Roblox Content Maturity Labels: The Complete Guide for Creators and Players
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 4:22 pm
Quick Summary
Roblox used to publish "age recommendations" on game pages, which told you roughly who a game suited but did not gate access to it. Content maturity does both jobs at once: it describes what is inside the game, and it decides who is allowed in by default.
Two pieces of information come out of the questionnaire:
Content maturity applies only to content you build into your game. It does not apply to user generated content players bring with them, like avatar clothing and accessories.
The six labels and who they reach
Here is the full ladder, with the access each label unlocks by default.
[b]Label[/b] | [b]Content it can contain[/b] | [b]Who can play by default[/b]
Minimal | Occasional mild violence, light unrealistic blood, occasional mild fear | Roblox Kids (5-8) and Roblox Select (9-15)
Mild | Repeated mild violence, heavy unrealistic blood, mild crude humor, repeated mild fear | Roblox Kids (5-8) and Roblox Select (9-15)
Moderate | Moderate violence, light realistic blood, moderate crude humor, unplayable gambling, social hangouts without private spaces, free form drawing, moderate fear | Roblox Select (9-15) and Roblox (16+)
Content May Vary | Anything Minimal, Mild, or Moderate, because the creator did not finish the questionnaire | Age-checked Roblox users 16+ only
16+ Content | Themes centered on sensitive social, political, or religious issues, plus social hangouts and free form creation | Age-checked Roblox users 16+ only
Restricted | Strong violence, heavy realistic blood, romantic themes, alcohol, strong language, social hangouts with private spaces, extended AI interactions | Age-verified Roblox users 18+ only
Two labels carry an extra restriction that trips up a lot of games. Free form user creation (drawing, painting, spray paint on visible surfaces, blank pixel canvases) is only available to players 16 and older. Social hangouts without private spaces also land at 16+, while social hangouts with private spaces require 18+.
Parents can work around most of this through parental controls, and they can block or approve individual games. The free creation and social hangout limits are the ones parents cannot override.
How to fill out the questionnaire
The questionnaire lives in the Creator Hub, not in Studio. Follow these steps:
What actually pushes your label up
The questionnaire has more than a dozen categories. These are the ones that move the needle most often:
Where the money is: reaching under 16
A precise label is necessary but not sufficient for reaching Roblox Kids and Select players. You also have to satisfy the publishing requirements, which include a verified creator account, two step verification, and either a refundable 1,000 Robux publishing fee or a Roblox Plus or Premium subscription held for two consecutive months.
Then the game has to pass evaluation. The trial phase opens it to age checked users 16 and older only, and Roblox analyzes whether the people playing are highly engaged real users. A highly engaged player is judged on account tenure, playtime in your game, and platform spend. The spend does not have to happen in your game. It just needs to be a real purchase somewhere on Roblox within the last 60 days, alongside time spent in your game. That benchmark is evaluated hourly.
The threshold is 250 unique highly engaged plays inside a 60 day window. Once you clear it, the game becomes eligible for Kids and Select audiences. You can watch the progress in the Audience Reach dashboard in Creator Hub.
If you need a fixed launch date, the expedited review fee is a one time, refundable 50,000 Robux per game, and the review takes up to 48 hours. After 90 days you can request the refund as long as the game is in good standing and still holds 25 highly engaged players. If a violation turns up during the 48 hour review, you fix it and resubmit, and the clock restarts.
For games that cannot wait, there is also an Engagement objective in Ads Manager that prioritizes players whose sessions count toward your highly engaged threshold. It costs more per play than the standard Plays objective, so Roblox recommends using it deliberately rather than moving your existing budget over.
What happens if you get it wrong
The moderation team reviews content maturity against the actual game. When they find a mismatch, you get a private message, the questionnaire page updates with moderator feedback, and the game receives a moderation action. If your game contains restricted content without a Restricted label, that is a moderation consequence, not a warning.
You can appeal. Go to Roblox Support, choose Appeal a Decision under the help category, set the subcategory to "I was wrongly moderated for other content I created," put your game ID in the Asset ID field, and explain why the action was a mistake. An accepted appeal shows as Appeal accepted under the violation.
Resubmitting is free and unlimited for non restricted games. If your label lands lower than you want, change the content in the game so it genuinely fits your target audience, then retake the questionnaire. The PolicyService API can help you adjust content dynamically for different audiences.
FAQ
Why is my game stuck at 16+ even though I filled out the questionnaire?
