Cheatsheet — Common Messages
The most frequently encountered MAVLink messages with their IDs, key fields, and typical use cases.
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ID Name Key Fields Use Case ──── ──────────────────────── ─────────────────────────────── ───────────────────────── 0 HEARTBEAT type, autopilot, base_mode Connection/presence 1 SYS_STATUS voltage, current, load System health 24 GPS_RAW_INT lat, lon, alt, fix_type Raw GPS data 30 ATTITUDE roll, pitch, yaw, rates Orientation (rad) 32 LOCAL_POSITION_NED x, y, z, vx, vy, vz Local frame position 33 GLOBAL_POSITION_INT lat, lon, alt, relative_alt Global frame position 36 SERVO_OUTPUT_RAW servo1..16_raw Actuator outputs 74 VFR_HUD airspeed, groundspeed, alt Pilot HUD values 76 COMMAND_ACK command, result Command response 77 COMMAND_LONG command, param1..7 Send a MAV_CMD 87 POSITION_TARGET_LNI lat_int, lon_int, alt Offboard setpoint 109 RADIO_STATUS rssi, remrssi, noise Link quality 147 BATTERY_STATUS voltages, current, remaining Battery state 253 STATUSTEXT severity, text Human-readable status
Tip
Use MAV_CMD_SET_MESSAGE_INTERVAL (command 511) to request any of these messages at a specific rate. Pass the message ID in param1 and the interval in microseconds in param2.