A method begins by a dispersed storage (DS) processing module generating a set of messages regarding a set of encoded data slices. For a first message of the set of messages, the method continues with the DS processing module determining a first message priority based on system-level message processing information and message processing status of a first storage node. For a second message of the set of messages, the method continues with the DS processing module determining a second message priority based on the system-level message processing information and message processing status of a second storage node. The method continues with the DS processing module sending the first message of the set of messages to the first storage node in accordance with the first message priority and sending the second message of the set of messages to the second storage node in accordance with the second message priority.