If you've been grinding on a competitive game lately, you probably realized that the default player list is a bit boring, which is why a custom roblox scoreboard gui script is exactly what you need to give your project some personality. Let's be real, the standard leaderboard that pops up on the right side of the screen is fine for basic stuff, but if you want your game to look professional or fit a specific aesthetic—like a sleek FPS or a stylized simulator—you've got to build your own.
The cool thing about making your own scoreboard is that you aren't limited to just "Kills" or "Points." You can display player avatars, specific clan tags, or even how many wins they have in a fancy, animated way. It sounds a bit intimidating if you're new to Luau, but once you break it down into the UI design and the actual logic, it's actually pretty fun to put together.
Why skip the default leaderboard?
The default Roblox leaderboard is functional, but it has zero "vibe." It takes up a specific amount of screen real estate and you can't really move it. When you write a roblox scoreboard gui script, you're taking full control of the player's experience. You can make it pop up when they press the "Tab" key, or have it permanently pinned to the side of the screen with a custom background that matches your game's theme.
Plus, custom GUIs allow for better readability. If you have a game with 50 players, the default list just becomes a mess. With a custom script, you can sort players by their score, highlight the top three players with gold, silver, and bronze colors, and even filter out information that doesn't matter during a match.
Setting up the leaderstats foundation
Before we even touch the GUI, we need some data to display. Most people use the standard leaderstats folder because it's easy and Roblox handles a lot of the backend work for you. You'll want a script in ServerScriptService that creates this folder whenever a player joins.
Basically, you're just creating a folder named "leaderstats" and nesting some IntValue or NumberValue objects inside it. This is what your roblox scoreboard gui script will look for later. If the data isn't in a place the script can find, your scoreboard is just going to be a bunch of empty boxes, which isn't very helpful for anyone.
Designing the Scoreboard UI
This is where you get to be creative. In the StarterGui, you'll want to create a ScreenGui and then start layering your frames. I usually start with a "MainFrame" that sits in the middle of the screen.
Inside that frame, you'll need: 1. A Header: For titles like "Player Name," "Kills," and "Deaths." 2. A ScrollingFrame: This is crucial. If your game gets full, you don't want the names to just bleed off the bottom of the screen. A ScrollingFrame lets players scroll through the list manually. 3. A Template: This is a small frame that represents a single player's row. You'll keep this hidden (or tucked away in ReplicatedStorage) and your script will clone it for every player in the game.
Pro tip: Use UIListLayout inside your ScrollingFrame. It's a lifesaver. It automatically stacks the player rows so you don't have to manually calculate the Y-position for every single player that joins. It just snaps them into place like Lego bricks.
Writing the roblox scoreboard gui script logic
Now for the "brain" of the operation. You'll usually want a LocalScript inside your ScreenGui. The script needs to do a few specific things: it needs to clear the current list, check who is currently in the server, and then create a new row for each person.
You'll also want to set up some events. The PlayerAdded and PlayerRemoving events are the obvious ones. When someone joins, you add a row; when they leave, you destroy their row. But don't forget about the data itself! You should use .Changed events on the values inside leaderstats. That way, the moment someone gets a point, the scoreboard updates instantly. There's nothing more annoying than a scoreboard that only updates every ten seconds.
Here is a simple way to think about the code structure: * Connect to a function that runs whenever the scoreboard needs to refresh. * Loop through all the players currently in the game. * Clone your template row. * Fill in the text labels with the player's name and their stats. * Parent that clone to your ScrollingFrame.
Sorting the players by score
A scoreboard isn't really a scoreboard if it's just a random list of names. You want the person in first place to be at the very top. This is where things get a little spicy with your roblox scoreboard gui script.
You can use the LayoutOrder property of your UI elements. If you set the LayoutOrder of a player's frame to their negative score (like -50 for someone with 50 points), the UIListLayout will automatically move them to the top. It's a clever little trick that saves you from having to write complex sorting algorithms in Luau. The higher the score, the "lower" the negative number, and Roblox sorts from lowest to highest by default.
Making it look professional with Tweening
If you want to go the extra mile, don't just make the scoreboard appear and disappear instantly. It feels a bit jarring. Instead, use TweenService to slide it in from the top or fade it in.
When a player's score changes, you can even add a little "pulse" effect to the text label. It's these small details that make a game feel high-quality. If someone sees their name flash gold when they hit a 10-kill streak, they're going to feel a lot more rewarded than if a tiny number just clicked up by one.
Handling Server-Side vs. Client-Side
One thing beginners often trip over is where the script should live. Your roblox scoreboard gui script is a UI element, so it must be a LocalScript. The server doesn't care what the UI looks like; it only cares about the data.
The server manages the leaderstats, and the LocalScript on each player's computer "listens" to that data. If you try to handle UI on a server script, you're going to run into all sorts of lag issues and weird bugs where everyone sees the same person's stats. Keep your UI logic local and your data logic on the server, and you'll be golden.
Common mistakes to avoid
I've seen a lot of people forget to clean up their scripts. If you don't disconnect your events or properly handle players leaving, you might end up with "ghost" names on your scoreboard. Always make sure that when a player leaves, their specific row in the GUI is destroyed immediately.
Another thing is performance. You don't need to refresh the entire scoreboard every single second. Only update the specific label that changed. If PlayerA gets a kill, you don't need to redraw PlayerB, PlayerC, and PlayerD. Just find PlayerA's frame and update the "Kills" text. Your game's frame rate will thank you later, especially in big servers.
Wrapping it up
Building a custom roblox scoreboard gui script is one of those projects that really levels up your dev skills. It forces you to learn about UI layout, client-server communication, and event handling. Once you get the hang of the basics—cloning templates and linking them to leaderstats—you can start adding crazy features like team sorting, map icons, or even a "spectate" button right on the scoreboard.
Don't be afraid to experiment with the design. Some of the best games on the platform have scoreboards that look nothing like a traditional list. They might use circles, grids, or even 3D elements. As long as the script is solid and the data is accurate, the sky's the limit. Happy scripting!