Learning how to make a round system in roblox studio is a bit like learning how to bake a cake; once you understand the basic ingredients and the order they go in, you can start adding your own flavors and toppings. Whether you're dreaming of a fast-paced battle royale or a simple "hide and seek" game, the round system is the heartbeat of your experience. It controls everything from the countdown in the lobby to the moment someone wins and everyone gets teleported back to start all over again.
If you've ever looked at a game like Piggy or Tower of Hell and wondered how they keep the loop going so smoothly, it's all down to a well-structured script. Today, we're going to build one from scratch. We aren't just going to copy-paste code, though. We're going to talk about why we're doing what we're doing, so you actually walk away knowing how to tweak it for your own specific game.
Setting Up Your Workspace
Before we even touch a line of code, we need to get our workspace organized. If you've ever tried to find a specific part in a messy Explorer window, you know it's a nightmare. Let's save our future selves some stress.
First, create a few folders in your Workspace. I like to name them "Lobby" and "Maps." Inside your Lobby folder, put a part and call it "LobbySpawn." This is where players will hang out while they wait for the next round. In your Maps folder, you can put a simple platform for now—let's call it "MainMap."
Next, head over to ServerStorage. This is where we'll keep our maps when they aren't being used. It keeps the game running smoothly because the server doesn't have to render things that aren't currently in play. Create a folder there called "Maps" and move your "MainMap" into it.
Finally, we need a way for the server to talk to the players. Go to ReplicatedStorage and create a StringValue. Name it "Status." This is going to be our messenger. It'll hold the text like "Intermission: 10" or "Game Starting!" that we'll eventually show on the players' screens.
The Heart of the Game: The Main Script
Now for the fun part. Go to ServerScriptService and create a new Script. You can name it "RoundHandler."
We're going to use a while true do loop. This is a bit of a classic in Roblox scripting. It tells the script to run forever, which is exactly what we want for a game that repeats rounds. But remember: always include a task.wait() in these loops, or you'll crash your Studio.
Inside this script, we need to define our variables. We'll need to reference the Status value we made earlier, the Maps folder in ServerStorage, and the Workspace.
lua local status = game.ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild("Status") local mapsFolder = game.ServerStorage:WaitForChild("Maps") local intermissionTime = 20 local roundLength = 60
This sets the stage. Now, we build the loop logic. The logic follows a simple pattern: Intermission -> Map Selection -> Teleport Players -> Game Timer -> Cleanup.
Step 1: The Intermission
The intermission is that chill time where players can buy items or chat. We want the "Status" value to count down. We'll use a for loop for this.
```lua while true do for i = intermissionTime, 1, -1 do status.Value = "Intermission: " .. i task.wait(1) end
status.Value = "Game Starting!" task.wait(2) -- This is where the magic happens next end ```
Using .. i is just a way to join the text "Intermission: " with the actual number. It's a simple trick but super effective.
Step 2: Picking and Loading a Map
If you have multiple maps, you want the game to pick one at random. Even if you only have one for now, it's good to write the code so it's ready for more later.
lua local maps = mapsFolder:GetChildren() local chosenMap = maps[math.random(1, #maps)]:Clone() chosenMap.Parent = game.Workspace status.Value = "Map Loaded: " .. chosenMap.Name task.wait(2)
By cloning the map from ServerStorage into the Workspace, we ensure that every round starts with a "fresh" version of the map. If players blow things up or move things around, it won't matter because the original stays safe in storage.
Step 3: Teleporting Players
This is usually where people get a little stuck, but it's not as scary as it looks. We need to find all the players currently in the game and move their characters to a specific spot on the map.
lua local players = game.Players:GetPlayers() for _, player in pairs(players) do local character = player.Character if character and character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart") then character.HumanoidRootPart.CFrame = chosenMap.SpawnPoint.CFrame + Vector3.new(0, 5, 0) end end
Wait, what's HumanoidRootPart? It's basically the invisible center of the player's character. By moving that, the whole player moves. We add a little bit of height (Vector3.new(0, 5, 0)) so they don't get stuck in the floor. Nobody likes getting stuck in the floor.
Running the Round
Now that everyone is on the map, we need to run the actual game timer. This looks a lot like the intermission timer, but it's for the round duration.
```lua for i = roundLength, 1, -1 do status.Value = "Time Left: " .. i task.wait(1)
-- You could add a check here to see if everyone died -- If only one person is left, you could break the loop early! end
status.Value = "Round Over!" task.wait(3) ```
This is where you can get creative. If you were making a "last man standing" game, you wouldn't just wait for the timer to hit zero. You'd check how many players are still alive every second. But for a basic round system, a simple countdown works perfectly.
Cleaning Up the Mess
Once the round is over, we need to put everyone back in the lobby and delete the map. If we don't delete the map, they'll just pile up in the Workspace until the server starts lagging like crazy.
```lua for _, player in pairs(game.Players:GetPlayers()) do player:LoadCharacter() -- This is a quick way to respawn them at the lobby end
chosenMap:Destroy() ```
Using player:LoadCharacter() is a bit of a "cheat code" way to reset players. It kills their current character and respawns them at the default spawn point (your lobby). It's clean, it's easy, and it heals them back to full health for the next round.
Showing the Timer to Players (The UI)
All this logic is happening on the server, but the players can't see the "Status" value yet. We need to create a simple GUI to display it.
- Go to StarterGui and add a ScreenGui.
- Add a TextLabel inside it. Style it however you want—make it big, bold, and maybe stick it at the top of the screen.
- Add a LocalScript inside that TextLabel.
Inside the LocalScript, we just need to watch that "Status" value in ReplicatedStorage and update the text whenever it changes.
```lua local status = game.ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild("Status") local label = script.Parent
status.Changed:Connect(function() label.Text = status.Value end)
-- Initialize the text label.Text = status.Value ```
Now, every time the server updates status.Value, every single player's screen will update instantly. It's simple, efficient, and doesn't require a bunch of complicated events.
Why This System Works
When you're figuring out how to make a round system in roblox studio, it's easy to get overwhelmed by complex modules and advanced scripting patterns. But the reason this specific method is so good for beginners (and even pros) is its modularity.
You can easily swap out the "Teleport" logic for a "Team Sort" logic. You can change the "Cleanup" phase to award players points or currency. Because everything is tucked inside that one while true do loop, you have a clear timeline of your game's life cycle.
Pro Tips for Your Round System
Once you've got the basics down, you might want to add some polish. Here are a few things I've learned the hard way:
- Minimum Player Check: You don't want a round starting if there's only one person (unless it's a solo game). Add an
if #game.Players:GetPlayers() < 2 thencheck at the start of your loop to make the script wait until more people join. - Handling Leavers: If a player leaves during a round, the script might error if it's trying to do something with that player's character. Always use
if player.Character thenchecks before moving people around. - Map Diversity: Instead of just one SpawnPoint, put a folder of parts in your map called "Spawns." Then, when teleporting, pick a random one for each player so they don't all spawn inside each other's heads.
Building a game is all about iteration. Don't worry if your first round system feels a little clunky. The more you play with the timers and the teleportation logic, the more natural it will feel. Honestly, the best part of Roblox development is seeing that timer hit zero and watching your friends get teleported into the map you built for the first time.
Keep experimenting, keep breaking things (and fixing them), and you'll have a professional-level game loop in no time. Happy developing!