Source: Roblox Creator Hub · CC BY 4.0 · View source · Code samples: MIT Imported 2026-10-03. Formatting adapted for this site.
EncodingService
Inherits from: Instance → Object
Service providing common encoding, hashing, and compression methods.
Inherits from: Instance
Memory category: Instances
Tags: NotCreatable, Service, NotReplicated
Methods
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| EncodingService:Base64Decode | buffer | Decodes a Base64-encoded buffer into a new buffer containing the original binary data. |
| EncodingService:Base64Encode | buffer | Encodes binary data from a buffer into Base64 format, returning the result as a new buffer. |
| EncodingService:CompressBuffer | buffer | Compresses binary buffer data using the specified algorithm and compression level. |
| EncodingService:ComputeBufferHash | buffer | Computes a cryptographic hash of a buffer's binary data using the specified algorithm. |
| EncodingService:ComputeStringHash | string | Computes a cryptographic hash of a string using the specified algorithm. |
| EncodingService:DecompressBuffer | buffer | Decompresses binary buffer data that was compressed with the specified algorithm. |
| EncodingService:GetDecompressedBufferSize | int? | Returns the expected decompressed size of a compressed buffer, or nil if the size is unknown or invalid. |
Inherited from Instance
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Instance:AddTag | () | Applies a tag to the instance. |
| Instance:children | Instances | Returns an array of the object's children. |
| Instance:ClearAllChildren | () | This method destroys all of an instance's children. |
| Instance:Clone | Instance | Create a copy of an instance and all its descendants, ignoring instances that are not Archivable. |
| Instance:clone | Instance | |
| Instance:Destroy | () | Sets the Instance.Parent property to nil, locks the Instance.Parent property, disconnects all connections, and calls Destroy() on all children. |
| Instance:destroy | () | |
| Instance:FindFirstAncestor | Instance? | Returns the first ancestor of the Instance whose Instance.Name is equal to the given name. |
| Instance:FindFirstAncestorOfClass | Instance? | Returns the first ancestor of the Instance whose Object.ClassName is equal to the given className. |
| Instance:FindFirstAncestorWhichIsA | Instance? | Returns the first ancestor of the Instance for whom Object:IsA() returns true for the given className. |
| Instance:FindFirstChild | Instance? | Returns the first child of the Instance found with the given name. |
| Instance:findFirstChild | Instance | |
| Instance:FindFirstChildOfClass | Instance? | Returns the first child of the Instance whose ClassName is equal to the given class name. |
| Instance:FindFirstChildWhichIsA | Instance? | Returns the first child of the Instance for whom Object:IsA() returns true for the given className. |
| Instance:FindFirstDescendant | Instance? | Returns the first descendant found with the given Instance.Name. |
| Instance:GetActor | Actor? | Returns the Actor associated with the Instance, if any. |
| Instance:GetAttribute | Variant | Returns the value which has been assigned to the given attribute name. |
| Instance:GetAttributeChangedSignal | RBXScriptSignal | Returns an event that fires when the given attribute changes. |
| Instance:GetAttributes | Dictionary | Returns a dictionary of the instance's attributes. |
| Instance:GetChildren | Instances | Returns an array containing all of the instance's children. |
| Instance:getChildren | Instances | |
| Instance:GetDebugId | string | Returns a coded string of the debug ID used internally by Roblox. |
| Instance:GetDescendants | Instances | Returns an array containing all of the descendants of the instance. |
| Instance:GetFullName | string | Returns a string describing the instance's ancestry. |
| Instance:GetStyled | Variant | Returns the styled or explicitly modified value of the specified property, or else the default property value if it hasn't been styled/modified. |
| Instance:GetStyledPropertyChangedSignal | RBXScriptSignal | Returns an event that fires when the given style property changes on the instance. |
| Instance:GetTags | Array | Gets an array of all tags applied to the instance. |
| Instance:HasTag | boolean | Check whether the instance has a given tag. |
| Instance:IsAncestorOf | boolean | Returns true if an Instance is an ancestor of the given descendant. |
| Instance:IsDescendantOf | boolean | Returns true if an Instance is a descendant of the given ancestor. |
| Instance:isDescendantOf | boolean | |
| Instance:IsPropertyModified | boolean | Returns true if the value stored in the specified property is not equal to the code-instantiated default. |
| Instance:QueryDescendants | Instances | Returns an array containing all descendants of the instance that match the selector string. |
| Instance:Remove | () | Sets the object's Parent to nil, and does the same for all its descendants. |
| Instance:remove | () | |
| Instance:RemoveTag | () | Removes a tag from the instance. |
| Instance:ResetPropertyToDefault | () | Resets a property to its default value. |
| Instance:SetAttribute | () | Sets the attribute with the given name to the given value. |
| Instance:WaitForChild | Instance | Returns the child of the Instance with the given name. If the child does not exist, it will yield the current thread until it does. |
Inherited from Object
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Object:GetPropertyChangedSignal | RBXScriptSignal | Get an event that fires when a given property of the object changes. |
| Object:IsA | boolean | Returns true if an object's class matches or inherits from a given class. |
| Object:isA | boolean |
EncodingService:Base64Decode
Method takes a buffer with data encoded in Base64 format and decodes it into a new buffer.
If the input is not valid Base64 data, this method throws an error.
Base64 data is most often used for binary data encoding, so these functions are designed to work on buffer values.
