java keylistener not called

I’ll bet that you’re requesting focus before the JPanel has been rendered (before the top level window has either had pack() or setVisible(true) called), and if so, this won’t work. Focus request will only be possibly granted after components have been rendered. Have you checked what your call to requestFocus() has returned? It must return true for your call to have any chance for a success. Also it’s better to use requestFocusInWindow() rather than requestFocus().

But more importantly, you shouldn’t be using KeyListeners for this but rather key bindings, a higher level concept that Swing itself uses to respond to key presses.

Edit
An example of an SSCCE:

import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class TestKeyListener extends JPanel {
   private KeyLis listener;

   public TestKeyListener() {
      add(new JButton("Foo")); // something to draw off focus
      listener = new KeyLis();
      this.setFocusable(true);
      this.requestFocus();
      this.addKeyListener(listener);
   }

   @Override
   public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
      return new Dimension(300, 200);
   }

   private class KeyLis extends KeyAdapter {
      @Override
      public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
         switch (e.getKeyCode()) {
         case KeyEvent.VK_LEFT:
            System.out.println("VK_LEFT pressed");
            break;
         case KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT:
            System.out.println("VK_RIGHT pressed");
            break;
         }
      }
   }

   private static void createAndShowGui() {
      TestKeyListener mainPanel = new TestKeyListener();

      JFrame frame = new JFrame("TestKeyListener");
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
      frame.pack();
      frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
      frame.setVisible(true);
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         public void run() {
            createAndShowGui();
         }
      });
   }
}

Edit 2
And the equivalent SSCCE using Key Bindings:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class TestKeyBindings extends JPanel {

   public TestKeyBindings() {
      add(new JButton("Foo")); // something to draw off focus
      setKeyBindings();
   }

   private void setKeyBindings() {
      ActionMap actionMap = getActionMap();
      int condition = JComponent.WHEN_IN_FOCUSED_WINDOW;
      InputMap inputMap = getInputMap(condition );

      String vkLeft = "VK_LEFT";
      String vkRight = "VK_RIGHT";
      inputMap.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_LEFT, 0), vkLeft);
      inputMap.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT, 0), vkRight);

      actionMap.put(vkLeft, new KeyAction(vkLeft));
      actionMap.put(vkRight, new KeyAction(vkRight));

   }

   @Override
   public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
      return new Dimension(300, 200);
   }

   private class KeyAction extends AbstractAction {
      public KeyAction(String actionCommand) {
         putValue(ACTION_COMMAND_KEY, actionCommand);
      }

      @Override
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent actionEvt) {
         System.out.println(actionEvt.getActionCommand() + " pressed");
      }
   }

   private static void createAndShowGui() {
      TestKeyBindings mainPanel = new TestKeyBindings();

      JFrame frame = new JFrame("TestKeyListener");
      frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
      frame.pack();
      frame.setLocationByPlatform(true);
      frame.setVisible(true);
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         public void run() {
            createAndShowGui();
         }
      });
   }
}

Edit 3
Regarding your recent SSCCE, your while (true) loops are blocking your Swing event thread and may prevent user interaction or painting from happening. Better to use a Swing Timer rather than while (true). For example:

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.Random;

import javax.swing.*;

public class BbbTest extends JFrame {

   private AreaOfGame areaOfGame;

   public BbbTest() {
      super("");
//      setVisible(true);
      this.setBackground(Color.darkGray);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      this.pack();
      setLayout(null);
      setBounds(200, 10, 400, 700);

      areaOfGame = new AreaOfGame();
      this.add(areaOfGame);
      setVisible(true);

      startGame();
   }

   public int generateNext() {
      Random r = new Random();
      int n = r.nextInt(7);
      return n;
   }

   public void startGame() {
      // while (!areaOfGame.GameOver()) {
      // areaOfGame.startGame(generateNext());
      // }

      areaOfGame.startGame(generateNext());
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      new BbbTest();
   }

   class AreaOfGame extends JPanel {

      private static final int rightside = 370;

      private int bottom;
      private int top;

      private int currentPos;
      private int currentver;
      private KeyLis listener;

      public AreaOfGame() {
         super();

         bottom = 650;
         top = 50;
         setLayout(null);
         setBounds(20, 50, 350, 600);
         setVisible(true);

         this.setBackground(Color.lightGray);

         listener = new KeyLis();
         this.setFocusable(true);
         if (this.requestFocus(true))
            System.out.println("true");
         ;
         this.addKeyListener(listener);

         currentPos = 150;
         currentver = 0;
      }

      public void startGame(int n) {
         // while (verticallyInBound()) {
         // System.out.println("anything");
         // }

         int timeDelay = 50; // msecs delay
         new Timer(timeDelay , new ActionListener() {

            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
               System.out.println("anything");
            }
         }).start();

      }

      public boolean verticallyInBound() {
         if (currentPos <= bottom - 50)
            return true;
         return false;
      }

      public boolean GameOver() {
         if (top >= bottom) {
            System.out.println("game over");
            return true;
         }

         else
            return false;
      }

      public boolean horizontalyInBounds() {
         if (currentPos <= rightside && currentPos >= 20)
            return true;
         else
            return false;
      }

      class KeyLis implements KeyListener {

         @Override
         public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
            System.out.println("called");
            currentver += 5;
            switch (e.getKeyCode()) {
            case KeyEvent.VK_LEFT:
               if (horizontalyInBounds())
                  currentPos -= 5;
               break;
            case KeyEvent.VK_RIGHT:
               if (horizontalyInBounds())
                  currentPos += 5;
               break;
            }
            repaint();

         }

         @Override
         public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub

         }

         @Override
         public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
            System.out.println("called 3");
         }
      }
   }
}