If you're looking to build a roblox studio round system script, you're probably realizing that almost every popular game on the platform—from Murder Mystery 2 to Pet Simulator—relies on a solid game loop. It's the engine under the hood that tells the game when to start, when to teleport players, and when to reset everything so the fun can start all over again. Without a reliable script handling these transitions, your game is basically just a static hangout spot rather than an actual "game."
Building one of these from scratch can feel a bit daunting if you're new to Luau, but once you break it down into chunks, it's actually pretty logical. You're essentially just managing a cycle: waiting for players, starting a timer, moving people to the arena, and then cleaning up the mess afterward. Let's get into how you can set this up without pulling your hair out.
The Logic Behind the Loop
Before we even touch the code, we have to think about what a "round" actually is. In most cases, it follows a very specific sequence. First, you have the Intermission. This is where everyone hangs out in the lobby, maybe buys some skins, and waits for the timer to hit zero.
Once that timer ends, the game enters the Starting phase. This is when the script checks if there are enough players to actually play. If there's only one person, you probably don't want the match to start (unless it's a single-player game). After that, we hit the Active Round phase—players are teleported to the map, a game timer starts, and the script monitors if everyone has died or if someone has won. Finally, we have the Cleanup/End phase where everyone goes back to the lobby and the map resets.
Setting Up Your Workspace
Before you start writing your roblox studio round system script, you need to organize your Explorer window. If your scripts are messy, debugging is going to be a nightmare later on.
I usually recommend creating a few Folders in the Workspace: 1. Lobby: Put a Part here named "LobbySpawn" where players should hang out between rounds. 2. Map: This is where the actual gameplay happens. You might even want to put your maps in ServerStorage so you can load and unload them to keep the game from lagging. 3. Spawns: Inside your map folder, place several Parts where players will be teleported when the round starts.
In ReplicatedStorage, you'll want to create a few StringValues or IntValues. These are super important because they allow the server script to communicate with the players' screens (the UI). Name one "Status" and another "Timer." This way, you can easily show everyone how many seconds are left in the intermission.
Writing the Main Script
You'll want to place a Script (not a LocalScript!) inside ServerScriptService. This is the brain of your game. It needs to run on the server so that everyone sees the same timer and stays synced up.
The easiest way to handle a round system is with a while true do loop. This tells Roblox to just keep running the code inside forever. Inside that loop, you'll use a for loop to handle the countdown. For example, if your intermission is 20 seconds, your code will count down from 20 to 0, updating that "Status" value we put in ReplicatedStorage every second.
lua -- A quick example of how that countdown might look for i = 20, 0, -1 do Status.Value = "Intermission: " .. i .. " seconds" task.wait(1) end
Using task.wait(1) is generally better than the old wait(1) because it's more precise and plays nicer with the Roblox task scheduler. Once that loop finishes, you move on to the teleportation logic.
Teleporting Players to the Map
This is the part where things get exciting. You need to gather all the players currently in the game and move their characters to the map. You can do this by using game.Players:GetPlayers().
Loop through that list of players, check if their character exists (you don't want to teleport a ghost!), and then use PivotTo() or SetPrimaryPartCFrame() to move them to one of those spawn parts you made earlier. Pro tip: it's a good idea to keep a list of "InGame" players in a table. This makes it way easier to track when the round should end. If a player dies or leaves, you just remove them from that table. When the table is empty, the round is over!
Managing the Game State
While the round is active, your roblox studio round system script needs to be "watching." You don't want the round to last forever. You'll usually have a second for loop for the actual game duration—say, 120 seconds for a 2-minute match.
During this time, the script should constantly check two things: 1. Is the timer at zero? 2. Is there more than one player (or team) left?
If either of those conditions is met, you break out of the loop and declare a winner. This is where you'd use a "Winner" variable to give someone points or just announce their name in the Status UI. It adds that competitive layer that keeps people coming back.
Handling UI and Client Communication
Even the best round system will feel broken if the players don't know what's happening. Since your main script is on the server, you need a LocalScript inside a ScreenGui to display the timer.
Instead of trying to pass data back and forth with complex events, just have the LocalScript watch that "Status" value we created in ReplicatedStorage. You can use the .Changed event to update a text label whenever the server changes the string. It's simple, efficient, and rarely breaks.
Cleaning Up and Resetting
One of the most common mistakes new devs make is forgetting the cleanup phase. If your game involves destroying walls, moving parts, or players dropping items, you need to reset the map for the next round.
The cleanest way to do this is to have your map stored as a Model in ServerStorage. At the start of the round, you Clone() the map into the Workspace. When the round ends, you simply Destroy() that clone. This ensures that every single round starts with a perfectly fresh map, no matter how much chaos happened in the previous match.
Dealing with Edge Cases
When you're writing a roblox studio round system script, you have to expect the unexpected. What if everyone leaves the game right as the round starts? What if a player resets their character during the intermission?
You should add checks to ensure there are at least two players before the "Game" phase starts. If there aren't enough people, just reset the intermission timer and wait. Also, make sure to use a PlayerRemoving connection. If the last person in a round leaves the game, your script might get "stuck" waiting for a winner that isn't there anymore. Adding a check for if #playersInGame == 0 then break end inside your game loop is a lifesaver.
Final Thoughts on Customization
The cool thing about a round system is how much you can tweak it once the foundation is there. You could add a voting system where players choose the map during the intermission. You could add "Overtime" if the score is tied. You could even trigger special events, like a "Boss Spawn," halfway through the timer.
Don't feel like you have to get it perfect on the first try. Start with a simple loop that counts down and teleports people. Once you've got that working, start layering in the extra features. Roblox development is all about iteration. Just keep testing, keep breaking things, and eventually, you'll have a professional-grade game loop that keeps your players engaged for hours. Happy scripting!