General Roblox Information
Below is information relevant to any educational work in Roblox.
What is Roblox?
To start, Roblox is not a single game. It's a platform that hosts millions of user-generated experiences, such as historical roleplaying games or virtual labs to simulate physics experiments.
Because of the diversity of content you'll find on Roblox, we use the term experience to refer to what you play on Roblox. Experiences are designed by Roblox users, who may be individual students or professional studios.
Recommended Ages and Hardware
Roblox is an all ages platform where everyone can join, socialize, learn, and play safely. Various experiences may be targeted at a specific age range or grade level. For example, one math related experience might target fifth grade arithmetic while another might target high school robotics.
Roblox can also be used for creation. Roblox Studio is used for building and coding all Roblox experiences. Our team typically recommends it for ages 10 and up, although some students may certainly start younger. Younger students typically focus on the creation and design of environments, such as recreating historical landmarks, while older students who are comfortable reading and typing can begin learning to code with the language Lua and built-in IDE.
Hardware Requirements for Play and Game-Based Learning
Below are requirements for just visiting a Roblox experience.
- A PC or Mac computer. Alternatively, Roblox is also playable on a Chromebook, tablet, or mobile device.
- Consistent Internet Access. All experiences on Roblox are stored online, requiring an active connection.
- For the best performance, we recommend either a computer less than five years old with a dedicated video card, or a laptop less than three years old with an integrated video card.
Hardware Requirements for Creation
Below are requirements if students are interested in using Roblox Studio to develop their own experiences.
- A PC or Mac computer. Roblox Studio cannot run on Chromebooks or mobile devices such as smartphones.
- Consistent Internet access. This allows us to keep the software up to date and gives you the opportunity to save your projects to your Roblox account.
- A free Roblox account. Roblox Studio is free to use and does not require a license.
- A mouse with a scroll wheel. While Roblox Studio is usable with a trackpad, having a mouse makes it easier.
Costs and Educational Pricing
Using and developing experiences on Roblox are all free!
| Curriculum | Our curriculum is written and shared under a Creative Commons license to be used and adapted for the classroom or larger educational institutions. |
| Creating Experiences | Developing experiences in Roblox is free and doesn't require any paid licenses. |
| Visiting Experiences | Most Roblox experiences are free to visit, but some may include microtransactions to purchase optional benefits, like private servers. These prices are set by individual developers, not by Roblox. When present, these costs are often minor, such as $1 USD per month for a private server. |
Robux and Digital Currencies
Robux is the currency used among all Roblox experiences. This currency can be bought, such as through gift cards, or earned by making experiences. Robux can be used to customize a student's avatar or be spent in Roblox experiences, such as buying special items.
Additionally, remember there is no such thing as free Robux. Students may occasionally find bad actors and sites promising this. To help students better identify inaccurate information, we've developed a lesson on Digital Civility.
Roblox and Minecraft
While similar at first glance, Roblox is very different. With Minecraft, students are only making changes to an existing game. Roblox is designed from the ground up to empower students to code, create, and share their own unique creations.
Creating in Roblox
Using Roblox Studio, students can create their own experiences, practice computer science, and develop a variety of career skills such as project-planning.
Roblox Studio vs Roblox Client
Whenever Roblox is installed on any computer, two pieces of software are included. Roblox Studio is used to design and code experiences, while Roblox Client is for visiting experiences.
Coding in Roblox Studio
Roblox Studio uses a typed-out scripting language called Lua. It's best described as similar to Python, but even easier to teach since Lua doesn't require strict adherence to indentations and other syntax that create hurdles for new learners. Roblox Studio does not currently offer drag-and-drop coding, like the type found in Scratch.
Installation and Classroom Networks
Roblox can be installed once and is updated automatically - no need to worry about versions. When installing Roblox, you install both Roblox Client (used to play experiences), and Roblox Studio (used for developing).
For Roblox Studio to run, it needs access to the internet. This ensures that the software is up to date and you get access to a variety of features, such as storing your files online. Depending on your network, you may have connection issues. For support, check out our Technical Support pages on General Connection Problems.
We offer tools to create installers that can be used with software deployment and imaging tools. See Creating Bundled Installers.
Playing and Learning in Roblox
Below are common questions we've received from educators using Roblox in the classroom.
Safety and Privacy
Roblox as a company prides itself on the variety of ways we keep our community safe. Our Parent's Guide is constantly being updated with new information and resources to help educate parents about the Roblox platform.
Blocking Chat in Roblox
While in Roblox Studio, students cannot chat with others online unless building in a collaborative session.
For visiting Roblox experiences, teachers can block Chat by following the steps on Safety Features and Chat. Additionally, some experiences offer the ability to rent private servers for free or a small fee.
Disabling Roblox Client
Roblox Studio and Client are two separate pieces of software. While Studio is used to create and develop, Client is used to visit Roblox experiences. To use Roblox Studio, Client does not actually have to be installed.
Marketing with Roblox
Roblox is committed to the success of our educators. Below we provide some resources that may be helpful to your own program.
Roblox Featured Educator Program
This program picks some of our top educators and highlights them. We often send out a notice to members of our mailing list. You can sign up at this survey
Logos and Marketing Guidelines
No special permissions are needed to use the Roblox logo on your materials so long as the Roblox Terms of Use are followed. Educators are free to use the Roblox logo to advertise courses featuring our software so long as it isn't implied to be an official Roblox offering nor directly affiliated. . Please make sure to use our current logos and to type Roblox, not ROBLOX in all external communications.
You can find our current logos on our Marketing Materials page. When downloaded, you'll also find our brand standards. Do not alter the logo in any way, including its color, transparency, drop-shadow, etc.