ContentProvider
Service that loads content (assets) into a game.
Roblox servers stream all assets to the client at runtime: objects in the Workspace, mesh assets, texture assets, etc. Assets such as mesh visual data, textures, decals, and sounds are streamed in as required, regardless of whether Streaming is enabled.
In some cases, this behavior is undesirable, as it can lead to a delay before the content loads into the experience.
ContentProvider lets you preload assets into an experience using the ContentProvider:PreloadAsync() method. You might want to display a loading screen, preload critical assets, and only then allow the player into the experience.
Best Practices for Preloading
- Only preload essential assets, not the entire Workspace. You might get occasional pop-in, but it decreases load times and generally doesn't disrupt the player experience. Assets that are good candidates for preloading include those required for the loading screen, the UI, or the starting area.
- Let players skip the loading screen, or automatically skip it after a certain amount of time.
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
local LOGO_ID = "rbxassetid://658743164"
local PAGE_TURN_ID = "rbxassetid://12222076"
local decal = Instance.new("Decal")
decal.Texture = LOGO_ID
local sound = Instance.new("Sound")
sound.SoundId = PAGE_TURN_ID
local assets = { decal, sound }
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync(assets)
print("All assets loaded.")Summary
Properties
Used by the ContentProvider to download assets from the Roblox website.
Gives the number of items in the ContentProvider request queue that need to be downloaded.
Methods
Gets the current Enum.AssetFetchStatus of the contentId provided.
A signal that fires when the Enum.AssetFetchStatus of the provided content changes.
Yields until all of the assets associated with the given Instances have loaded.
Events
Properties
BaseUrl
Used by the ContentProvider to download assets from the Roblox website.
This URL points to a Roblox hosted website from which assets are downloaded and is pulled from the AppSettings.xml file, located in the version-hash folder.
It is possible to overwrite this property using the ContentProvider:SetBaseUrl() function in the command bar; however, this is not recommended and may cause asset loading issues.
RequestQueueSize
Gives the number of items in the ContentProvider request queue that need to be downloaded.
Items are added to the client's request queue when an asset is used for the first time or ContentProvider:PreloadAsync() is called.
Developers are advised not to use RequestQueueSize to create loading bars. This is because the queue size can both increase and decrease over time as new assets are added and downloaded. Developers looking to display loading progress should load assets one at a time (see example below).
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local localPlayer = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = localPlayer:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")
local screenGui = Instance.new("ScreenGui")
screenGui.Parent = playerGui
-- create a basic loading bar
local frame = Instance.new("Frame")
frame.Size = UDim2.new(0.5, 0, 0.1, 0)
frame.Position = UDim2.new(0.5, 0, 0.5, 0)
frame.AnchorPoint = Vector2.new(0.5, 0.5)
frame.Parent = screenGui
local bar = Instance.new("Frame")
bar.Size = UDim2.new(0, 0, 1, 0)
bar.Position = UDim2.new(0, 0, 0, 0)
bar.BackgroundColor3 = Color3.new(0, 0, 1)
bar.Parent = frame
local sound = Instance.new("Sound")
sound.SoundId = "rbxassetid://9120386436"
local sound2 = Instance.new("Sound")
sound2.SoundId = "rbxassetid://9120385974"
local assets = {
sound,
sound2,
}
task.wait(3)
for i = 1, #assets do
local asset = assets[i]
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync({ asset }) -- 1 at a time, yields
local progress = i / #assets
bar.Size = UDim2.new(progress, 0, 1, 0)
end
print("loading done")Methods
GetAssetFetchStatus
Gets the current Enum.AssetFetchStatus of the contentId provided. Use GetAssetFetchStatusChangedSignal() to listen for changes to this value.
Parameters
The ID of the content to fetch the status for.
Returns
The Enum.AssetFetchStatus of the content.
