NOTE

Pre-warning, i’m not a reverse engineer, or a security expert, so this is just my perspective - if you find that something is wrong, please reach out to me on Discord, or though my GitHub!

Hey, so this topic’s been rattling around in my brain for a while—so, here I am, writing about it. My headspace, my thoughts, and hopefully, a perspective that’ll help other developers understand the nitty-gritty of Roblox security a bit better.

Either that, or I’ll be yapping incoherently, making zero sense, and rambling about why writing paranoid code is strangely fun.

Roblox, and it’s history with hackers!#

Let’s dive into this little gem of a history lesson, shall we? First things first: Roblox didn’t always have Remote Events or Remote Functions. Nope, back in the day, any client could modify the environment for everyone else.

And oh boy, what a disaster it was. If a cheater didn’t like someone in their server, they could just… kick them out. That’s right. Roblox actually let them do it. Welcome to the dark ages, folks.

In Roblox, we call this Replication, where both the client and server shared the same level of authority over the environment.

(If you’re into nostalgia or just want to geek out more, check this out: Replication Filtering)

NOTE

There was a feature called FilteringEnabled (introduced in 2012!) you could toggle on, but it was defaulted to off. So yeah, most Roblox experiences back then lacked the secure client <-> server communication we take for granted in 2024!

The history of Filtering Enabled#

Let’s rewind to 2012, when Roblox introduced a nifty little feature called Filtering Enabled. Its job? To split the authority between the client and the server. When turned on, any replication changes made by the client would be filtered by the server.

Fast forward to 2018, and Roblox took a bold step: Filtering Enabled became mandatory. This meant that all new experiences on the platform automatically had client-side replications filtered out.

While this was a giant leap forward for Roblox security, it was a big step back in the learning curve for developers. Suddenly, creators had to figure out how to write code that worked both on the server and the client, all while learning how to make them talk to each other using Remote Events and Remote Functions.

So, where do hackers play a part in all of this?#

Before Filtering Enabled, the client wasn’t just modifying itself—it could actually modify the server. Don’t just take my word for it; here’s a peek at what that chaos looked like:

To break it down quickly: in the video above, the hacker uses a common tool called an injector (we’ll dig into this more later) to inject a DLL into the Roblox process.

What’s the DLL doing? Essentially, it’s manipulating the Roblox process, giving the client the power to make changes to the game. In this case, the hacker had access to a whole menu of commands—think of it like a cheat panel.

Using these commands, the hacker could directly modify the properties of objects within the game’s data model. Annnd because Filtering Enabled wasn’t turned on, those changes were replicated straight to the server.. total anarchy!

Well, it gets worse..#

I can’t quite recall what the very first cheats were, but one that sticks in my mind is RC7. Back when I joined Roblox in 2014, RC7 was gaining serious popularity—and boy, was it more than just a collection of commands. Let me explain.

RC7 wasn’t just a cheat menu; it was a tool that let hackers run code inside Roblox. Yes, you read that right: code. A hacker could write a script in Lua—maybe even whip it up in Studio—and then use RC7 to execute that script on the client, in any game they wanted. And that, my friends, is where things got really dangerous.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it—check out this video of RC7 in action:

For me, at least, this marked the start of a new era of hacking. The word “hacker” was replaced with “exploiter”, as the lines blurred. The people writing these scripts weren’t hacking in the traditional sense; they were leveraging software like RC7 that hacked Roblox for them. From there, it was all about using it to cheat.

And well, to round up the history books.#

Exploits kept popping up, the community kept growing, and the library of scripts just kept piling up. With this arsenal, anyone armed with an exploit that could run Lua suddenly had the power to cheat—and do pretty much anything they wanted in the engine.

Fast forward to today, and we’re still seeing this same pattern. Modern hacking software often supports Luau (a flavour of Lua), making it easy for exploiters to manipulate experiences. These tools are then released to a growing community, where people use them in creative ways to mess with games.

And it’s not hard to get started. A simple search for “Robloxscripts”will probably give you exactly what you’re looking for. Exploiting on Roblox is absurdly easy—all you need is an executor and a script someone else on the internet whipped up. Feeling bold? You can even write your own script! (please do not!) These executors come with a special runtime that let exploiters run code at a higher identity level than a developer’s code. Yes, you read that right.

