Loading screens

Roblox displays a default loading screen when users are connecting to a game, but you can personalize your game with a custom loading screen that contains static or animated content.

Note

This article covers the loading screens that display when a user initially joins a game. To customize loading screens that display when a user teleports between places, see Teleport between places.

Implementation

To display a custom loading screen, you can either design a ScreenGui instance directly within a LocalScript, or you can reference a ScreenGui object in your place hierarchy. Both options utilize ReplicatedFirst, as this service that replicates instances to clients before anything else is replicated. This ensures that your loading screen is the first thing users see when they enter your game.

From script

To design and display a custom loading screen entirely from a LocalScript:

In ReplicatedFirst, create a LocalScript.
Paste in the following code sample to create and customize a ScreenGui object. You can modify the following code with your own values to create your design.

local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedFirst = game:GetService("ReplicatedFirst")

local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")

local loadingScreen = Instance.new("ScreenGui")
loadingScreen.IgnoreGuiInset = true
loadingScreen.Parent = playerGui

-- Replace ScreenGui values with your own
local textLabel = Instance.new("TextLabel")
textLabel.Size = UDim2.new(1, 0, 1, 0)
textLabel.BackgroundColor3 = Color3.fromRGB(0, 20, 40)
textLabel.Font = Enum.Font.DenkOne
textLabel.TextColor3 = Color3.new(0.8, 0.8, 0.8)
textLabel.Text = "Loading"
textLabel.TextSize = 32
textLabel.Parent = loadingScreen

-- Remove the default loading screen
ReplicatedFirst:RemoveDefaultLoadingScreen()

task.wait(5)  -- Force custom loading screen to appear for a minimum time

if not game:IsLoaded() then
	game.Loaded:Wait()
end

loadingScreen:Destroy()

From existing GUI

Instead of creating a loading screen ScreenGui entirely through a LocalScript, you can also reference an existing ScreenGui in your place hierarchy. Ensure that your game includes the referenced ScreenGui within ReplicatedFirst and that the ScreenGui includes UI elements like TextLabels and ImageLabels.

To demonstrate this process, the following LocalScript references a ScreenGui named LoadingScreen within ReplicatedFirst, then it removes the default loading screen so the only loading screen a player can see is your own custom loading screen.

Note

Remember that you can design your loading screen ScreenGui within the StarterGui container to preview it, then move it to ReplicatedFirst once you're satisfied with the result.

local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedFirst = game:GetService("ReplicatedFirst")

local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")

local loadingScreen = ReplicatedFirst:FindFirstChild("LoadingScreen")
if loadingScreen then
	loadingScreen.IgnoreGuiInset = true
	loadingScreen.Parent = playerGui

	-- Remove the default loading screen
	ReplicatedFirst:RemoveDefaultLoadingScreen()

	task.wait(5)  -- Force screen to appear for a minimum number of seconds

	if not game:IsLoaded() then
		game.Loaded:Wait()
	end

	loadingScreen:Destroy()
end

Add animations

In addition to static custom loading screens, you can add animations to enhance the loading screen and indicate loading progress. The easiest way to do this is to create a UI element, such as a TextLabel or ImageLabel, then to animate it using TweenService. For example, the following code sample creates a new ScreenGui with a child ImageLabel, removes the default loading screen, then TweenService fades in and rotates the central elements until the game loads.

local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedFirst = game:GetService("ReplicatedFirst")
local TweenService = game:GetService("TweenService")

local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")

local loadingScreen = Instance.new("ScreenGui")
loadingScreen.IgnoreGuiInset = true
loadingScreen.Parent = playerGui

local textLabel = Instance.new("TextLabel")
textLabel.Size = UDim2.new(1, 0, 1, 0)
textLabel.BackgroundColor3 = Color3.fromRGB(0, 20, 40)
textLabel.Font = Enum.Font.DenkOne
textLabel.TextColor3 = Color3.new(0.8, 0.8, 0.8)
textLabel.Text = "Loading"
textLabel.TextSize = 32
textLabel.TextTransparency = 1
textLabel.Parent = loadingScreen

local loadingRing = Instance.new("ImageLabel")
loadingRing.Size = UDim2.new(0, 256, 0, 256)
loadingRing.BackgroundTransparency = 1
loadingRing.Image = "rbxassetid://4965945816"
loadingRing.AnchorPoint = Vector2.new(0.5, 0.5)
loadingRing.Position = UDim2.new(0.5, 0, 0.5, 0)
loadingRing.ImageTransparency = 1
loadingRing.Parent = loadingScreen

-- Remove the default loading screen
ReplicatedFirst:RemoveDefaultLoadingScreen()

-- Initiate and start fade-in tweens
local fadeTweenInfo = TweenInfo.new(1, Enum.EasingStyle.Quad, Enum.EasingDirection.Out, 0, false, 2)
local fadeTween1 = TweenService:Create(textLabel, fadeTweenInfo, {TextTransparency = 0})
local fadeTween2 = TweenService:Create(loadingRing, fadeTweenInfo, {ImageTransparency = 0})
fadeTween1:Play()
fadeTween2:Play()

-- Initiate and start rotation tween
local tweenInfo = TweenInfo.new(4, Enum.EasingStyle.Linear, Enum.EasingDirection.In, -1)
local tween = TweenService:Create(loadingRing, tweenInfo, {Rotation = 360})
tween:Play()

task.wait(5)  -- Force screen to appear for a minimum number of seconds

if not game:IsLoaded() then
	game.Loaded:Wait()
end

loadingScreen:Destroy()