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Source: Roblox Creator Hub · CC BY 4.0 · View source · Code samples: MIT Imported 2026-10-03. Formatting adapted for this site.

TextChatMessage

Inherits from: Instance → Object

A data object representing a text chat message.

To learn more about using TextChatMessages, see In-Experience Text Chat.

Inherits from: Instance

Memory category: Instances

Tags: NotCreatable

Properties

Name	Type / Returns	Description
TextChatMessage.BubbleChatMessageProperties	BubbleChatMessageProperties	A reference to the `BubbleChatMessageProperties` that overrides the appearance of this message's chat bubble.
TextChatMessage.ChatWindowMessageProperties	ChatWindowMessageProperties	A reference to the `ChatWindowMessageProperties` that overrides the appearance of this message in the chat window.
TextChatMessage.MessageId	string	A unique identifier for the `TextChatMessage`.
TextChatMessage.Metadata	string	A general purpose field for storing miscellaneous data about the `TextChatMessage`.
TextChatMessage.PrefixText	string	A prefix to add to a user's message.
TextChatMessage.Status	TextChatMessageStatus	Indicates the status of the `TextChatMessage`.
TextChatMessage.Text	string	The filtered text message for the user.
TextChatMessage.TextChannel	TextChannel	A reference to the origin `TextChannel`.
TextChatMessage.TextSource	TextSource	A reference to the origin `TextSource`.
TextChatMessage.Timestamp	DateTime	A timestamp of when the message was originally sent.
TextChatMessage.Translation	string	Translated and filtered text message.

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

TextChatMessage.BubbleChatMessageProperties

A reference to the BubbleChatMessageProperties instance that overrides BubbleChatConfiguration properties for this individual message's chat bubble.

This property is nil by default. It is populated when your TextChatService.OnBubbleAdded callback returns a BubbleChatMessageProperties instance: the returned instance is stored here on the resulting TextChatMessage. Any properties set on it take precedence over the shared BubbleChatConfiguration when the message's bubble is rendered.

Field	Value
type	BubbleChatMessageProperties
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.ChatWindowMessageProperties

A reference to the ChatWindowMessageProperties instance that overrides ChatWindowConfiguration properties for this individual message as displayed in the chat window.

This property is nil by default. It is populated when your TextChatService.OnChatWindowAdded callback returns a ChatWindowMessageProperties instance, typically created with ChatWindowConfiguration:DeriveNewMessageProperties(): the returned instance is stored here on the resulting TextChatMessage. Any properties set on it take precedence over the shared ChatWindowConfiguration when the message is rendered.

Field	Value
type	ChatWindowMessageProperties
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.MessageId

A unique identifier for the TextChatMessage.

Field	Value
type	string
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.Metadata

A general purpose field for storing miscellaneous data about the TextChatMessage. The second argument of TextChannel:SendAsync() and TextChannel:DisplaySystemMessage() is used to populate this field.

Use this field to apply additional formatting for special messages within TextChatService.OnIncomingMessage and TextChannel.OnIncomingMessage callbacks.

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

local customChannel: TextChannel = Instance.new("TextChannel")
customChannel.Parent = TextChatService:WaitForChild("TextChannels")

customChannel.OnIncomingMessage = function(message: TextChatMessage)
  if string.find(message.Metadata, "Error") then
    local overrideProperties = Instance.new("TextChatMessageProperties")
    overrideProperties.Text = string.format("<font color='rgb(255,0,0)'>%s</font>", message.Text)
    return overrideProperties
  elseif string.find(message.Metadata, "Info") then
    local overrideProperties = Instance.new("TextChatMessageProperties")
    overrideProperties.Text = string.format("<font color='rgb(0, 255, 150)'>%s</font>", message.Text)
    return overrideProperties
  end

  return nil
end

Players.LocalPlayer.CharacterAdded:Connect(function()
  customChannel:DisplaySystemMessage("This is an error!", "Game.Error.Generic")
  customChannel:DisplaySystemMessage("Could not find save data!", "Game.Error.SaveDataNotFound")

  customChannel:DisplaySystemMessage("You won the game!", "Game.Info.Win")
  customChannel:DisplaySystemMessage("You lost the game!", "Game.Info.Lose")
end)

