Let’s learn about what Roblox Lua actually is, why it’s used, and the easiest way to understand it.

If you don’t know me already, my name is Kushal. I’m a professional Roblox scripter and I’ve been scripting Roblox games since 2016 (9+ years). I also make free Roblox scripting tutorials online to millions of viewers and I’m the author of this Roblox scripting book.

What is Lua?

What is Lua?

Have you ever tried to talk to a computer? Sure, I mean, you might’ve tried to talk to Siri before on your phone, or Alexa.

But, those are applications running on your device. Have you ever tried to talk to the computer itself? Like, have you ever turned the computer on and tried to tell it to calculate 2+2 for you?

Probably not.

Because it’s ridiculous to try to do that, right?

Well, we need a way to talk to computers.

Lucky for us, computers can understand certain languages.

For example, I can’t tell the computer “okay buddy could you add 2+2 for me” and expect it to do the work (without using any programs, like ChatGPT, Alexa, Siri, …).

However, if we take this instruction of adding 2 + 2 and turn it into a language the computer can understand, we can do exactly that!

And one such language is Lua.

In Lua, we can say:

And once we run this code, the computer will give us the answer to 2 + 2, which is 4.

From here, you can see that we’ve given the computer some instructions in Lua to calculate 2 + 2, and it does it for us.

This is the same way it works in Roblox.

But before we can learn about Roblox Lua U, let’s learn a little bit about Lua itself.

Lua is a scripting language that was developed in 1993 in Brazil.

This basically means that it’s a language that was developed to talk to computers, as I showed in my above example.

For your first scripting tutorial, you can check out this article.

What is Roblox Lua?

Now that we know what Lua itself is, what is Roblox Lua?

Once Roblox had initially formed, they decided that they need a language that beginner scripters can use to make their own Roblox games.

So, they settled with Lua, as it’s easy to learn and flexible across different scenarios.

Roblox runs their code on servers, which are powerful computers that are stored inside Roblox HQ.

Remember that by using Lua, you and I can talk to a computer to make it do whatever we want.

And since a server is technically a computer, you and I can talk to it by using Roblox Lua.

So, when you want to make cool stuff for your game, like zombies, horror games, FPS shooters, etc, you can use Lua to talk to Roblox’s servers (and the computers that your players use) to tell it to do things like make zombies chase players, make jump-scares, make bullets fly in the air.

If you’re looking for a budget laptop, so that you can begin making awesome Roblox games, you might be interested in the Acer Aspire 5.

If you have a bit more money to spend, and you just want a laptop that will run your games at the best graphics and give you 0 lag whatsoever, you may be interested in the ASUS ROG Strix.

What is Roblox Lua U?

That brings us to the question of what is Roblox Lua U?

Well, Roblox Lua is great, but it was made in 1993 to be a simple scripting language.

Nowadays, we have things like type declarations, typecasting, and more useful methods of programming in other languages.

Roblox Lua, however, doesn’t have these cool features.

So, Roblox decided “hey, why don’t we make it easier for our developers to fix bugs in their code by adding newer features to Lua and making it faster to run code?”

And this was a brilliant idea.

That’s exactly what they did.

Now, of course, they can’t just call it Roblox Lua, because that was a version of Lua.

So they called it Roblox Lua U.

If you’re ready to learn Roblox Lua U, check out this free scripting tutorial on how you can start scripting in Roblox as a complete beginner.

What is the Difference Between Roblox Lua and Roblox Lua U?

Roblox Lua is the scripting language that Roblox started with.

It was unoptimized (code ran slowly), and missed out on a lot of features.

Roblox Lua U is Roblox’s newly made version of Roblox Lua, that contains performance optimizations (code runs faster) and a whole bunch of other stuff to make it easier for scripters to fix issues,

Why Does Roblox Use Lua?

Out of all of the possible programming languages, why does Roblox use Lua?

Lua is Easy to Learn

In making their choice to use Lua as their scripting language, they had to think about what language would be easy to learn for complete beginners that are interested in programming.

They couldn’t choose a language like C++, for example, because it’d be too complex for beginners.

By making the scripting language in Roblox more accessible, more people can learn it from scripting tutorials and there’ll be more Roblox games,

All of your favorite Roblox scripters started their journey as complete beginners.

Imagine if Roblox was written in a difficult programming language. It’d make beginners go “ughh my code doesn’t work, this sucks” and they’d leave Roblox in a flash.

Then, we’d have few games on the platform.