This brings me to a mantra you’ll hear a lot: Never trust the client. You never know if it’s your code—or theirs.

Going to run through a range of different points..#

So, funny story—I actually made a list before I started writing all this. Naturally, I ignored it until now. But hey, better late than never, right? Below, I’ll walk you through that list. Hopefully, it’ll give you a clearer picture of this topic and help tie everything together.

Roblox is one application, for millions of experiences.#

This is a big one, and honestly, it doesn’t get talked about enough. Hackers only need to exploit one client—the Roblox client—and they instantly gain access to millions of experiences and, by extension, millions of players.

Think about it: if someone successfully hacks the Roblox client (and let’s be real, humans are ridiculously resourceful when they put their minds to something), then no individual game is safe.

This is why there’s so much value in exploiting Roblox. It’s like hacking Steam and suddenly being able to cheat in every game on the platform. That’s why developers can’t just sit back and hope Roblox will magically fix everything. They’re up against an overwhelming tide of exploiters—and while Roblox does a commendable job, it’s not a battle they can win alone.

The takeaway? Never rely entirely on Roblox to solve your security woes.

The bar for hacking isn’t Cheat Engine or speed hacks—It’s Luau#

As developers, we write our code in Luau. Everything we create for Roblox is either wrapped in Luau or is straight-up Luau. But my point is.. hackers use Luau too. They write their scripts in the same language we use, and those scripts run in a similar environment as ours. (Okay, technically not the exact same runtime, but I’m not a cheat developer, so let’s not dive too deep into that rabbit hole.)

The scary part? Any code you write as a developer can be taken, dropped into these executors, and run inside their custom runtime. That’s why exploiting Roblox games can feel so effortless—hackers can literally write or copy code in Studio and then execute it in their exploit tool.

I don’t know of any other platform where cheats let you run your own scripts directly within the engine. But on Roblox? That’s exactly what hackers are doing.

The server is your saving grace#

The server is the only part of your Roblox experience that’s safe from exploiters. Why? Because as of 2018, the server is in charge of deciding what gets replicated and what doesn’t. This means security ultimately falls into the hands of the developer.

Specifically, anything stored in ServerScriptService or ServerStorage is completely safe from the client. Roblox doesn’t replicate these instances to the client—it’s strictly a server-side thing.

What does this mean for you? It’s up to you, the developer, to handle client input properly. And remember, the client firing your remote calls may not even be your code! You need to validate every piece of data coming from the client and set up constraints on the server that prevent malicious actions.

In short: trust the server, not the client—and make sure your server is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to security.

TIP

instances are not safe from the client! Once I came across a framework which used instances to replicate state… ClaimCoinEvent:Fire(CoinModel), this was not good.. let me dive into why..

the server code was specifically doing this:

ClaimCoinEvenet.OnClientEvent:Connect(function(player: Player, CoinModel: Model)
	local reward = CoinModel.Reward.Value

	player.leaderstats.Coins.Value += reward
end)

and so, how could someone exploit this? Well - don’t send an instance:

ClaimCoinEvent:FireServer({ Reward = { Value = 99999... } })

And with that, the client can get infinite money… ehh.. not ideal, which is why we should always validate the data we receive from the client!

Well, all is not lost.. meet networking frameworks#

I like to call these networking frameworks because they provide a structure for handling networking. In reality, though, they’re more like IDL (Interface Definition Language) compilers that translate some constructs of a language into Luau.

At the time of writing, I’m aware of two standout examples: Blink, and Zap. Both are phenomenal tools, and I’d highly recommend checking them out. But let’s dive into how they add a layer of security.

These frameworks work by optimizing the data sent over the network. They do this by implementing their own serialization and deserialization of Roblox data types and constructs. The result? A serialized format that isn’t human-readable—which is actually a great thing!

Here’s why: imagine a hacker intercepting the data you’re sending to the server. If your data is serialized in a way they can’t easily decode—unless they’re running as the server or reverse-engineering the library—it creates a massive headache for them. And honestly? Hackers don’t love headaches.

