Roblox is turning age verification from an optional extra into a core requirement for using chat. The company is rolling out a system that uses either a selfie-based age estimate or a government ID check to decide who you can talk to, which features you can use, and which age group you’re placed in.
The goal is straightforward – stop children from chatting with unknown adults and keep communication within narrow age bands. The way Roblox gets there is more complex – and for many players, more intrusive – than simply asking for a birthdate.
How Roblox’s new age checks fit together
Roblox now uses three related mechanisms:
| Mechanism | What it does | Who can use it | Primary use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facial age estimation | Estimates age from a short camera capture (images/video) | Users 13 and older | Assigns you to an age group, unlocks chat and some features |
| ID verification | Confirms birthday from a government-issued photo ID | Users 13 and older | Corrects age, unlocks stricter-gated features like Party Voice and Trusted Connections |
| Parental consent | Lets a parent approve certain actions for a child account | Parents/guardians of linked child accounts | Enables some chat for younger users and adjusts birthday if needed |
Historically, age checks were mainly tied to high-risk features like Party Voice or unfiltered chat with Trusted Connections. Roblox is now extending this to general chat: if you want to message other users, you must pass an age check using either facial age estimation or ID verification.
Why Roblox is making chat age-verified
Roblox hosts tens of millions of daily players across children, teens, and adults. That mix has repeatedly raised concerns about grooming, inappropriate content, and minors talking to unknown adults. Regulators in multiple countries are also pushing platforms toward more concrete proof of age.
The platform already:
- Blocks private messaging outside games for users under 13, unless a parent explicitly allows it
- Monitors all text and voice chat instead of encrypting it
- Filters chat more aggressively for younger users, especially under 13
- Prohibits image and video sharing in chat and heavily restricts external links
What’s changing now is that Roblox no longer relies on self-reported age to decide who counts as a child or adult in chat. Instead, it uses an “age check” to put you into an age range and then restricts who you can talk to based on that range.
Age groups and who can chat with whom
Once your age is checked, Roblox assigns you to a banded age group:
| Age group label | Approximate range | Chat rules (high level) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 9 | Below 9 | Experience chat is off by default; can be enabled only with parental consent. No regular private chat. |
| 9–12 | Pre-teens | Can chat with younger users and peers in their band; no direct chat with older teens or adults. |
| 13–15 | Early teens | Experience chat with users roughly up to mid-teens; adults and much older teens cannot freely initiate chat. |
| 16–17 | Older teens | Can talk to other older teens and young adults; more distance from pre-teens and early teens. |
| 18–20 | Young adults | Grouped largely with older teens and adults; restricted from chatting with children. |
| 21+ | Adults | Chat with other adults and older teens where allowed; blocked from initiating chat with young minors. |
Examples shared by Roblox illustrate the boundaries:
- A user estimated around 12 can chat with users up to 15 in an experience, but anyone 16 or older cannot start or engage in chat with them.
- A user estimated at 18 can chat with others 16 and up and can connect with a younger sibling, as long as that sibling is at least 13 and added as a Trusted Connection.
Under-13 users remain barred from private messages and some chats, unless parents specifically grant permission. For under-9s, chat inside experiences is disabled by default and only turned on if a parent consents after an age check.
How facial age estimation works on Roblox
Facial age estimation is the fastest way to complete an age check and is done fully inside the Roblox app using your device’s camera. The process is:
- The app asks for camera access and guides you through capturing your face, usually as a short video or a sequence of images.
- Those images are analyzed to estimate your age from facial features.
- The estimated age is used to place your account into one of the platform’s age groups.
Roblox says images and video used for facial age estimation are processed by an external vendor and deleted immediately after processing. The vendor also powers ID-based checks and is meant to flag potential fraud or abuse, such as attempts to reuse the same face across multiple accounts.
The estimation is tuned most closely for roughly ages five to 25, with claims that it usually lands within one to two years of a person’s actual age. Still, there is a wide range of real-world feedback: some adults with “baby faces” are being placed into teen groups, while some teenagers are occasionally recognized as adults. In those edge cases, Roblox points users to ID verification as the fallback.
Note: facial age estimation and ID verification are only made available to users 13 and older. Younger users cannot independently complete an age check; they rely on parental approval flows tied to their account.
How ID verification works for Roblox
ID verification is more rigid but also more precise than a selfie estimate. It uses a government-issued photo ID to confirm your birthday and lock your status as age-verified.
To start ID verification:
- Log in to your Roblox account.
- Open
Settings(gear icon in a browser, three dots “More” menu in mobile apps) and go to theAccount Infotab. - Under your birthday and age group, select the
Continue with IDbutton, which opens the verification flow.