But instead, Roblox decided to choose an easy scripting language, Lua, and we have millions of games to play.

Lua Runs Easy Inside Games

Imagine you’re playing a Roblox game, where you have to open a door.

Instantly, the door swings open, without any lag.

This is because Lua is fast, lightweight, and optimized for games.

Lua is a Speedy Messenger

Think of Lua as a super=efficient messenger, that tells Roblox immediately what to do.

In Roblox obbies, they have red kill bricks, which are bricks that immediately kill the player that touches them.

The moment a player touches a kill brick, Lua immediately tells the game

1. “This player just touched the brick!”
2. “Kill them now!”
3. “Play a sound effect!”

Because Lua is lightweight, it delivers these messages almost instantly without slowing down the game.

For more information about kill bricks, and to script your own kill brick from scratch, you can check out this article.

Lua Uses Less Power, Making Games Run Faster

Some programming languages are like heavy backpacks filled with unnecessary things.

They take up a lot of space and make things move slower. Lua, on the other hand, is lightweight—it doesn’t demand a lot of power from your computer, which makes games run faster.

You can think of it like this:

• A game running on Lua: A small, fast bicycle. (Efficient, quick, and doesn’t require much energy)
• A game running on a heavier language: A big truck. (Powerful, but requires a lot more fuel)

Since Lua is a language that doesn’t overload the game with extra processing, it ensures smooth animations, fast responses, and better performance, even on weaker computers or mobile devices.

Lua Runs Directly Inside of Roblox Games

Right after you download Roblox Studio, you can immediately get started scripting on Roblox.

There are no other prerequisites, because Lua is built right into Roblox itself.

This makes it super convenient for Roblox developers.

For example, if you write a Lua script that makes a fireball launch from a wizard’s staff, that script runs immediately inside the game.

There is no need for extra software, long wait times, or complex setups.

Lua is awesome.

Lua Works Well On All Devices

Roblox runs on PC, mac, xbox, playstation,, mobile devices, tablets, and even VR.

Lua is designed to work smoothly on all of them.

Even if your game is developed for PC devices, you don’t have to switch to a completely different programming language to get it to work on another device, like a phone.

Imagine what the world would be like if you had to do that.

This is all because of the power of Lua.

I personally have two monitors, where I can see my code in two screens, and simulate games on two different devices.

I’ve noticed a huge increase in how fast I develop by having two monitors.

If you’re interested, I personally use this large monitor, which allows me to see a lot of my code at once, and experience full immersion when I’m testing my own games.

While that one is my main monitor, I use a much smaller monitor for my second monitor, the ASUS TUF Gaming 23.5″.

You can see my monitor in the video below. It’s huge.

The Power of Scripting: What You Can Script in Roblox with Lua

Thanks to Roblox Lua and more recently, Roblox Lua U, you can script amazing experiences on Roblox, like the top games you see above.

Small Scripts Can Create Big Experiences

To make a big game, you don’t need millions of lines of code, thanks to Lua.

Blade Ball, for example, is a big experience on Roblox that started with a prototype, which was a mini version of their game on a baseplate.

I actually made a video, where I tried to script the basic Blade Ball game mechanic in 10 minutes, which you can watch above.

As you can see, there is no need for millions of lines of code to create an excellent game, thanks to Lua.

Now, if you master Roblox scripting, it’s possible to create really amazing games with smooth mechanics, like Frontlines.

Frontlines is a Roblox game that not only has amazing scripts, but also has stunning visual graphics, as their developers are not only skilled in the art of scripting, but are also skilled in the art of design, building, and various other areas of Roblox game development.

What I’ve Built Using Lua

Using Roblox Lua, over the past 9+ years, I’ve been able to make my share of cool stuff as well.

For example, here’s a story system that I made, for my game, Elemental Adventures.

And here’s a turn-based battle engine that I made for the same game.

Here’s a teaser of a battle simulation game that I scripted, BattleMania.

You can play BattleMania by clicking here.

How to Get Started Learning Roblox Lua

If you’re ready to get started learning Roblox Lua, I have some resources for you.

If you’re ready to get started fully with Roblox scripting, and you like the way I explained in this article, I highly recommend checking out my book, the Beginner’s Guide to Roblox Scripting.

If you still need some motivation, check out this article on how you can motivate yourself to learn Roblox scripting.

If you want to get your feet wet first with Roblox, I would recommend checking out this particular article, which will teach you the very basics of Roblox scripting.

Thanks for reading!