You probably answered only the first question, which generates Content May Vary. That label is 16+ only by design. To reach Kids and Select you need to complete the entire questionnaire and get a Minimal, Mild, or Moderate rating.
Does content maturity apply to avatar items and clothing?
No. It only covers content you create inside the game. Clothing, accessories, and other avatar items players bring in are user generated content and fall outside the questionnaire.
Can a parent override a content maturity label?
Mostly yes. Parents with a linked account can block or approve individual games, including games about sensitive issues, regardless of the child's age. The exceptions are free form user creation and social hangouts, which Roblox restricts to 16 and older no matter what a parent sets.
Do I have to retake the questionnaire every update?
Only if the update changes one of your answers. If you add blood, gambling, romantic themes, or AI interaction after rating the game, you must update and resubmit to stay compliant with the Community Standards and Terms of Use.
Is content maturity the same as IARC or ESRB ratings?
Not yet. Roblox is transitioning to the International Age Rating Coalition framework, which is what produces ESRB ratings in the US, PEGI in much of Europe and the UK, and IGRS in Indonesia. Until that transition lands, content maturity labels are Roblox's own system, and the two should not be confused.
Can I change a Restricted label to something lower?
No. For restricted games you cannot change the maturity label, only the content descriptors. Restricted games are also unplayable for players whose accounts are registered in, or who are located in, certain countries such as Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.
Sources
- Roblox replaced its old "age recommendation" system with content maturity labels, and every game now needs one before anyone can play it.
- The labels run Minimal, Mild, Moderate, Content May Vary, 16+ Content, and Restricted. Each one controls which account type can open your game.
- Creators generate their label by filling out the Maturity & Compliance Questionnaire in the Creator Hub, not by asking Roblox support.
- Answering only the first question gives you Content May Vary, which locks the game to age-checked players 16 and older.
- Getting a precise label (Minimal, Mild, Moderate) requires the full questionnaire plus the publishing requirements for Roblox Kids and Select.
- One wrong answer is not a clerical error. Roblox can moderate the game and the account if your label does not match the actual content.
Roblox used to publish "age recommendations" on game pages, which told you roughly who a game suited but did not gate access to it. Content maturity does both jobs at once: it describes what is inside the game, and it decides who is allowed in by default.
Two pieces of information come out of the questionnaire:
- The content maturity label - the age band the game is considered suitable for, based on child development research and industry standards.
- The content descriptors - what is actually in the game, such as realistic blood or paid item trading.
Content maturity applies only to content you build into your game. It does not apply to user generated content players bring with them, like avatar clothing and accessories.
The six labels and who they reach
Here is the full ladder, with the access each label unlocks by default.
Parents can work around most of this through parental controls, and they can block or approve individual games. The free creation and social hangout limits are the ones parents cannot override.
How to fill out the questionnaire
The questionnaire lives in the Creator Hub, not in Studio. Follow these steps:
- Open the Creator Hub at create.roblox.com and click the thumbnail of the game you want to rate.
- In the left navigation, go to Publish settings > Content rating.
- Click Start if you have never taken it. If you have, you will see a Questionnaire Completed page with a Restart button.
- Answer each page of questions based on what players can actually encounter in your game, then click Save and Continue.
- On the preview page, check your answers, the label Roblox generated, the content descriptors, and any regions where the game is non compliant.
- Click Submit to publish the information to your game's details page.
What actually pushes your label up
The questionnaire has more than a dozen categories. These are the ones that move the needle most often:
- Violence intensity and frequency. Mild violence is implied or unrealistic, like bodies vanishing when health hits zero. Moderate is realistic looking but not graphic. Strong violence (dismemberment, impalement, severing, organs visible) requires 18+.
- Blood realism. Unrealistic blood, like pixelated or differently colored splatter, is fine for lower labels. Realistic blood at any point automatically meets the light criteria, and heavy realistic blood (pools, gushing, up close spatter) requires 18+.
- Fear intensity. Loud breathing, pounding heart, jump scares, and ominous music are mild. Visible organs, realistic open wounds, and leaking eyes with realistic blood are moderate.
- Romantic themes, alcohol, and strong language. Each of these on its own caps the game at age-verified 18+, even if nothing else in the game is mature. Romantic themes are defined as non sexual expressions of affection, and they include games that take place in private spaces or adult settings like clubs and bars.
- Paid random items and paid item trading. Both need to be disclosed. The questionnaire also asks whether your game respects the PolicyService flags ArePaidRandomItemsRestricted and IsPaidItemTradingAllowed, which let you hide or block those features in regions that do not permit them.