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
-- An example asset to load
local ASSET_ID = "rbxassetid://9120386436"
local exampleAsset = Instance.new("Sound")
exampleAsset.SoundId = ASSET_ID
-- Output the current AssetFetchStatus of the asset
local initialAssetFetchStatus = ContentProvider:GetAssetFetchStatus(ASSET_ID)
print("Initial AssetFetchStatus:", initialAssetFetchStatus)
-- Listen for updates
local assetFetchStatusChangedSignal = ContentProvider:GetAssetFetchStatusChangedSignal(ASSET_ID)
local function onAssetFetchStatusChanged(newAssetFetchStatus: Enum.AssetFetchStatus)
print(`New AssetFetchStatus: {newAssetFetchStatus}`)
end
assetFetchStatusChangedSignal:Connect(onAssetFetchStatusChanged)
-- Trigger the asset to preload
local function onAssetRequestComplete(contentId: string, assetFetchStatus: Enum.AssetFetchStatus)
print(`Preload status {contentId}: {assetFetchStatus.Name}`)
end
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync({ exampleAsset }, onAssetRequestComplete)GetAssetFetchStatusChangedSignal
A signal that fires when the Enum.AssetFetchStatus of the provided content changes. Connect to this signal by using a callback with one argument of type Enum.AssetFetchStatus. This is particularly useful for assets that might update themselves automatically like the thumbnail of a user when they change clothes.
Parameters
Returns
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
-- An example asset to load
local ASSET_ID = "rbxassetid://9120386436"
local exampleAsset = Instance.new("Sound")
exampleAsset.SoundId = ASSET_ID
-- Output the current AssetFetchStatus of the asset
local initialAssetFetchStatus = ContentProvider:GetAssetFetchStatus(ASSET_ID)
print("Initial AssetFetchStatus:", initialAssetFetchStatus)
-- Listen for updates
local assetFetchStatusChangedSignal = ContentProvider:GetAssetFetchStatusChangedSignal(ASSET_ID)
local function onAssetFetchStatusChanged(newAssetFetchStatus: Enum.AssetFetchStatus)
print(`New AssetFetchStatus: {newAssetFetchStatus}`)
end
assetFetchStatusChangedSignal:Connect(onAssetFetchStatusChanged)
-- Trigger the asset to preload
local function onAssetRequestComplete(contentId: string, assetFetchStatus: Enum.AssetFetchStatus)
print(`Preload status {contentId}: {assetFetchStatus.Name}`)
end
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync({ exampleAsset }, onAssetRequestComplete)UnregisterDefaultEncryptionKey
Returns
UnregisterEncryptedAsset
Parameters
Returns
PreloadAsync
Yields until all of the assets associated with the given Instances have loaded. This can be used to pause a script and not use content until it is certain that the content has been loaded into the experience.
When called, the engine identifies links to content for each item in the list. For any of the Instances which have properties that define links to content, such as a Decal or a Sound, the engine attempts to load these assets from Roblox. For each requested asset, the callback function runs, indicating the asset's final Enum.AssetFetchStatus.
This method can also take in a list of content ID strings, however these strings must correspond to image assets. Attempting to load non-image assets through the use of their content ID strings will result in failure.
If any of the assets fail to load, an error message appears in the output. The method itself will not error and it will continue executing until it has processed each requested instance or asset ID.
Parameters
An array of instances or content ID strings (for images) to load.
The function called when each asset request completes. Returns the content string and the asset's final Enum.AssetFetchStatus.
Returns
Code Samples
local ContentProvider = game:GetService("ContentProvider")
local sound = Instance.new("Sound")
sound.SoundId = "rbxassetid://9120386436"
local decal = Instance.new("Decal")
decal.Texture = "rbxassetid://5447528495"
local assets = {
decal,
sound,
}
-- This will be hit as each asset resolves
local callback = function(assetId, assetFetchStatus)
print("PreloadAsync() resolved asset ID:", assetId)
print("PreloadAsync() final AssetFetchStatus:", assetFetchStatus)
end
-- Preload the content and time it
local startTime = os.clock()
ContentProvider:PreloadAsync(assets, callback)
local deltaTime = os.clock() - startTime
print(("Preloading complete, took %.2f seconds"):format(deltaTime))