Roblox is one of the biggest gaming platforms in the world, with over 132 million daily active users as of early 2026. However, growing concerns around child safety, chat features, and unchecked in-game spending have put parents on high alert. Here is everything you need to know to keep your child’s Roblox account safe, spend-controlled, and age-appropriate.
What Is the Current Concern Around Roblox?
Child safety advocacy groups Fairplay and the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation recently filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), calling for an investigation into Roblox’s practices. The complaint raised three major concerns:
- In-game spending that children find difficult to track or understand
- Chat features that may expose children to inappropriate contact
- Engagement-maximising design, including daily reward streaks, loot boxes, and social comparison mechanics
One parent cited in the complaint reported their 10-year-old spent over $7,000 (around £5,200) in just two months on Roblox. Roblox has responded by stating that only 1.4% of its 132 million daily active users were paying users in Q1 2026, and that most games remain free to play. The FTC has not yet confirmed whether it will open a formal investigation.
How Roblox’s In-Game Economy Works
Understanding the spending system is the first step toward controlling it.
| Term | What It Means |
| Robux | Roblox’s virtual currency, purchased with real money |
| Game Passes | Paid upgrades that unlock features within specific games |
| Avatar Items | Cosmetic purchases such as outfits and accessories |
| Subscriptions | Monthly payments for individual game benefits |
Advocacy groups argue that the conversion between real money and Robux makes it genuinely difficult for children, and sometimes even parents, to track actual spending in real-world currency.
What Parental Controls Does Roblox Actually Offer?
Roblox does provide a solid set of parental tools, but you need to set them up yourself. To access any of these controls, you first need a separate Roblox account with parent privileges, verified through a government-issued ID, credit card, or facial age estimation. After that, you can link it to your child’s account.
Here is a breakdown of what you can manage once linked:
Spending Controls
- Navigate to Settings > Parental Controls > Settings You Manage > Spending Restrictions
- Set a monthly spending limit on Robux and game subscriptions (note: this does not apply to gift card redemptions)
- Choose spending notifications: every transaction, high monthly spend only, or both
- High spend notifications are on by default and trigger after $100, $250, and $500 in a given month
Content Controls
- Go to Settings > Parental Controls > Settings You Manage > Content Restrictions
- Use the Content Maturity slider to choose one of four levels:
| Level | What It May Include |
| Minimal | Occasional mild violence, light unrealistic blood, mild fear |
| Mild | Repeated mild violence, heavy unrealistic blood, mild crude humour |
| Moderate | Moderate violence, light realistic blood, unplayable gambling content |
| Restricted | Strong violence, romantic themes, alcohol, strong language (18+ verified only) |
- You can also block or allow specific games regardless of their content label
Chat and Communication Controls
- Go to Settings > Parental Controls > Settings You Manage > Communication
- Game Chat: controls whether your child can text chat with users in similar age groups within a game (children under 9 require parental consent)
- Game Direct Chat: controls use of the ‘/w’ command for direct messaging inside a game server (children under 13 require parental consent)
- Party Chat: only available between age-checked users over 13 in similar age groups
- You can restrict Party settings to Connections only or No one
Roblox also applies chat filters across the platform that block discriminatory speech, sexual content, personal information, and instructions to move off-platform. For users under 13, filters are stricter and include slang and identifiable personal information.
However, the FTC complaint noted that researchers using under-13 accounts still encountered sexual references and offensive language within minutes in certain games, which suggests the filters do not catch everything.
Screen Time Controls
- Navigate to Settings > Parental Controls > Screen Time > Manage
- Set a daily time limit via the Daily Limit dropdown
- View your child’s top 20 games played from the past week
- Once a child hits their daily limit, they receive an on-screen message and lose access for the rest of that day
Connections List
- Go to Settings > Parental Controls > Connections > Manage
- View all of your child’s connections listed by username with their avatar
- Block or report any connection using the three-dot menu
- Blocked users cannot chat with your child or re-add them without your permission
Step-by-Step: How to Link Your Parent Account
Step 1: Create your own Roblox account at Roblox.com if you do not already have one
Step 2: Verify your age using a government-issued ID, credit card, or facial age estimation
Step 3: Link your account to your child’s account through Settings > Parental Controls
Step 4: From your linked account, access all controls without needing to log in to your child’s account
Multiple parents can link to the same child’s account from separate accounts, which Roblox actively recommends over account sharing.
How to Block a Specific Game
If you want to prevent access to a particular game regardless of its content label, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
- Select Parental Controls and choose your child’s account
- Scroll to Content Restrictions
- Select Blocked Games
- Tap the + icon and search for the game by name
- Select Block and confirm
Worth noting: if you block a game while your child is actively playing it, the block only takes effect the next time they try to enter that game.
What Safety Systems Does Roblox Have Beyond Parental Controls?
Roblox operates a dedicated Trust and Safety team that monitors the platform 24/7 and typically responds to reported content within minutes. The platform also runs a proactive safety review of every uploaded image, audio file, and video before it goes live.
On the partnership side, Roblox works with over 20 global child safety organisations, including the Internet Watch Foundation, the WePROTECT Global Alliance, and kidSAFE. It also collaborates with Microsoft on AI-based tools for grooming chat detection and reports suspected child exploitation directly to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US.
Key Takeaways for Parents
- Link your account first. Without a verified parent account, none of the controls are accessible.
- Set a monthly spending limit immediately, especially if your child has access to a payment method.
- Enable all spending notifications so you know in real time when purchases are made.
- Review your child’s connections list regularly and block anyone unfamiliar.
- Talk openly with your child about what to do if they encounter anything uncomfortable online. Roblox itself encourages this conversation alongside the technical controls.
No parental control system replaces an open conversation. However, combining these tools with regular check-ins gives you meaningful oversight of your child’s Roblox experience.
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