- AI interaction. Disclose if players can interact with a generative AI model in game. Cross session memory or a game whose main purpose is an AI companion counts as extended interaction, which is an 18+ flag.
Where the money is: reaching under 16
A precise label is necessary but not sufficient for reaching Roblox Kids and Select players. You also have to satisfy the publishing requirements, which include a verified creator account, two step verification, and either a refundable 1,000 Robux publishing fee or a Roblox Plus or Premium subscription held for two consecutive months.
Then the game has to pass evaluation. The trial phase opens it to age checked users 16 and older only, and Roblox analyzes whether the people playing are highly engaged real users. A highly engaged player is judged on account tenure, playtime in your game, and platform spend. The spend does not have to happen in your game. It just needs to be a real purchase somewhere on Roblox within the last 60 days, alongside time spent in your game. That benchmark is evaluated hourly.
The threshold is 250 unique highly engaged plays inside a 60 day window. Once you clear it, the game becomes eligible for Kids and Select audiences. You can watch the progress in the Audience Reach dashboard in Creator Hub.
If you need a fixed launch date, the expedited review fee is a one time, refundable 50,000 Robux per game, and the review takes up to 48 hours. After 90 days you can request the refund as long as the game is in good standing and still holds 25 highly engaged players. If a violation turns up during the 48 hour review, you fix it and resubmit, and the clock restarts.
For games that cannot wait, there is also an Engagement objective in Ads Manager that prioritizes players whose sessions count toward your highly engaged threshold. It costs more per play than the standard Plays objective, so Roblox recommends using it deliberately rather than moving your existing budget over.
What happens if you get it wrong
The moderation team reviews content maturity against the actual game. When they find a mismatch, you get a private message, the questionnaire page updates with moderator feedback, and the game receives a moderation action. If your game contains restricted content without a Restricted label, that is a moderation consequence, not a warning.
You can appeal. Go to Roblox Support, choose Appeal a Decision under the help category, set the subcategory to "I was wrongly moderated for other content I created," put your game ID in the Asset ID field, and explain why the action was a mistake. An accepted appeal shows as Appeal accepted under the violation.
Resubmitting is free and unlimited for non restricted games. If your label lands lower than you want, change the content in the game so it genuinely fits your target audience, then retake the questionnaire. The PolicyService API can help you adjust content dynamically for different audiences.
FAQ
Why is my game stuck at 16+ even though I filled out the questionnaire?
You probably answered only the first question, which generates Content May Vary. That label is 16+ only by design. To reach Kids and Select you need to complete the entire questionnaire and get a Minimal, Mild, or Moderate rating.
Does content maturity apply to avatar items and clothing?
No. It only covers content you create inside the game. Clothing, accessories, and other avatar items players bring in are user generated content and fall outside the questionnaire.
Can a parent override a content maturity label?
Mostly yes. Parents with a linked account can block or approve individual games, including games about sensitive issues, regardless of the child's age. The exceptions are free form user creation and social hangouts, which Roblox restricts to 16 and older no matter what a parent sets.
Do I have to retake the questionnaire every update?
Only if the update changes one of your answers. If you add blood, gambling, romantic themes, or AI interaction after rating the game, you must update and resubmit to stay compliant with the Community Standards and Terms of Use.
Is content maturity the same as IARC or ESRB ratings?
Not yet. Roblox is transitioning to the International Age Rating Coalition framework, which is what produces ESRB ratings in the US, PEGI in much of Europe and the UK, and IGRS in Indonesia. Until that transition lands, content maturity labels are Roblox's own system, and the two should not be confused.
Can I change a Restricted label to something lower?
No. For restricted games you cannot change the maturity label, only the content descriptors. Restricted games are also unplayable for players whose accounts are registered in, or who are located in, certain countries such as Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.
Sources
- Roblox Support: Content Maturity Ratings (official label definitions and descriptors)
- Roblox Creator Hub: Content maturity and compliance (questionnaire categories and moderation rules)
- Roblox Creator Hub: Roblox Kids and Select (publishing requirements and evaluation threshold)
- Roblox Creator Hub: Create and publish games and places (publishing fee and expedited review fee)
- Roblox Developer Forum: Roblox Kids and Select global launch (Engagement objective in Ads Manager)
- Roblox Support: Unlocking trusted friends (age checks that gate chat and features)
- Roblox Newsroom: Introducing Roblox Kids and Select accounts (IARC transition)