Of course, you can’t completely stop hackers from getting into your game or figuring things out. But you can make it significantly harder for them, which helps weed out the 70% of hackers who aren’t programmers at all. Sometimes, making life difficult for exploiters is half the battle.

Lets go even more abstract: The client is not to be trusted#

Here’s a wild thought experiment: imagine the client connected to your Roblox server isn’t actually a Roblox Player. Instead, some mad genius has created their own custom client that successfully connects to the Roblox server. Sounds far-fetched? Maybe. But is it impossible? Absolutely not.

This is the mindset you need to adopt: the client is not a player. Think of it as a command line, someone trying to manipulate your game - do not give them the keys to the castle.

Verify everything the client sends, because you don’t actually know what—or who—is on the other end. Is it a real player? A bot? A rogue terminal perfectly interfacing with Roblox servers? You have no way of knowing.

Sure, this scenario might sound like an impssible edge case, but it’s a useful perspective to have. The takeaway? Never trust the client. Always validate, always double-check, and always design with the assumption that the client might not be what it seems.

Let me introduce you to.. the dark side of Roblox#

Alright, so with a thriving community of hackers lurking behind the scenes of Roblox, where’s their HQ? Surely there’s a forum or central hub, right?

The honest answer? I’m not entirely sure. I imagine there are a bunch of Discord servers that get deleted and then re-created every other week. But one place I was keenly aware of a few years ago was V3rmillion.

To my understanding, V3rmillion was the hacker forums for Roblox. If you wanted to exploit a game, you could make a request there, and someone would probably do it for you. Want to understand Roblox’s anticheat or dip your toes into reverse engineering? That was the place to go.

Now, while hackers are obviously a problem, I have to say—it’s hard not to acknowledge the sheer talent in that community. I’ve seen some mind-blowing stuff and honestly wondered, why are these people spending their time hacking Roblox when they’re this smart? (sorry, i’m a dev but I have to appreciate the talent when I see it)

Around ~2023, V3rmillion shut down. I’ve got no clue why, but it happened around the same time that Synapse X joined forces with Roblox. Recently, I checked back out of curiosity and noticed it’s up and running again. My guess? Someone else picked up the torch and is now running the forum.

Place copying#

Ah, place copying—a problem that has plagued the Roblox platform for years. While there are ways to mitigate it, it’s pretty much impossible to stop entirely. Let me break it down for you:

Imagine you’re a small creator, maybe a builder showcasing your assets to the world. A few weeks later, you spot those very same assets in the Roblox marketplace, used in other games, and you’re left scratching your head. How did this happen?

Well, much like “asset ripping” in games outside Roblox, hackers on the platform can do something called place copying. They iterate through every object in your game, serialize it into XML, and then convert that into an .rbxlx file. This file can be opened in Roblox Studio, giving them access to a studio-compatible version of your game’s assets.

And here’s the problem: your code isn’t safe either. Exploits can be used to dump the Luau bytecode (the format Roblox sends to the client). This bytecode can then be decompiled into a human-readable format, allowing hackers to understand your code.

The result? Hackers can potentially create a fully functional client-side version of your game. (Well, “fully functional” might be a stretch since they don’t have your server-side code—but still, it’s a problem!)

Well, your game is safe as long as you protect the server, right?#

I wish I could say yes, but there’s another attack vector that’s been around for a while: server-side exploits. And let me tell you, these are the nastiest of them all.

So, how does this happen? Is there some secret Roblox backdoor? Nope, thankfully not. But hackers have found a sneaky workaround—they flood the Roblox Marketplace with semi-functional assets that come bundled with hidden scripts.

Here’s how it works: you download a free model or asset, maybe thinking it’ll save you some time, or look good in your experience. You open the script to check - the script looks fine at first glance, but buried deep inside could be something like a suspicious require(number) statement…

What happens next? These scripts often ping a Discord webhook, alerting the hacker that their malicious code is running in your game. Once they know their script has infiltrated your server, they can access it using a whitelist system, effectively giving them a console to execute server-side commands. Yikes.

