In-game, player will have important stats they need to see like the items they've collected. These numbers will be displayed using a leaderboard. Leaderboards are built-in features of Roblox that need a script to be activated and customized.
Setting Up the Leaderboard
Whenever a player is added to the experience, they'll need to be added to the leaderboard along with code for tracking the individual stats.
In the Explorer, under ServerScriptService, create a new script named PlayerSetup. In that script, delete the hello world line and write a descriptive comment.
After the comment, create a custom function named onPlayerJoin with a parameter named player.
-- Creates a leaderboard that shows player variableslocal function onPlayerJoin(player)endIn onPlayerJoin, create a variable named leaderstats, and have it create a new Folder Instance.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")endName the new Folder instance leaderstats, and parent it to the player. Naming the folder leaderstats lets Roblox Studio know to create a leaderboard.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"leaderstats.Parent = playerendAfter the end of the function, connect OnPlayerJoin to the PlayerAdded event. Whenever a player joins the experience, each player will be provided the leaderboard.
local Players = game:GetService("Players")local function onPlayerJoin(player)local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"leaderstats.Parent = playerendPlayers.PlayerAdded:Connect(onPlayerJoin)
Tracking Player Stats
Now that a leaderboard is created, it needs to show the player these numbers:
- Gold - How much money the player has.
- Items - How many items the player has collected from the world.
- Spaces - The most items a player can hold at one time.
Each of these numbers will be an IntValue, a placeholder object for a number.
Coding Player Gold
Start with coding a stat for gold.
In OnPlayerJoin, under leaderstats.Parent = player, type local gold = Instance.new("IntValue"). This creates a new IntValue and stores it in the variable gold.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"leaderstats.Parent = playerlocal gold = Instance.new("IntValue")endNext, type gold.Name = "Gold". This gives the IntValue a name so you can use it in other scripts. The name will also be shown to players on the leaderboard.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)local gold = Instance.new("IntValue")gold.Name = "Gold"endOn a new line, type gold.Value = 0. This sets the starting value for players.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)local gold = Instance.new("IntValue")gold.Name = "Gold"gold.Value = 0endType gold.Parent = leaderstats. This parents the IntValue for gold to leaderstats. If the IntValue is not parented to leaderstats, players won't see it.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)local gold = Instance.new("IntValue")gold.Name = "Gold"gold.Value = 0gold.Parent = leaderstatsendPlay your project and notice that a leaderboard appears in the top right.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you don't see the leaderboard, try the following:
- Make sure that .Value is capitalized.
- Make sure that the variable for the IntValue is parented to the leaderboard like gold.Parent = leaderstats.
Coding Items and Spaces
Remember that the stat names can be anything based off the game design document. In other words, "Items" can be "Crystals" instead.
Add a blank line to separate the next stat, then create the item stat by setting up a new IntValue the same way you did for gold.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)gold.Parent = leaderstats-- Create the Items statlocal items = Instance.new("IntValue")items.Name = "Items"items.Value = 0items.Parent = leaderstatsendCreate a new stat for the player's bag spaces. Set spaces.Value to 2 so players start the experience only being able to hold two items at once, encouraging them buy a new bag as soon as they can.
local function onPlayerJoin(player)items.Parent = leaderstats-- Create the Spaces statlocal spaces = Instance.new("IntValue")spaces.Name = "Spaces"spaces.Value = 2spaces.Parent = leaderstatsendTest the project. Players should have a leaderboard showing Gold, Items, and Spaces.
If the leaderboard doesn't appear, try checking the following below.
- If you can't see the number on the leaderboard, check that each IntValue is parented to leaderstats.
- Make sure each IntValue is spelled exactly as shown
- Check that the PlayerAdded event is at the bottom of the script
Complete PlayerSetup Script
A finished version of the script can be referenced below.
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
-- Creates a leaderboard that shows player variables
local function onPlayerJoin(player)
local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")
leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"
leaderstats.Parent = player
local gold = Instance.new("IntValue")
gold.Name = "Gold"
gold.Value = 0
gold.Parent = leaderstats
local items = Instance.new("IntValue")
items.Name = "Items"
items.Value = 0
items.Parent = leaderstats
local spaces = Instance.new("IntValue")
spaces.Name = "Spaces"
spaces.Value = 2
spaces.Parent = leaderstats
end
-- Run onPlayerJoin when the PlayerAdded event fires
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(onPlayerJoin)