Roblox, Decoded

Once your account is linked to theirs, almost every setting on this page lives on your phone instead of theirs.

• Make your own Roblox account, on your phone, with your real birthday. Download the Roblox app and sign up like your kid did. Then play one game before you touch a single setting.

  Pick an obby. You’ll understand the appeal in about four minutes, and you’ll fall off at least once.

• Start the link from their account. Tap Add parent and type in your email. Roblox emails you a link to finish on your phone. Where to find it: Their account›, then Settings›, then Parental Controls›, then Add parent
• Prove you’re an adult, then tap Agree. Open the email, choose Use existing account, and sign in with the account you just made. Roblox then asks you to prove you’re over 18, usually with a photo of your ID and a quick selfie to show it’s you.

  It’s a little extra hassle, and it’s what keeps a clever 11-year-old from making their own “parent” account.

• Link the other parent too, from their own account. More than one parent can link to the same kid. Each of you uses your own login, never a shared one.

  Whoever can get into your account can change your kid’s settings now, so this one’s worth guarding. Section 6 covers how.

• Know what you’ll see, and what you won’t. How long they play each day and which games they play most, their friends and Trusted Friends, and their spending. You won’t see what they type in chat.

  It’s the report card, not the homework.

  They manage more of their own settings as teens, but you keep seeing all of this until they turn 18, when the link ends on its own.

Which games they see, who they can chat with, and what you can control all run off one thing: the age Roblox has for them.

• Check the birthday on their account. If you’re making their account now, make it together, and use their real birthday.

  It goes both ways. Aging a kid up gets them games and chat meant for older kids, and aging them down to hang on to the controls longer runs into the age check. Either way, it teaches them that lying about their age gets them what they want.

• Decide on the age check together. Chat only works after one: a quick face scan in the Roblox app, or a photo ID for 13 and up. Roblox says it deletes the face images once it’s done.

  At this age, chat stays off even after the check, until you turn it on in section 4. Skipping the check for now is a perfectly good choice.

  No age check means no chat at all. For some families, that’s a fine place to start.

• If the check guessed wrong, fix it from your account. A linked parent can change their birthday one time, so double-check it before you save. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls
• One kid, one account. Roblox now watches for accounts that act younger or older than their age and can limit them, so siblings sharing one account can trip it. Each kid gets their own.
• Look for the blue background. Roblox Kids accounts have one, so you can tell at a glance that Roblox knows they’re under 9.

Roblox already limits their games by age. These let you go stricter, or open up one game at a time.

From 13 the maturity setting is theirs, but you can still block or approve games one at a time until they’re 16.

At 16 the game settings are theirs. What’s left for you is knowing how to read a game’s label.

• Set the content maturity slider. Roblox Kids starts at Mild.Roblox Select starts at Moderate, which can include moderate violence and crude humor. Slide it down if you’d rather start smaller. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Content restrictions›, then Content maturity
• Leave Sensitive issues off. It’s off by default under 13, and it keeps out games built mostly around heavy real-world topics. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Content restrictions›, then Sensitive issues
• Block any game you don’t want them in. It works whatever the game’s label says, and it kicks in the next time they log in. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Content restrictions›, then Blocked games
• Approve games one at a time. If they want a game that isn’t in their catalog, they can send you a request. Approve it from the email Roblox sends, or from Pending requests. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Pending requests
• Read a game’s label before you say yes. On the game’s page, scroll down to its maturity label and the list of what’s in it.

  The label covers what the game’s maker built, not what other players say and do inside it. That part is what chat settings and good conversations are for.

Chat is where you have the most say before 13, so it’s worth ten minutes. All of these are on your account.

A few chat settings are still yours until 16. The rest is a conversation.

The chat settings are theirs now, so this section is all conversation.

• Decide whether to turn on game chat. It starts off. If you turn on Experience chat, they can chat inside games with kids 5 to 12 and their Trusted Friends, once they’ve done an age check. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Communication›, then Experience chat

  Plenty of families leave it off at this age. The games work fine without it.

• Check their game chat. After an age check, Experience chat is on, with people close to their age and their Trusted Friends. You can turn it off here. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Communication›, then Experience chat
• Decide on Direct chat. That’s one-on-one messaging, and it needs your OK until they’re 16. Starting with it off is completely fine. You can always turn it on later. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Communication›, then Direct chat
• Pick who can party with them. Chat and party with friends opens up at 9. The choices are Friends or No one. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Communication
• Decide on voice chat before it comes up. At 13, after an age check, they can turn on voice chat and party chat themselves, unless you’ve limited it from your account. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Communication

  Talk about it before the birthday, so the first time it comes up isn’t in the middle of a game.

