System Events

Last updated Oct 14th, 2026 | Page history | Improve this page | Report an issue

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What are System Events?¶

System Events are points in the MODX code where Plugins run. MODX fires them throughout its code, so a Plugin can hook into any step without editing the core.

The Model of a System Event¶

The system events table is {table_prefix}_system_eventnames with these fields:

Field	Description
id	Unique ID of the event.
name	Event name, referenced in code via modX.invokeEvent.
service	Type of system event.
groupname	Used by user interfaces to filter, group, and sort events. The MODX model does not use it.

Service Types¶

The service field holds a number that identifies the type of event:

Value	Service
1	Parser Service Events
2	Manager Access Events
3	Web Access Service Events
4	Cache Service Events
5	Template Service Events
6	User Defined Events

Service 3 does not fire in the mgr Context; Service 2 fires only there.

Available Events¶

The events below are grouped by the groupname shown in the Manager’s event list. For the full list of registered events, see transport.core.events.php.

Categories¶

Chunks¶

Contexts¶

Internationalization¶

OnInitCulture

Media Sources¶

Package Manager¶

Plugin Events¶

Plugins¶

Property Sets¶

Resources¶

RichText Editor¶

Security¶

Settings¶

OnSiteSettingsRender

Snippets¶

System¶

Template Variables¶

Templates¶

User Groups¶

User Profiles¶

Users¶

Custom Events¶

No GUI exists for custom events yet — create them through the API. Events have these attributes:

Attribute	Description
name	The unique event name.
service	A loose grouping of events by area. Services 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 load inside the Manager; services 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 load outside it (see `getEventMap()`).
groupname	Groups the events visually in the MODX Manager, where it appears as a Plugin tab.

Create an event through the MODX API:

$Event = $modx->newObject('modEvent');
$Event->set('name', 'OnMyCustomEvent');
$Event->set('service',1);
$Event->set('groupname', 'Custom');

Fire the event by name:

$modx->invokeEvent('OnMyCustomEvent', $options);

Then register a Plugin for the event. It receives the options passed to invokeEvent().