Elite Dangerous Tick Bot 🌌

A Discord bot that monitors and reports Elite Dangerous galaxy tick updates from tick.infomancer.uk.

Features

• !tick - Display the last galaxy tick timestamp
• Auto-notifications - Automatically posts to a designated channel when a new tick is detected (checks every 5 minutes)
• !nexttick - Estimate when the next tick might occur (approximately 24 hours)
• !tickchannel - Set the current channel for automatic tick notifications (Admin only)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• A Discord bot token (see setup instructions below)

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository

2. Install Node.js dependencies:

   npm install

3. Create a Discord Bot:

   • Go to Discord Developer Portal
   • Click "New Application" and give it a name
   • Go to the "Bot" section and click "Add Bot"
   • Under "Privileged Gateway Intents", enable:
     • Message Content Intent
   • Copy the bot token (you'll need this for the .env file)

4. Invite the bot to your server:

   • Go to the "OAuth2" → "URL Generator" section
   • Select scopes: bot
   • Select bot permissions:
     • Send Messages
     • Embed Links
     • Read Message History
     • Use Slash Commands (optional)
   • Copy the generated URL and open it in your browser to invite the bot

5. Configure the bot:

   • Copy .env.example to .env:

     copy .env.example .env

   • Edit .env and add your bot token:

     DISCORD_TOKEN=your_actual_bot_token_here
     TICK_CHANNEL_ID=your_channel_id_here
     

   • To get a channel ID:
     • Enable Developer Mode in Discord (User Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode)
     • Right-click on the channel → Copy Channel ID

Usage

Running the Bot

npm start
# or
node bot.js

The bot will start and connect to Discord. You should see a message confirming it's connected.

Commands

Command	Description	Permission
!tick	Display the last galaxy tick timestamp	Everyone
!nexttick	Estimate when the next tick might occur	Everyone
!tickchannel	Set the current channel for tick notifications	Admin only

Automatic Notifications

The bot automatically checks for new ticks every 5 minutes. When a new tick is detected, it will:

• Post a notification with @here mention in the configured channel
• Display the new tick timestamp
• Show how long ago it occurred

Example Output

!tick Command

🌌 Elite Dangerous Galaxy Tick
Last Galaxy Tick: 2025-10-28 18:57:19 UTC
Time ago: 3h 45m ago

Data from tick.infomancer.uk

Auto-notification

@here
🚨 NEW GALAXY TICK DETECTED!
Last Galaxy Tick: 2025-10-28 22:42:33 UTC
Time ago: 0m ago

Data from tick.infomancer.uk

Configuration

Environment Variables

• DISCORD_TOKEN - Your Discord bot token (required)
• TICK_CHANNEL_ID - The channel ID where tick notifications will be posted (can be set via !tickchannel command)

Troubleshooting

Bot doesn't respond to commands

• Make sure "Message Content Intent" is enabled in the Discord Developer Portal
• Verify the bot has permission to read and send messages in the channel

Bot can't post tick notifications

• Use the !tickchannel command in the channel where you want notifications
• Or set TICK_CHANNEL_ID in the .env file

"Unable to fetch tick data"

• Check your internet connection
• Verify that tick.infomancer.uk is accessible

Data Source

This bot fetches tick data from: http://tick.infomancer.uk/galtick.json

The data is provided by the Elite Dangerous community and updates automatically when a new galaxy tick occurs.

Running 24/7

To keep the bot running continuously:

Option 1: PM2 (Recommended for Node.js)

npm install -g pm2

# Start using ecosystem config (recommended)
pm2 start ecosystem.config.js

# Or start directly
pm2 start bot.js --name eztick

# Save configuration and enable auto-start
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Then run the command that PM2 outputs to enable auto-start on boot.

Managing with PM2:

pm2 status          # Check status
pm2 logs eztick     # View logs
pm2 restart eztick  # Restart bot
pm2 stop eztick     # Stop bot
pm2 delete eztick   # Remove from PM2

Option 2: Docker

docker build -t eztick-bot .
docker run -d --env-file .env --name eztick eztick-bot

Option 3: DigitalOcean (Cloud Hosting)

See the comprehensive DigitalOcean Deployment Guide for detailed instructions on deploying to:

• DigitalOcean App Platform (managed, $5/month)
• DigitalOcean Droplets (VPS, $6/month)
• Docker on DigitalOcean

Option 4: systemd Service (Linux)

Create /etc/systemd/system/eztick.service:

[Unit]
Description=Elite Dangerous Tick Bot
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=your_username
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/eztick
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node bot.js
Restart=always
Environment=NODE_ENV=production

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then:

sudo systemctl enable eztick
sudo systemctl start eztick

Option 5: Windows Service

Use node-windows or NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager).

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues or pull requests if you have suggestions for improvements!

License

This project is open source and available for free use.

Credits

• Data source: tick.infomancer.uk
• Discord.js library
• Elite Dangerous community

Technology Stack

• Node.js - JavaScript runtime
• Discord.js v14 - Discord API wrapper
• node-fetch - HTTP client for API requests
• dotenv - Environment variable management

Find me in the black - CMDR Dirk Pitt13. o7 Commander! 🚀