• Approve Trusted Friends one at a time. Only people they know in real life, like cousins and friends from school. If both kids are under 13, both sets of parents have to say yes.

  You’re automatically one of their Trusted Friends once you link, so you can chat and play together.

• Talk about Trusted Friends. From 13, they add their own, in person, by scanning each other’s QR code. A teen can only make an adult a Trusted Friend in person or from their phone’s contacts.

  A good rule of thumb: people they’d let in the front door.

• Look through their friends list. Block or report anyone you don’t recognize, right from your account. Blocked players can’t chat with them directly. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Friends›, then Manage
• Glance at their friends list now and then. You can still see who they’re friends with. “Who’s this?” asked with curiosity is a perfectly good conversation starter.

Roblox is free to play, but Robux cost real money. Let the settings be the ones saying “that’s enough” instead of you.

• Set a monthly spending limit. $0 works if you’d rather they not buy anything. It resets every month. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Spending restrictions

  Spending limits stop applying at 13, so this one needs a conversation before that birthday.

• Turn on spending notifications. Roblox emails you when spending passes $100, $250, and $500. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls

  At 13, these switch off unless you turn them back on yourself, so check them after that birthday.

• Back it up at the app store. On a phone or tablet, Robux are bought through Apple or Google, so Ask to Buy on an iPhone or purchase approvals in Family Link put you in the loop too.

  Roblox gift cards skip both, since they add Robux straight to the account. A birthday gift card is worth a quick “how do you want to spend this?”

• Set a daily time limit. Pick a limit from the list. When they hit it, Roblox tells them, and they’re done for the day. Where to find it: Your account›, then Parental Controls›, then Screen time›, then Manage
• Set time limits on the device instead. From 13, they manage their own screen time inside Roblox. You can still see how long they play, and the app limits in Screen Time or Family Link still work.

So many kids lose their Roblox account to someone who talked them out of the password, along with everything they saved up for. Two minutes here makes that a lot harder.

• Turn on 2-step verification on their account. Then anyone logging in from a new device needs a code from their email or an authenticator app, not just the password. It needs a verified email on the account first. Where to find it: Their account›, then Settings›, then Security›, then 2-Step Verification

  I will preach two-factor authentication from the rooftops. So many kids hand their password to someone who promised them something, and the code is what stops that person at the door.

• Turn it on for your account too. Your account can change their settings now, so it deserves the same lock. Where to find it: Your account›, then Settings›, then Security›, then 2-Step Verification
• Know which email is on their account. That’s where the login codes and password resets go. Make it one you can get into. At 13 it’s theirs to change, so just make sure you know which one it is.
• Say it together: nobody gets the password. Not a friend, not a game, and not Roblox. Roblox says its employees will never ask for a password or a login code. And there’s no such thing as free Robux.

The settings cover a lot. These cover the rest, and they only work side by side.

• Practice reporting a player. Inside a game, tap the Roblox menu button in the top left corner, then the flag next to the player’s name. Pick the reason, add a few words, and tap Submit.

  Report from inside the game whenever they can. A report from someone’s profile page doesn’t show Roblox’s moderators what actually happened.

• Practice blocking. On the player’s profile, tap the three dots, then Block User. The other person isn’t told, and they can’t message them or invite them to anything.
• Find where to report a game. On the game’s page, the Report Abuse button sits in the description box.
• Agree on two rules. The filter tries to catch both of these, and the rule is for when it misses:

  1. Chats stay on Roblox. If anyone asks to move to Snapchat, Instagram, Discord, or texting, that’s the moment to come get you.
  2. No personal info: real name, city, school, or age.

  If someone does ask, start with “thank you for telling me” before any questions. That’s what makes them come tell you next time too.

• Play with them. Ask for a tour of their favorite game, then play a round. You’ll learn more in ten minutes than from any settings page, this one included.
• Put the next birthday that matters on the calendar. At 9 they move to Roblox Select, with more games and chat.At 13, spending limits and in-Roblox time limits stop applying, and voice chat opens up.At 16 they move to a regular Roblox account, and the settings become theirs.At 18 the link to your account ends on its own. Talk about it before the day, not after.