Why am I getting an error that I'm using a local variable inside a function when it is a global variable

Question

I have a code right now that I'm working on and for some reason whenever I run it my error is "local variable 'buzzcoins' referenced before argument".

As you can see buzzcoins is defined out of a function therefore it should be global? If anyone could help me with this that would be a huge help!

MY CODE:

import os
import random
import time
from keepalive import keep_alive
from discord.ext import commands

#COINS
buzzcoins = 1000

#COMMAND PREFIX
client = commands.Bot(command_prefix = "!")

#ON_READY MESSAGE
@client.event
async def on_ready():
  await client.change_presence(activity=discord.Game("#commands"))
  print("Bot is now running...")

#DICE COMMAND
@client.command()
async def dice(message, amount:int):
  #DICE COMMAND - CHECKS
  if amount > buzzcoins:
    await message.channel.send("You bet more Buzz Coins then this server has!")
  elif amount > 500:
    await message.channel.send("You cannot bet more than 500 Buzz Coins at a time!")
  elif amount == 0:
    await message.channel.send("You cannot bet 0 Buzz Coins!")
  elif amount < 0:
    await message.channel.send("You cannot bet less than 0 Buzz Coins!")
  else:
    await message.channel.send(f"Betting {amount} Buzz Coins!")
    time.sleep(1)
    await message.channel.send(":game_die: Rolling the dice... :game_die:")

    playerdicenumber1 = random.randint(1, 6)
    playerdicenumber2 = random.randint(1, 6)
    time.sleep(3)
    await message.channel.send(f"You roll a {playerdicenumber1} and a {playerdicenumber2}!")

    botdicenumber1 = random.randint(1, 6)
    botdicenumber2 = random.randint(1, 6)
    time.sleep(3)
    await message.channel.send(f"Your opponent rolls a {botdicenumber1} and a {botdicenumber2}!")
    time.sleep(1)
  
  #DICE COMMAND - WIN
  if playerdicenumber1 + playerdicenumber2 > botdicenumber1 + botdicenumber2:
    await message.channel.send(f"You won {amount*2} Buzz Coins! :smile:")
    buzzcoins = buzzcoins + amount
    time.sleep(1)
    await message.channel.send(f"This server now has {buzzcoins} Buzz Coins!")

  #DICE COMMAND - LOSE
  elif playerdicenumber1 + playerdicenumber2 < botdicenumber1 + botdicenumber2:
    await message.channel.send(f"You lost {amount} Buzz Coins! :cry:")
    buzzcoins = buzzcoins - amount
    time.sleep(1)
    await message.channel.send(f"This server now has {buzzcoins} Buzz Coins!")

  #DICE COMMAND - TIE
  elif playerdicenumber1 + playerdicenumber2 == botdicenumber1 + botdicenumber2:
    await message.channel.send(f"You tied! Your bet has been returned! :ok_hand:")
    time.sleep(1)
    await message.channel.send(f"This server now has {buzzcoins} Buzz Coins!")

#KEEP_ALIVE
keep_alive()
my_secret = os.environ['token']
client.run(my_secret)

Answer 1

You need to specify what it is global:

  ...
  async def dice(message, amount:int):
    #DICE COMMAND - CHECKS
    global buzzcoins # add this line
    if amount > buzzcoins:
  ...

Answer 2

You need to add global buzzcoins inside the function. You are getting the error because right now, the interpreter is trying to find a definition of buzzcoins inside the function and not in the global scope.

Answer 3

Instead of using global, make your variable a class variable of the bot object

ie: instead of this,

#COINS
buzzcoins = 1000

#COMMAND PREFIX
client = commands.Bot(command_prefix = "!")

do this,

#COMMAND PREFIX
client = commands.Bot(command_prefix = "!")\

#COINS
client.buzzcoins = 1000

then you can access it without using the global keyword in your function:

async def dice(ctx, amount:int):
    #DICE COMMAND - CHECKS
    if amount > client.buzzcoins:
       client.buzzcoins += 100 # example

also message in your function is not a discord.Message object, but a commands.Context object. You can use shortcut for send , ie, await ctx.send("blah blah") istead await ctx.channel.send("blah blah")