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Which field in Facebook® live chat messages does IEF use for the date/time and what’s the difference?

April 26, 2017chat difference field ief live Messages time

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Which field in Facebook® live chat messages does IEF use for the date/time and what’s the difference?

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There are two date/time fields in Facebook® chat messages, “time” and “clientTime”, both in UTC format. When a message is sent, the clientTime value is supposed to be the current date/time, sent along with the chat message. When the Facebook chat server receives the message, it adds the “time” value (current date/time from the server) and sends that along with the clientTime value to the recipent. The clientTime is usually about a second behind the “time” value but this can vary. However, the clientTime value can be manipulated or sent incorrectly by 3rd party chat clients and is not reliable. The “time” value comes from the Facebook chat server and it is the timestamp that IEF uses.