Help needed: Creating a Discord bot AFK feature

Other Questions Discord bot
1

I’m working on a Discord bot and want to add an AFK (Away From Keyboard) feature. My code isn’t working as expected, especially the nickname change part. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

@bot.command()
async def away(ctx):
    user = ctx.author
    server = ctx.guild
    original_name = user.display_name
    away_role = discord.utils.get(server.roles, name='Away')
    
    if not away_role:
        away_role = await server.create_role(name='Away')
    
    try:
        await user.edit(nick=f'[AWAY] {original_name}')
        await user.add_roles(away_role)
        await ctx.send(f'{user.mention} is now marked as away.')
    except Exception as e:
        await ctx.send(f'Error: {str(e)}')

The bot creates an ‘Away’ role if it doesn’t exist, but it’s not changing the user’s nickname or applying the role. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong? Thanks!

2

hey there! i’ve run into this before. make sure ur bot has the right permissions in the server. also, try using ctx.author.edit() instead of user.edit() for the nickname change. that worked for me. good luck with ur bot!

3

I’ve encountered similar issues when developing Discord bots. The problem likely stems from insufficient permissions. Ensure your bot has the ‘Manage Nicknames’ and ‘Manage Roles’ permissions in the server settings. Also, check if the bot’s role is higher in the hierarchy than the roles it’s trying to modify.

Another potential issue is rate limiting. Discord has strict limits on how frequently you can change nicknames. Try adding a short delay between operations or implementing a cooldown for the command.

Lastly, error handling could be improved. Instead of catching all exceptions, handle specific ones like discord.Forbidden for permission issues. This will provide more detailed feedback on what’s going wrong.

If these suggestions don’t resolve the issue, you might want to consider using discord.py’s built-in error handling system for more granular control over different types of errors.

4

I’ve been working with Discord bots for a while now, and I think I can offer some insights on your AFK feature issue. One thing that’s not immediately obvious from your code is whether you’re handling the case where the user might already have the ‘Away’ role. You might want to check for that first and remove it if they’re coming back.

Also, I’ve found that sometimes the Discord API can be a bit finicky with nickname changes. What’s worked for me is to use the guild.get_member() method to ensure you’re working with the most up-to-date member object before trying to edit the nickname.

Here’s a snippet that might help:

member = await ctx.guild.fetch_member(ctx.author.id)
await member.edit(nick=f'[AWAY] {original_name}')

This fetches the latest member data before attempting the edit. It’s a small change, but it’s solved similar issues for me in the past. Hope this helps!