In case you missed it, Roblox has rolled out one of its biggest safety changes yet, and it directly targets the long-standing concern of kids chatting freely with adults on the platform. The company has begun enforcing age-restricted chat controls, a move that splits players into six different age brackets and limits who can talk to whom.
The update first went live in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, with global rollout starting January 2026.
Roblox has always allowed players of all ages to mingle, which is part of its appeal but also the core of parents’ safety concerns. Now, users must verify their age before accessing chat features that go beyond basic gameplay communication.
Instead of relying on a birthday field that can be faked, Roblox now uses:
- Government ID submission, plus
- A quick facial scan (Facial Age Estimation)
Roblox stresses that all images uploaded for verification are deleted once the check is complete.
Six Age Groups, Strictly Separated
Once verified, players are placed into one of six age bands:
- Under 9
- 9–12
- 13–15
- 16–17
- 18–20
- 21+
Chats are limited within these groups — meaning an 11-year-old cannot casually chat with a 21-year-old in open channels anymore. The entire system is designed to control cross-age communication, especially between young children and adults.
Exceptions Exist — But Only For Known People
Roblox includes a Trusted Connections feature.
If you want to chat with family members or close friends, you can still do so, provided they are added to this trusted list.
Players under 13 are still subject to the strictest rules, which include a prohibition on sending DMs or joining certain chat spaces unless a parent explicitly grants permission.
Why Roblox Is Doing This
Roblox’s audience skews young — in 2024, the platform averaged 80 million daily users, and 40% were under 13. For years, critics warned that completely open communication exposes minors to inappropriate content, harassment or contact from adults.
The new verification-based chat system is Roblox’s attempt to limit unsupervised adult-child communication and reduce grooming risks.
The age-check chat feature has only launched in a few countries, but Roblox confirmed that the system goes global starting January 2026.
