Roblox

How Roblox works

Roblox is an online platform with millions of different games. Most of these games or ‘experiences’ are created by Roblox users, although some are official game modes designed by Roblox.

Roblox users can play with friends and other users worldwide.

Minimum age requirements

Children under 13 years of age can use Roblox with accounts that have safety restrictions applied by default, but they must have their parent or guardian’s permission. This is not required for users over the age of 13.

PEGI recommends parental guidance when playing Roblox due to the large variety of user-generated content.

Roblox uses age verification to ensure young people do not access content intended for older audiences. If a user wants to access features such as voice chat and games for users aged 17 and older, they must provide a government-issued photo ID and a live selfie to verify their age and identity. Once verified, users can only interact with others in a similar age group. Users can also add ‘Trusted Connections’, which allows them to communicate with people outside their age range, provided they know them in real life.

Features

Chat

Allows players to send text messages to other players in the same experience.

Experience

Roblox refers to each game as an ‘experience’. This is because some experiences will not be gameplay based, such as stories or concerts.

Lua

The coding language used for Roblox. It is easy to learn, making it a good entry for young people to start coding.

Marketplace

An online shop where players can use in-game currency to buy clothes and accessories for their character. Some items are also available for free.

Maturity levels

Indicates the type of content within the game, from the following levels: Minimal, Mild, Moderate, and Restricted.

Premium

A paid-for subscription to Roblox that gives features like the ability to trade and exclusive cosmetics.

Roblox Studio

Roblox Studio is the free software for users to create games in Roblox.

Robux

The in-game currency used in Roblox. Robux can be bought with real money or earned by creating games and in-game items.

Trade

Premium users can trade their items or in-game currency with other users.

Trusted connections

A feature that allows verified users aged 13+ to communicate more freely with people they know and trust in real life by having the trusted person scan a QR code on the user’s phone.

Voice chat

Users can speak with each other using their microphones. This feature is restricted for under-13 accounts.

What Roblox offers

Creativity

Users can create their own games and experiences for the Roblox platform. In these games, they can design a world, add props and characters and create their own stories.

Roblox also offers roleplaying opportunities, with some of its most popular games letting users create characters and play as them. This allows young people to use their imagination and explore their creativity.

Design skills

Roblox Studio uses the coding language Lua, which is simple and ideal for beginners looking to learn coding. Roblox also provides learning resources to help users get started with the game-building software.

Roblox Studio also has a drag-and-drop system to build a game world or create assets like scenery, buildings and non-playable characters.

Entertainment

There are millions of different games on Roblox covering a wide variety of genres, including:

roleplaying games
farming simulators
first-person shooting games
murder mysteries

Licensed games also exist, designed for recognisable brands and artists.

Managing risks

Inappropriate content

Most of the content on Roblox is user-generated. Therefore, young people could come across games that feature mature content. While there are maturity levels to indicate the type of content in each game, these are not always perfect. Some games feature themes that are inappropriate for their content label.

You can follow these steps to lessen the risk of inappropriate content.

Enable parental controls

Using Roblox’s parental controls, you can set restrictions on your child’s account to prevent them from playing games labelled as including moderate or restricted content. This will stop your child from playing experiences intended for older audiences.

Have regular conversations

Encourage communication with your child about Roblox. By showing interest in what they do on the platform, they will be more likely to tell you about any inappropriate things they see on the platform.

Explore hide and report tools

Showing your child how to use the hide and report tools will help them respond to any inappropriate content they see.

Contact with strangers

Roblox is an online game that may bring your child in to contact with strangers. Any user aged 13+ that has verified their age will have access to voice and text chat with other users of a similar age. However, no age verification system is ever perfect, and there is still a chance older users could contact your child.

Some users may have malicious intents, such as bullying, grooming or scams. To tackle this threat, you can take the following actions.

Adjust privacy settings

Through the privacy settings, you can limit who can message your child or join their games. This can be set to ‘Friends only’, to ensure your child does not interact with any strangers.

Review friends list

Reviewing your child’s friend list will let you see if your child has added any new friends, giving you the chance to ask your child how they know the person. Encourage your child to only add people they know and trust in real life.

Talk about online conversations

Talk to your child about what information is and isn’t ok to share online. Explain the dangers of sharing any personal information or images. Advise your child not to trade with anyone they do not know, as this could result in the loss of their Robux or items.

Encourage blocking and reporting

Show your child how to block and report on Roblox. Encourage them to use these tools if someone makes them uncomfortable.

Notify authorities in extreme cases

If you suspect someone is contacting your child to groom them, you should report this to the police or CEOP. Ensure you get screenshots of the messages to use as evidence.

Excessive screen time

Roblox has a vast number and variety of games, many of which are free-to-play. These games are engaging, incorporating social features that can keep young people playing for a long time.

There are steps you can take to prevent your child from having excessive screen time.

Set screen time limits on your child’s Roblox account

This will put a limit on how long your child can use Roblox each day, preventing them from playing the game excessively.

Agree on boundaries

Discuss when and where your child can play Roblox. For example, agreeing that they can only play Roblox in the living room where you can monitor their gameplay.

Encourage critical thinking

Help your child to become more mindful about time spent on the platform.

Encourage them to:

think about why they are playing games on Roblox
ask themselves whether they are having fun, or what they hope to get out of the platform

Overspending

While Roblox is free-to-play, there are microtransactions on the platform. Players can use real money to purchase the in-game currency Robux, which they can then use on accessories and game passes.

Young people might feel pressure to spend money to keep up with their friends, and this can result in overspending.

These steps can help keep your child’s spending under control.

Set spending limits

Using Roblox’s parental controls, you can set monthly spending limits on your child’s account, allowing them to make purchases without any risk of overspending.

Teach smart spending habits

Having a conversation with your child about the value of money can prevent them from overspending. Put the price of Robux into context by comparing it to other things they could buy with the money like a non-Roblox game or equivalent real-world item. This can help them see the real value of this virtual currency.

Settings to protect your child

You can access a range of parental controls by linking your Roblox account to your child’s. For users under the age of 13 years, safety restrictions will be applied by default. For older users, you must set these controls manually. For users aged 13 to 17, some safety features are on by default, but many need to be set manually.

Set up a parent account and link to your child’s

Setting up a parent account will allow you to put safety controls on your child’s account. Screen time, spending and privacy restrictions can all be placed using a parent account.

Set up a parent account

Create or log in to your Roblox account.
Go to ‘Settings’ and then select ‘Account Info’.
Under ‘Email Address’, add your email.
Under ‘Birthday’, select ‘Verify My Age’ (age can be verified using a credit card or photo ID.

Link a parent account to child’s account

Access your child’s Roblox account and go to ‘Account Info’.
Select ‘Add parental recovery email’ and add your email.
Go back to ‘Settings’ and select ‘Parental Controls’.
Select ‘Add Parent’ and then enter your email address.
Go to your emails to confirm the link.

Apply content restrictions

Setting maturity levels on your child’s account will prevent them from accessing experiences intended for older audiences.

Log into your parent account.
Select ‘More Settings’, then ‘Parental Controls’.
Select ‘Content restrictions’.
Select ‘Content Maturity’.
Set your child’s ‘Content Maturity’ level from a choice of:
- Minimal: occasional mild violence, light unrealistic blood.
- Mild: repeated mild violence, heavy unrealistic blood.
- Moderate: violence, blood which is more realistic, crude humour.
- Restricted: all content is available.

Explore report and block features

Your child can block and report any accounts or games that make them uncomfortable or break community guidelines. This can prevent further contact from harmful users and prevent other players from being exposed to mature content that is not correctly labelled.