The lesson here is simple but critical: BE CAREFUL WHEN USING FREE MODELS FROM THE MARKETPLACE! Roblox warns you with the “This model has scripts 🤓” notification for a reason. Always inspect what you’re importing—blind trust is not worth the risk.

And if one of these server-side exploits ends up in your game, a hacker could use it to create something obscene or inappropriate. They could then report your game, leading Roblox moderators to take it down—or worse, suspend your account entirely. So, yeah, this isn’t something to take lightly.

The vacuum that is Roblox Characters#

Roblox characters are… interesting. They’re client-authoritative, which is great for user experience (UX)—when you move, you move instantly, making everything feel responsive and smooth. But here’s the problem.. the server doesn’t validate these movements to ensure they’re safe. And that’s where problems start creeping in.

Speed hacks#

Speed hacks exist because hackers can simply set their Humanoid.WalkSpeed to something absurd—like 1000. While this property isn’t replicated to the server, the speed at which the character moves is. And fixing this isn’t as straightforward as it seems.

Why? Because there are plenty of legitimate scenarios where a character might move unusually fast:

• Falling from a height.
• Being pushed by another force.
• Sitting on seat (which can teleport you).
• Using a ragdoll system that messes with physics.

All of these could easily trigger false positives in an anti-cheat system. And since clients control their character physics, they can make themselves move faster, fly, or even spin like a Beyblade if they want.

Spinning players suck!#

Let’s talk about spinning players—and why they’re the worst. If a player spins ridiculously fast and collides with another player, Roblox’s physics engine tends to freak out, launching the unfortunate victim into oblivion. Not ideal.

Worse still, this kind of interaction could false-flag the victim as a cheater, which opens up a whole new can of worms (as you’ll read below).

One way to counter this chaos is by disabling player-to-player collision, which can help mitigate the problem. That said, server-side fixes for these issues exist, but they’re far from perfect solutions.

A semi competent understanding on how these exploits work#

I just wanted to dive into my understanding of what these exploits do, and how they generally work - it’s likely the the majority of this is wrong, but this is how I understand them:

The layers of an exploit#

An exploit typically consists of three parts: the Injector, DLL, and the Application. Let’s break these down:

• Injector: The injector’s job is to locate the Roblox process and inject the DLL into it. This usually involves finding the memory address of the RobloxPlayerBeta.exe, creating a new thread in that process and somehow getting the DLL to run within said thread.

• DLL: The DLL is the core of the exploit—it’s the part that does the dirty work. Once injected into the Roblox process, the injector starts to tamper with critical parts of the process, such as the script context or data model. Once initialized, the DLL sets up a communication channel that allows the third component, the application, to interact with it.

• Application: This is the fancy UI that exploiters use to control the injected DLL. When a user performs an action in the application—like pressing a button to execute a script—the application sends a message to the DLL, instructing it to perform the requested task.

The Inner workings of the DLL#

So, I had to double-check my understanding of this. To do that I used a list of open source exploits, as well as reverse engineering some of the exploit libraries made by the community.

• Instantiates the IPC, the first step in the DLL’s lifecycle is to instantiate some sort of IPC so that the DLL can communicate back and fourth with the application. This is typically done through a named pipe
• Listens to said IPC, the DLL then listens to the IPC for messages from the application. These messages can be a range of things, but to list two - it can be used to send commands to the DLL to execute a script, or to receive data from the Roblox Process.

Example of a script execution#

Once the DLL receives a message from the application to execute a script, it does the following:

• Wrapping Luau, typically the DLL will wrap the contents/source code that the exploiter is wanting to execute into a function - then do things outside of the scope of that function..
  • This is done to potentially modify the environment, as well as spawn a new thread for each script that’s being executed.
• Compiling Luau, the DLL will compile the luau script into bytecode format, this is most likely done using the OSS Luau compiler itself as there’s no valid reason to implement one by hand.
• Modifies the behaviour of the Luau VM, the DLL will then modify the behaviour of the Luau VM to allow for the execution of code outside of the engine.
• Uses the now vulnerable VM to load the bytecode, the DLL will then use the modified VM load the bytecode into the applications memory (this is then pushed onto the Luau stack)
• Calls task.defer, the DLL will then call task.defer to execute the script.
• Resets the Luau stack, to avoid corrupting the stack, the DLL will reset the stack to its original state.