From there, Roblox directs you through a camera-based capture process handled by its verification provider:
- Allow camera access when prompted.
- Scan the front of a supported government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, passport, or residency card. If the document has a barcode, you may be asked to scan the back as well.
- Take a selfie so the system can match your face to the photo on the ID and confirm it’s really yours.
- Return to Roblox and watch for the real-time status; a “pass” or “fail” result typically appears within a few minutes.
Once an ID is successfully verified:
- Your birthday on Roblox is tied to that ID and the verification flag cannot be removed or reset via support.
- Support cannot override or manually change verification outcomes; using your own official document the first time is critical.
If your facial age estimation incorrectly classifies you as under 13, you get a limited 48-hour window to correct it with ID verification. During that window, going to Settings → Account Info → Continue with ID lets you submit an ID to restore an over-13 status.
What an age check controls on Roblox
Completing an age check now gates more than just optional extras. It affects:
| Area | Effect of passing age check | Effect of skipping age check |
|---|---|---|
| Text chat in experiences | Enabled within allowed age bands; others are blocked from initiating chat with you if they fall outside those bands. | Unavailable or heavily restricted, depending on region and rollout stage. |
| Private messages | Available within age-based rules; under-13s still need parental permission for private chat. | Unavailable for many users, particularly minors. |
| Voice features (Party Voice) | Accessible when age-checked, often requiring ID verification rather than facial estimation alone. | Blocked. |
| Trusted Connections | Allows chat “without filters” with specific people you know after mutual confirmation. | Not available. |
| Social media links | Upcoming requirement: age check will be needed to view social links on profiles, communities, and experience pages. | Access will remain blocked once enforcement begins. |
| Creator collaboration (Team Create) | Planned requirement: only age-checked users within suitable age ranges will be allowed to collaborate in Studio. | Collaboration tools may be restricted. |
Roblox treats age checks as optional in principle, but increasingly “mandatory in practice” for communication. You can keep playing some experiences without verifying, but chatting, messaging, and using many social features will not work unless your age is checked.
Privacy promises and common concerns
Roblox presents its approach as “privacy-protective” within the constraints of age assurance. The key design points are:
- Images and video collected for facial age estimation are processed by a specialist vendor and deleted immediately after the check.
- ID images and associated biometric data are handled by the same vendor, which is meant to delete data within a short window and not sell it.
- The platform already monitors all chat (it is not end-to-end encrypted) and applies AI and rule-based filters to text and voice.
The shift of chat behind verification lines up with new laws and pressure from regulators, especially in markets such as the UK and Australia that emphasize strong child-safety obligations. At the same time, it amplifies a broader internet trend: services are increasingly tying access to everyday features to real-world IDs or biometric signals.
Users raise several recurring concerns:
- Data security: Any system collecting faces or IDs creates a high-value target for attackers, and players are wary of long-term storage even when rapid deletion is promised.
- Accuracy and fairness: Age estimation can misclassify people who look younger or older than their age, pushing them into the wrong band until they upload an ID.
- Access for kids without IDs: In many regions, teenagers do not yet have a driver’s license or other suitable document, making it hard to correct an erroneous estimate.
- Anonymity: Longstanding advice to children has been to avoid sharing faces and IDs online; asking them to override that instinct to use chat feels contradictory.
Roblox leans on parental controls as a counterweight. Parents can link their own accounts to their children’s, change the child’s birthday after a facial age estimation, and fine-tune chat and content settings. For teens, transparency tools show parents who their teen is connecting with, without exposing full conversations.
How to decide between selfie and ID on Roblox
For users who want access to chat, the main choice is whether to rely on facial age estimation alone or go straight to ID verification.
| Option | Pros | Cons | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facial age estimation only | Quick, no government ID required, completes fully in-app. | Risk of being mis-aged, especially for users who look much younger or older; limited recourse without ID. | Adults comfortable with a selfie who look roughly their age and don’t need exact birthday tied down. |
| ID verification | Precise birthday confirmation, persists and overrides misestimates; unlocks stricter-gated features. | Requires uploading an official document and selfie; verification cannot be undone; not all teens have valid IDs. | Users who need higher-tier features like Party Voice, or those already misclassified by facial estimation. |
Some players opt out entirely and accept being effectively mute on the platform. Others choose selfie-based checks to avoid submitting ID, even if that means living with a conservative age band. For families, a common pattern is for a parent to handle verification using parental dashboards and then configure chat permissions inside Roblox’s family settings.
Roblox’s age checks move the platform closer to a future where basic online communication requires proving roughly how old you are. For kids and teens, that may mean safer interactions and fewer unsolicited messages from adults. For everyone else, it turns a once-frictionless chat box into something you unlock with your face, your ID, or both.
