Limits - Use .queue() instead of .complete() to avoid blocking and handle rate limits gracefully
  4. Filter Webhooks - Use isWebhookMessage() to filter out webhook messages if needed
  5. DM vs Guild - Check if getMember() is null to determine if a message is from a DM

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