If the data is stored in a string, buffer.fromstring can be used to quickly convert it into a buffer.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | buffer | buffer containing Base64 data to decode |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| buffer | buffer with the decoded result |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
EncodingService:Base64Encode
Method takes a buffer with binary data and encodes it using Base64.
Encoded result is returned as a new buffer.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | buffer | buffer containing binary data to encode |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| buffer | buffer with the encoded result |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
EncodingService:CompressBuffer
Compresses the binary data stored in a buffer using the specified compression algorithm and compression level. The higher the compression level, the longer it takes to compress, but the resulting compression ratio might increase.
For CompressionAlgorithm.Zstd, the allowed compression values are from -7 to 22 inclusive.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | buffer | buffer with binary data to compress | |
| algorithm | CompressionAlgorithm | CompressionAlgorithm to use for compression | |
| compressionLevel | int | 1 | optional integer compression level to use |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| buffer | buffer with compressed binary data |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
EncodingService:ComputeBufferHash
Uses a cryptographic hash function to compute a hash of the input buffer. Returns a new buffer with the binary data.
See descriptions of HashAlgorithm to learn of the supported digest size for each hash.
Do not use this for passwords
None of these hashes are password hashing algorithms. They were designed to be fast to execute, whereas password hashing should never be fast. You shouldn't use this function for computing password hashes that will be stored, or for deriving keys from passwords.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | buffer | buffer with binary data to compute hash for | |
| algorithm | HashAlgorithm | HashAlgorithm cryptographic hash function |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| buffer | buffer with the binary data of the hash |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
EncodingService:ComputeStringHash
Uses a cryptographic hash function to compute a hash of the input string. Returns a new string with the binary data.
See descriptions of HashAlgorithm to learn of the supported digest size for each hash.
Do not use this for passwords
None of these hashes are password hashing algorithms. They were designed to be fast to execute, whereas password hashing should never be fast. You shouldn't use this function for computing password hashes that will be stored, or for deriving keys from passwords.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | string | string to compute the hash for | |
| algorithm | HashAlgorithm | HashAlgorithm cryptographic hash function |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| string | String with the binary data of the hash |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
EncodingService:DecompressBuffer
Decompresses the binary data stored in a buffer using the specified compression algorithm.
Decompression might throw an error if the compressed data doesn't contain expected decompressed size, if it is larger than 1GB or if it is invalid.
It is recommended to use EncodingService.GetDecompressedBufferSize to find out the decompressed data size before attempting to decompress. This is very important if the input buffer contents are outside of your control (for example, from a client RemoteEvent)
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | buffer | buffer with compressed binary data | |
| algorithm | CompressionAlgorithm | CompressionAlgorithm to use for decompression |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| buffer | buffer with the decompressed binary data |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
EncodingService:GetDecompressedBufferSize
Reports the size of the decompressed data stored in a compressed buffer. If the compressed data doesn't have a size or the size is corrupted or invalid (larger than 1GB), function returns nil. When a nil is returned, attempting to use EncodingService.DecompressBuffer on this buffer will throw an error.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input | buffer | buffer with compressed binary data | |
| algorithm | CompressionAlgorithm | CompressionAlgorithm used to compress it |
Returns
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| int? | Integer size of the decompressed data or 'nil' |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| security | None |
| thread safety | Safe |
Properties
Inherited from Instance
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Instance.Archivable | boolean | Determines if an Instance and its descendants can be cloned using Instance:Clone(), and can be saved/published. |
| Instance.archivable | boolean | |
| Instance.Capabilities | SecurityCapabilities | The set of capabilities allowed to be used for scripts inside this container. |
| Instance.IsInSandbox | boolean | Indicates whether the instance is inside a sandboxed container. |
| Instance.Name | string | A non-unique identifier of the Instance. |
| Instance.Parent | Instance | Determines the hierarchical parent of the Instance. |
| Instance.PredictionMode | PredictionMode | Reflects the client-side prediction mode applied to the instance under server-authoritative physics. |
| Instance.RobloxLocked | boolean | A deprecated property that used to protect CoreGui objects. |
| Instance.Sandboxed | boolean | When enabled, the instance can only access abilities in its Capabilities list. |
| Instance.UniqueId | UniqueId | A unique identifier for the instance. |
Inherited from Object
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Object.ClassName | string | A read-only string representing the class this Object belongs to. |
| Object.className | string |
Events
Inherited from Instance
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Instance.AncestryChanged | Fires when the Instance.Parent property of this object or one of its ancestors is changed. | |
| Instance.AttributeChanged | Fires whenever an attribute is changed on the Instance. | |
| Instance.ChildAdded | Fires after an object is parented to this Instance. | |
| Instance.childAdded | ||
| Instance.ChildRemoved | Fires after a child is removed from this Instance. | |
| Instance.DescendantAdded | Fires after a descendant is added to the Instance. | |
| Instance.DescendantRemoving | Fires immediately before a descendant of the Instance is removed. | |
| Instance.Destroying | Fires immediately before (or is deferred until after) the instance is destroyed via Instance:Destroy(). | |
| Instance.StyledPropertiesChanged | Fires whenever any style property is changed on the instance, including when a property is set to nil. |
Inherited from Object
| Name | Type / Returns | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Object.Changed | Fires immediately after a property of the object changes, with some limitations. |