How to make a leaderboard in Roblox Studio easily

Learning how to make a leaderboard in Roblox Studio is one of the first big milestones for any new developer because it instantly makes your game feel more professional. Whether you want to track gold, kills, or "cookies eaten," the leaderboard (technically called leaderstats) is the standard way to show players where they stand compared to everyone else in the server.

It might look intimidating if you've never touched a line of code, but the process is actually pretty straightforward once you understand how Roblox handles player data. You don't need to build a complex UI from scratch; Roblox has a built-in system that automatically displays a list in the top-right corner of the screen as long as you follow a few specific naming rules.

Setting Up Your First Leaderboard Script

To get started, you'll need to open your game in Roblox Studio and head over to the Explorer window. If you don't see it, go to the "View" tab at the top and click "Explorer" and "Properties."

Everything regarding your leaderboard needs to happen on the server, so we're going to place our script in ServerScriptService. Right-click that folder, hover over "Insert Object," and select Script. You can name this script something like "LeaderboardHandler" so you don't get confused later.

Once you open the script, delete the default "Hello World" line. We're going to write a function that runs every single time a player joins the game. Here's what that looks like in its simplest form:

```lua game.Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player) local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder") leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats" leaderstats.Parent = player

local points = Instance.new("IntValue") points.Name = "Points" points.Value = 0 points.Parent = leaderstats

end) ```

Why "leaderstats" Matters

One thing that trips up almost everyone when they're first learning how to make a leaderboard in Roblox Studio is the spelling of "leaderstats." It must be all lowercase. If you capitalize the "L" or add a space, Roblox won't recognize it as the special folder that triggers the UI, and your leaderboard simply won't show up.

In the code above, we're creating a folder inside the player object. Roblox looks for a folder specifically named "leaderstats" inside a player to decide what to show on the screen. Inside that folder, we added an IntValue, which is just a fancy way of saying "a whole number."

Adding More Stats to Your Board

Once you've got one stat working, adding more is as easy as copy-pasting a few lines. Most games have at least two stats—maybe "Level" and "Gold" or "Kills" and "Deaths."

To add another column to your leaderboard, you just create another value object inside that same leaderstats folder. For example, if you wanted to add "Cash" alongside your points, you'd modify your script to look like this:

```lua game.Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player) local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder") leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats" leaderstats.Parent = player

local points = Instance.new("IntValue") points.Name = "Points" points.Value = 0 points.Parent = leaderstats local cash = Instance.new("IntValue") cash.Name = "Cash" cash.Value = 100 -- Starting money cash.Parent = leaderstats

end) ```

The order in which you create these in the script is generally the order they'll appear from left to right on the leaderboard. If you want "Cash" to be the first thing people see, create that object first in the script.

Making Your Stats Save (Data Stores)

Now, here's the part where things get a bit more "real." If you stop now, your players will lose all their progress every time they leave the game or the server restarts. That's a great way to make sure nobody ever comes back to your game! To fix this, we need to use DataStoreService.

Saving data is a bit more complex, but it's a vital part of knowing how to make a leaderboard in Roblox Studio that actually works for a long-term game. You'll need to "Publish" your game to Roblox first (File > Publish to Roblox) to enable API access.

Here is a basic way to incorporate saving:

  1. Get the Service: You need to call game:GetService("DataStoreService") at the very top of your script.
  2. Save on Leave: Use the Players.PlayerRemoving event to save the player's current values.
  3. Load on Join: Inside your PlayerAdded function, check if the player has any saved data and apply it to their leaderstats values.

Don't forget to go into your Game Settings in Roblox Studio, click on "Security," and toggle on "Allow HTTP Requests" and "Enable Studio Access to API Services." If you don't do this, your saving script will throw errors every time it tries to talk to the Roblox servers.

Common Mistakes to Watch Out For

Even experienced devs mess up leaderboards sometimes. If your board isn't showing up, check these common culprits:

  • Script Type: Make sure you're using a regular Script, not a LocalScript. LocalScripts run on the player's computer, but leaderstats need to be handled by the server so everyone can see them.
  • Parenting: Make sure the leaderstats folder is parented to the player and the values (Points, Cash, etc.) are parented to the leaderstats folder. If you parent the values directly to the player, they won't show up on the board.
  • Value Types: If you're trying to display a name or a rank (like "VIP"), use a StringValue instead of an IntValue. If you're using decimals (like "Time Played: 10.5 hours"), use a NumberValue.

Testing Your Leaderboard

The best way to see if you've mastered how to make a leaderboard in Roblox Studio is to hit the big blue Play button. Once you're in the game, look at the top right. You should see your name and the stats you created.

If you want to test if the numbers actually change, you can open the Command Bar (View > Command Bar) while the game is running and type something like: game.Players.YourNameGoesHere.leaderstats.Points.Value = 500

If the number on the screen jumps to 500 instantly, you've done it! You now have a working, functional leaderboard.

Why Leaderboards are Great for Player Retention

It might seem like a small detail, but leaderboards tap into a basic human instinct: competition. When a player sees that someone else has 10,000 points while they only have 10, they have a reason to keep playing.

You can even take this further later on by creating a "Global Leaderboard" (a physical part in your game world that shows the top players of all time), but the foundation for that is exactly what we just covered. Once you're comfortable with the leaderstats folder, you've unlocked the ability to track almost anything in your game.

It's a simple tool, but it's the backbone of almost every popular simulator, tycoon, and RPG on the platform. Now that you know how to get it running, you can focus on the fun part—actually making a game where those points are worth earning!