Parent’s Guide
What is Roblox?
Roblox helps power the imaginations of people around the world. Every month, over 64 million active players come to Roblox to create adventures, play games, roleplay, and learn with friends.
Roblox is a platform for user-generated content. This means all of the games and experiences on Roblox are created by the players themselves. Once a player has signed up and chosen their avatar, they are given their own piece of real estate along with a virtual toolbox for building. By creating cool stuff, players can earn “Robux” (our virtual currency on Roblox) to buy avatar accessories, additional skills in-game, or more tools and materials to build with.
As the largest growing social platform for play, Roblox gives players a safe, moderated place to meet, play, chat, and collaborate on creative projects. If so inclined, they can even go on to learn how to build and code immersive experiences for others, all at their own pace.
Is Roblox educational?
There is a well-respected theory named “Constructionism” first posed by Seymour Papert of MIT Media Lab which holds that kids learn best when they are in the active roles of designer and builder, and this learning is accelerated when they assume these roles in a public forum. We support this theory.
We’ve observed that many of our members become deeply engaged with building complex structures and solving difficult problems when they know that the fruits of their labor will be seen and critiqued by others. Our platform provides a free development engine that allows players to create anything from simple drag-and-drop building experiences to complex multiplayer games. Millions of kids have used our tools to imagine what it’s like to create the ultimate theme park, compete as a professional race car driver, star in a fashion show, become a superhero, or simply build a dream home and hang out with friends. The level of creativity our players exhibit, along with the amount of time and care they spend building, never fails to astonish us.
What does Roblox do to protect my kids’ safety and privacy?
We take kids’ safety and privacy very seriously. Roblox is part of a distinguished group of companies that are on the board of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), a non-profit organization that’s dedicated to ensuring the safety of children on the Internet. We strive to continually develop new and innovative technologies that will protect the safety of our community while allowing players to imagine, create, and play together in a family-friendly environment.
Roblox Corporation is also a member in the kidSAFE Seal Program, which has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission as an authorized safe harbor under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We are committed to complying with COPPA to ensure the privacy of our users under the age of 13 and implementing reasonable measures to prevent them from sharing personal info via chat messages or in-game. To learn more about COPPA, please consult this simple one-page informational guide from the kidSAFE Seal Program.
Although users age 13 and older can adjust more account settings and have an expanded vocabulary list, Roblox employs a filtering system and moderation team to help keep players safe and restrict them from sharing personally identifiable information. In addition, we allow parents to enable a setting on their child’s account that will allow them to only access a curated list of age-appropriate games for those under 13. This feature can be adjusted from within the Security tab under “Account Restrictions” in the Account Settings page.
On March 2, 2017, we added additional features that further enhanced our child safety initiatives:
- Parental controls that will enable parents to shut-off chat capability.
- Age visibility so that parents can easily determine that the settings for their kids are age appropriate.
- More stringent chat controls for under 13s restricting a greater range of words.
- Expansion of our moderation team for more aggressive deletion of games and content with behavior we will not tolerate.
- Further enhancement of our guidelines for our developer community in terms of content and experiences that are not allowed in their games.
On June 15, 2017, we added an automated detection feature that is designed to ensure that all players are wearing appropriate attire within the avatar editor and avatar thumbnails. If the system detects that a user’s avatar is not wearing any shirts or pants, it will automatically assign a default set of clothes for him/her.
We protect our players’ safety by proactively filtering inappropriate content and acting against anyone who is in violation of our Rules of Conduct. All uploaded images, video, and audio files are pre-reviewed by moderators for appropriate content before being allowed on the site. Our moderation team is also online around the clock reviewing abuse reports. Players can report inappropriate chat messages or content by using our Report Abuse system, which is located throughout the site and in-game. In addition to reporting any rule violations, players can also completely block others from chatting or chatting with them in-game or on the website. For more information, please see our help article by clicking here.
We also ask for parents to report any safety-related issues that they see on the site to safety@roblox.com (please only send safety-related issues to that address). For all other issues, please email info@roblox.com.
Does it cost anything to join Roblox?
No, it does not cost anything to join Roblox. Users can play Roblox games free of charge, but they can also purchase Robux (our virtual currency on Roblox) to buy in-game upgrades or accessories for their avatar. They can also purchase an optional “Builders Club” membership, which provides extra privileges such as access to premium items for cooler avatar customization, no screen advertisements, and being able to manage multiple locations to build on.
What can I do to keep my child’s account safe?
For general safety, we encourage players to:
- Always use a strong password that can’t be guessed
- Keep their account and personal information to themselves
- Enable 2-Step Verification to prevent strangers from accessing their Roblox account
Roblox will never ask any player for their password. Report any messages like this instantly by clicking on the Report Abuse links located around the site and in every game menu. For more safety tips, please see our help article by clicking here.
How does chat work with Roblox?
Roblox uses a state-of-the-art filtering system that actively filters for inappropriate chat everywhere on the site and in-game. This system is monitored and dynamically adjusted to prevent any new subversions as they arise. While users of all ages are on this filtering system, we go a step further for users 12 and under by placing them on a more restricted chat to protect their privacy and safety. When a user age 12 and under signs up on Roblox, they are automatically placed on controlled settings so that they can only directly message other users that are accepted as friends on Roblox.
We also give parents the ability to restrict or disable chat throughout the site and in-game. This setting can be adjusted from within the Privacy tab in the Account Settings page.
What should I do if my child is using a third-party program to speak with others outside of Roblox?
As a parent, it’s important that you remain vigilant and understand all the applications that your children are using on their computer or phone. Parents should have ongoing conversations with their children so they can determine whether these programs are age-appropriate. It’s also a good idea to know who your children are talking with online and to remind them about basic online safety tips. This includes not revealing personal information online and to immediately tell you if they encounter bullies or anyone exhibiting inappropriate or unwanted behavior.
Can I customize the security settings on my child’s account in Roblox?
Yes, users age 13 and over can customize their security settings. For users age 12 and under, however, we take extra precaution to ensure their safety and privacy by automatically enforcing more restricted settings so they can only directly message other users that are accepted as friends on Roblox.
To add even more security to Roblox, you can enable 2-Step Verification on your child’s account. This feature can be found in their Account Settings Security tab. For more information, please see our FAQ article with all the details about this security feature.
Are there any other official Roblox sites?
No. Only https://www.roblox.com/ and sites ending with .roblox.com/ are legitimate Roblox-supported websites. Beware of third party sites that offer things like “free” or cheap Robux, etc. These sites are scams created to control your child’s Roblox account and collect their personal information and money. The only safe way to buy Robux and other items is to purchase them directly on the official Roblox website, through our official apps on iOS, Android, Amazon, and Xbox One, and within official Roblox games.
How can I contact Roblox?
We have many answers available on our help pages: http://help.roblox.com. If you need additional assistance, you can also find contact information for our customer support team here.