Now, don’t take my word for it—I’m not a professional reverse engineer, just a hobbyist. But this is how I understand it - it could be wrong!

Punishments should depend on how bad the exploit is..#

If you’re speed hacking, as we mentioned above, it’s not necessarily a big deal. The player shouldn’t be banned outright because there are many legitimate reasons why they could have been flagged—like falling, being pushed, or interacting with certain game mechanics.

But if it’s something like firing a honeypot remote—a trap designed to detect malicious intent—that’s a different story. A honeypot remote is impossible for a legitimate user to fire accidentally, so if it’s triggered, that’s a 100% indicator of foul play.

You could pair this detection with a weighted system. For example:

• If a player triggers one suspicious event (like speed hacking), you could just log it.
• If they trigger the same exploit multiple times consecutively—say, 10 times—you can escalate the response. Maybe start by respawning them, slowing their character, or applying another form of non-intrusive punishment.

By gradually increasing the severity of the response based on repeated behavior, you ensure that you’re confident in the detection before taking harsher actions. This method avoids punishing innocent players while making it harder for exploiters to continue their antics undetected.

Well.. this is why I think banning hackers isn’t the answer..#

Let me start by saying I’m not against banning hackers—it’s definitely a good thing. But in my opinion, it’s not the solution. For games I’ve poured time and effort into, I usually implement systems that let me detect when someone is cheating. But instead of banning them outright, I just slap a flag on their account.

And here’s where things get fun: with that flag, you can get really creative.

• In an FPS game, you could make it ridiculously hard for them to aim. Maybe the gun has an insane spray pattern or fires blanks half the time.
• In an obby, why not fling them randomly or disable their ability to jump?
• In a leaderboard-based game, let them see themselves at the top of the leaderboard… but make sure no one else does! 😂

See where I’m going with this? The idea is to waste the hacker’s time. They’ll have no clue they’ve been caught; instead, they’ll just notice weird, frustrating problems cropping up. And the best part? They’ll probably blame their exploit! 😂

The point is, I find this kind of punishment far more effective than a simple ban. Why? Because bans are easy to bypass with alt accounts. Instead, make their lives hell. Confuse them. Cause them headaches. The ultimate goal is to deter them—and while it’s true there’s no perfect solution to hacking, this approach can at least make it less appealing.

But don’t let this deter you from creating an awesome experience..#

I’m not saying you can’t create amazing experiences on Roblox—it’s absolutely possible! It’s just a little trickier to make them secure. Let me explain with an example: cookie clickers, one of the easiest types of games to exploit. In fact, you don’t even need fancy hacking software or executors to mess with one.

To make a feature secure, it needs to be server-authoritative. But how do you achieve that in a cookie clicker without making the game feel laggy due to network delays?

You fake it!

Here’s how it works:

• When a player clicks, send a request to the server to increase the cookie count.
• The client then updates it’s UI to show the new local cookie count
• The server validates the request—if it detects something fishy, like an impossible click speed, it simply drops the request.
• The server then sends back the true cookie count to the client, ensuring everything stays accurate and secure.
• The client then updates its UI to show the new server cookie count.

From the client’s perspective, you can show the cookie count increasing immediately with each click to maintain a responsive feel. Once the server confirms the actual count, the client updates to reflect the correct value. This approach makes the game feel snappy while still being secure. (Click -> cookie count goes up -> server validates -> client updates to match.)

The key takeaway? It’s entirely possible to make your game feel great while keeping it secure—you just might need to think outside the box.

Please, read this if you’re a Roblox developer#

Think of an exploiter as a Local Script. This Local Script has the power to make any API call—yes, even the ones you’re not allowed to run. Your job? Make sure this script can’t wreak total havoc in your game.

Now, imagine this Local Script comes with special globals, giving it ways to access your scripts. It can modify your variables, call your functions, and even mess with your code—even if your logic is tucked away inside regular scripts instead of modules.

Here’s the truth: there’s no surefire solution to hackers. But there are always ways to mitigate the damage they can cause. Stay vigilant, validate everything, and design with security in mind.