Roblox to require facials scans or government ID to chat unfiltered

Roblox is tightening its age verification rules, and that means big changes for how users chat and connect on the platform.

Starting soon, users who want access to unfiltered text chat and new social features will need to prove they are over 13. Roblox is rolling out an age estimation system that uses a video selfie to scan a user’s face and guess their age. According to Roblox, the selfie is “analyzed against a large and diverse dataset to estimate their age.”

If the scan is not confident, the system will not unlock the feature. “If the system is not able to estimate the user’s age with high confidence, then the user’s age will remain unconfirmed and the user won’t be able to access Trusted Connections,” a spokesperson told The Verge.

Users who do not pass but are actually over 13 will have another option: uploading a government-issued ID.

Roblox Friends feature receives major overhaul

These changes are part of Roblox’s push to make the platform feel more social while keeping it secure. The company is renaming the Friends list to Connections and introducing a new tier called Trusted Connections. Only Trusted Connections can access unfiltered chat and Roblox’s new Party feature, which lets users hang out in private calls.

According to Roblox, users aged 13 to 17 can add each other as Trusted Connections once they verify their age. Teens who want to add someone 18 or older need to prove they know them in real life. That can be done by scanning a QR code in person or using the Contact Importer feature.

The goal is to give older users more freedom while keeping younger ones safer, and make sure sensitive or inappropriate content does not slip through to the wrong audience.

Roblox is rated E10+ by the ESRB, meaning it is recommended for players 10 and up. With millions of users across all age groups, the platform is betting on tools like age estimation to manage that wide range more effectively.

This marks one of Roblox’s biggest steps yet toward verifying age and offering more personalized safety settings, but only for users willing to verify who they are.