Chat

The Chat namespace contains functions and hooks for sending and reacting to chat messages.

Class Functions

Class Function Name	Return Type	Description	Tags
`Chat.BroadcastMessage(string message, [table optionalParameters])`	<`BroadcastMessageResultCode` resultCode, `string` errorMessage>	Sends a chat message to players. Messages sent from the server have a rate limit of 10 messages per second. Maximum message length is 280 characters. Messages exceeding that length will be cropped. Optional parameters: `players` (Player or Array): A list of players who should receive the message. Defaults to all players in the game.	Server-Only
`Chat.LocalMessage(string message)`	<`BroadcastMessageResultCode` resultCode, `string` errorMessage>	Sends a chat message to the local player. Maximum message length is 280 characters. There is no rate limit for local messages.	Client-Only

Hooks

Hook Name	Return Type	Description	Tags
`Chat.receiveMessageHook`	`Hook`<`Player` speaker, `table` parameters>	Hook called when receiving a chat message from a Player. The `parameters` table contains a `string` named "message" containing the text of the message received, and a `string` named "speakerName" with the name of the message sender as it will be displayed in the chat window. Replacing "message" with an empty string will cancel receipt of the message.	None
`Chat.sendMessageHook`	`Hook`<`table` parameters>	Hook called when sending a chat message. The `parameters` table contains a `string` named "message" containing the text of the message to be sent. Replacing "message" with an empty string will cancel sending the message.	None

Examples

Example using:

`BroadcastMessage`

`receiveMessageHook`

Chat.BroadcastMessage allows you to send mesages directly to the chat log. This sample listens for users who type /coinflip, and will print the results of the coinflip to everyone's chat.

function CoinFlipChecker(speaker, params)
    local message = string.lower(params.message)
    if message == "/coinflip" then
        local result = "heads"
        if math.random() > 0.5 then result = "tails" end
        Chat.BroadcastMessage(string.format("%s flipped a coin, and it came up %s!", speaker.name, result))
    end
end

Chat.receiveMessageHook:Connect(CoinFlipChecker)

`receiveMessageHook`

Chat.receiveMessageHook allows the system to respond when chat messages are received. It executes first on the server, and then on all of the clients once the message is broadcast.

Being a hook, it is possible to modify contents of the triggering message. This sample demonstrates this by scanning all incoming chats for words in a "bad words" list, and blanks them out.

-- Put our bad words into a table for easy access.  Note that
-- we're using the word as the key, instead of the value, for
-- faster lookup!
local badwordList = {["dang"] = true, ["darn"] = true, ["heck"] = true}

function WordFilter(s)
    if badwordList[s:lower()] ~= nil then
        return string.rep("#", s:len())
    end
end

function CheckForBlockedWords(speaker, params)
    local res = string.gsub(params.message, "%a+", WordFilter)
    print(res)
    params.message = res
end

Chat.receiveMessageHook:Connect(CheckForBlockedWords)

`sendMessageHook`

`LocalMessage`

Chat.sendMessageHook is triggered on the client every time a player tries to send a chat message. Modifications happen before the message is even sent on to the server.

Chat.LocalMessage is similar to Chat.BroadcastMessage, but the resulting chat is only visible by the local player.

-- This needs to be in a client context. Chat.LocalMessage only
-- sends to the local player.
function WhoCommand(params)
    local message = string.lower(params.message)
    if message == "/who" then
        local result = "Current players:\n  "
        for _, p in ipairs(Game.GetPlayers()) do
            result = result .. p.name .. "\n  "
        end
        Chat.LocalMessage(result)
        params.message = ""
    end
end

Chat.sendMessageHook:Connect(WhoCommand)