As follows is a reference of the default system messages emitted by the chat system:

Metadata	Description
`Roblox.ChatTranslation.ChatWindow.SystemMessage`	Indicates that the system may translate chat messages for the player.
`Roblox.Notification.Friend.Joined`	Displayed when one of the player's friends join the experience.
`Roblox.MessageStatus.Warning.Floodchecked`	Displayed when the player's sent message was rate limited by the server.
`Roblox.MessageStatus.Warning.TextFilterFailed`	Displayed when the player's sent message could not be displayed due to a text filtering issue.
`Roblox.MessageStatus.Warning.InvalidPrivacySettings`	Displayed when the player's privacy settings prevent them from sending a message.
`Roblox.MessageStatus.Warning.MessageTooLong`	Displayed when the player sends a message with content that is too long.
`Roblox.MessageStatus.Warning.Unknown`	Displays when the system fails to send the player's message for an unknown reason.
`Roblox.Help.Info`	Displays the response from the `RBXHelpCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Version.Info`	Displays the response from the `RBXVersionCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Team.Success.NowInTeam`	Displayed when the player's team changes.
`Roblox.Team.Error.CannotTeamChatIfNotInTeam`	Displayed when the player triggers the `RBXTeamCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand` without being on a `Class.Team`.
`Roblox.Whisper.Info.Success`	Displayed when the player successfully starts a whisper conversation.
`Roblox.Whisper.Welcome.Sent`	Displayed when entering a whisper `Class.TextChannel`.
`Roblox.Whisper.Error.CannotWhisperToSelf`	An error response from the `RBXWhisperCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Whisper.Error.TargetDoesNotExist`	An error response from the `RBXWhisperCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Whisper.Error.TooManyMatches`	An error response from the `RBXWhisperCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Whisper.Error.Unknown`	An error response from the `RBXWhisperCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Emote.Error.DoesNotExist`	An error response from the `RBXEmoteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Emote.Error.UserEmotesNotEnabled`	An error response from the `RBXEmoteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Emote.Error.TemporarilyUnavailable`	An error response from the `RBXEmoteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Emote.Error.NotSupported`	An error response from the `RBXEmoteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Emote.Error.SwitchToR15`	An error response from the `RBXEmoteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Emote.Error.AnimationPlaying`	An error response from the `RBXEmoteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Mute.Error.PlayerNotFound`	An error response from the `RBXMuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Mute.Error.MultipleMatches`	An error response from the `RBXMuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Mute.Error.CannotMuteSelf`	An error response from the `RBXMuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Mute.Info.Success`	An success response from the `RBXMuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Unmute.Error.PlayerNotFound`	An error response from the `RBXUnmuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Unmute.Error.MultipleMatches`	An error response from the `RBXUnmuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Unmute.Error.CannotMuteSelf`	An error response from the `RBXUnmuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.
`Roblox.Unmute.Info.Success`	An success response from the `RBXUnmuteCommand` `Class.TextChatCommand`.

Field	Value
type	string
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.PrefixText

A prefix to add to a user's message. This supports Rich Text, so developers can set custom properties for this text to support chat tags.

By default, TextChatMessage.PrefixText is the name of the TextSource, which is the Player.DisplayName of the user associated with the TextSource via TextSource.UserId.

Field	Value
type	string
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.Status

Indicates the status of the TextChatMessage.

Field	Value
type	TextChatMessageStatus
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.Text

The filtered text message for the user. Different users may receive different strings from this property based on filtering rules. It can be an empty string.

Field	Value
type	string
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.TextChannel

A reference to the origin TextChannel.

Field	Value
type	TextChannel
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.TextSource

A reference to the origin TextSource.

Field	Value
type	TextSource
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":true,"can_save":true}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.Timestamp

A timestamp of when the message was originally sent.

Field	Value
type	DateTime
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

TextChatMessage.Translation

Represents translated and filtered text messages based on users' localization settings. The system doesn't translate messages between users with the same localization settings or using languages without the text filter support, so this property can be an empty string if no translation happens. For customization, see Customizing Translated Messages.

Field	Value
type	string
security	{"read":"None","write":"None"}
thread safety	ReadSafe
category	Data
serialization	{"can_load":false,"can_save":false}
capabilities	["Chat"]

Methods

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

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.