Roblox
Since January 2026, Roblox has used a facial age check to decide who your child can talk to. Chat access is tiered by the age the system estimates.
Do not take the selfie for your child. When an adult completes the check on a child's behalf, the system estimates an adult age and can place that child in the 21+ tier — the group with the fewest restrictions on who may message them.
Your child takes their own age check, with you sitting next to them. If you already did it for them, redo it.
Read the transcript
If your child plays Roblox, you don't need to panic. Some people use it to reach kids. Here's what that looks like, and three settings for tonight. Roblox isn't one game. It's millions of games, made by users, including adults. The risk isn't the games. It's the chat, friend requests, and Robux. Scams look like offers. Free Robux. An item scanner, to see what their stuff is worth. The link is a fake login page. Type the password, and the account is gone. Kids call it getting beamed. Roblox staff will never ask for a password or a code. Turn on two step verification, so a stolen password isn't enough. Grooming isn't a mysterious skill. It's a sequence you can learn. It starts with attention. A new friend who's funny, encouraging, and remembers what your child said yesterday. Then the gift. Free Robux, rare items. The feeling of owing them is the point. Then the move. Let's talk on Discord instead. Somewhere nobody is watching and nothing gets saved. Then the wedge. Don't tell your parents, they'll take your account. It's meant to isolate your child. Requests grow in small steps, until someone asks for photos. Then the squeeze. Send one more, or I'll post the first one. It never stops after one. It is never your child's fault. Signals worth a calm question. A generous new friend. A push to switch apps. Hiding the screen, or a mood change. A second account. Someone whose age they can't explain. Now, three settings. First, in Account Info, check the birthdate is real. Second, in Privacy, set who can message and chat to Friends. Change anything set to Everyone. Third, in Parental Controls, set a Parent PIN and spend limit. Without the PIN, everything can be undone in ten seconds. And don't take the age check selfie for your child. It can put them in the group with the fewest messaging limits. The Friends setting only helps if your child turns down strangers. And once a chat leaves Roblox, its protections are gone. Our account and game checks show facts from Roblox, not a safety rating. If someone is pressuring your child, stay calm. First, tell them they're not in trouble. Don't pay. Don't delete anything. Screenshot usernames, links, and times. Stop replying, but don't block yet. In Roblox, report the message itself, so moderators can see what happened. Block once the evidence is saved. Report it to the CyberTipline. Our help now page covers the first hour. What matters most is whether your child would tell you. Tonight, tell them this. If anything happens, come to me. You won't be in trouble, or lose your account. Games change. The tricks stay the same. The full guide is at safernotscared.org/parents/games/roblox.
Before you say yes to a new friend or game: Check a Roblox account · Check a Roblox game
What Roblox is, in two sentences
Roblox is not one game. It is a platform hosting millions of games built by other users — including other children and including adults — with chat, friend requests, and a real-money currency called Robux running through all of it.
That last part matters: the parts of Roblox that carry risk are the social and economic layers, not the games themselves.
The three settings that matter most
- Confirm the age on the account is your child's real age. Open Settings → Account Info and check the birthdate. Accounts registered as 13+ get fewer restrictions by default. A child who set up their own account very likely entered a fake year.
- Set who can chat and message. In Settings → Privacy, review every dropdown — who can message, who can chat in-app, who can chat in games, and who can join them. "Friends" is the safest setting that still lets the game function. "Everyone" is the one to change today.
- Turn on a Parent PIN and spending controls. Under Settings → Parental Controls, set a PIN so the privacy settings cannot be changed back, and set a monthly spend limit. Without the PIN, everything above can be undone in ten seconds.
What these settings do not cover
This is the honest part, and it is the reason settings alone are not a plan.
- Friends are not safe by definition. Restricting chat to friends only helps if your child does not accept friend requests from people they have not met. Most kids do.
- Filters do not catch the move off-platform. "Add me on Discord" gets through, and once the conversation moves, Roblox's protections are gone entirely.
- Age estimation is an estimate. It reduces the number of adults who can reach children. It does not eliminate them.
- Scam sites live outside the app. "Free Robux" generators and item scanners are phishing pages that steal the account. Kids call this getting beamed, and it is often the first step toward something worse.
Protect the account itself
Most scams aim at the login, not the game. Three habits close most of the gap.
- Never share the password, or any code Roblox sends. Roblox says its staff will never ask for a password or a 2-Step Verification code, and that sharing login details is the most common way players lose their accounts. Anyone who asks is trying to take it.
- Turn on 2-Step Verification. In Settings → Security, so a stolen password is not enough to get in. It needs a verified email address on the account, and that should be your child’s own or yours, never anyone else’s. Roblox recommends the authenticator app option.
- Log in only on roblox.com or the official app. If a game, a form, or a link asks for login details, it is a scam, even when it looks official.
Signals worth a conversation
These are reasons to ask a question, not evidence of anything.
- A new friend who is generous — gifts, Robux, rare items
- Being asked to move to Discord, Snapchat, or a game with no chat logs
- Hiding the screen, or a sharp mood change after playing
- A second account you did not know about
- Talking about someone online whose age they cannot quite explain
Check before you say yes
Two checks you can run from here. Both read what Roblox itself publishes about an account or a game. Neither can tell you whether a person is safe.
Report it in Roblox, then block
- Report the message, not just the person. Use Report Abuse on the specific chat or message. Roblox says a report made only from someone’s profile page does not show moderators what they did. In a game, open the menu and select the flag next to the username.
- Then block. On the person’s profile, select the three dots, then Block User. They are not told, and they can no longer message, friend, or invite your child. A parent whose account is linked can also block a child’s friends from Settings → Parental Controls.
- If someone is pressuring or threatening your child, save the evidence and report before you block. Blocking can cut off information investigators need.
If someone is pressuring your child for images
Do not pay. Do not delete anything. Screenshot usernames, links, and times.
Report to the NCMEC CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org, then read what to do in the first hour.
Context: why Roblox changed
The age check did not appear because the company decided to. By spring 2026 Roblox faced roughly ten state attorney-general lawsuits over child safety and had agreed to pay close to $36 million across settlements with Alabama, Nevada, and West Virginia, with more cases pending.
This is worth knowing for one reason: an age check is a safety feature, not a guarantee, and the company shipping it is responding to litigation. Treat it as one layer among several.
Sources
- Parental Controls Overview — Roblox Support (official)
- Keep Your Account Safe — Roblox Support (official), checked Oct 7, 2026
- Add 2-Step Verification to Your Account — Roblox Support (official), checked Oct 7, 2026
- How to Report Rule Violations — Roblox Support (official), checked Oct 7, 2026
- How to block another user — Roblox Support (official), checked Oct 7, 2026