Private Space Claiming System - Improving Safety Measures Regarding Private Areas
Hi everyone,
I wanted to talk about a new system we have developed to help ensure games with private spaces are kept as appropriate as possible.
Many games have private spaces which are completely innocent, ours included. In our case, these spaces are used for roleplay purposes, for “get ready with me’s”, “daily routines” and many more.
To ensure these private spaces cannot be used inappropriately, we have developed a system that only allows one player in a certain area at a time. We want to open source this system to allow other developers to easily implement this into their own games, to make Roblox a safer platform for everyone.
The system itself is quite simple in its idea, once an individual player has walked into an area, they have now “claimed” that space, and no other player can enter. Once that player leaves, the space is now open to claim again. This can be used wherever you feel necessary; baths, showers, beds, toilets. Here is a video of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_4D8ORJEbo
Setup
To setup this system, you must first place the “PrivacySystem” folder in ReplicatedStorage.
Next, you need to move the PrivacySystem_Server script into ServerScriptService.
To setup a privacy zone, simply tag a part using CollectionService with ‘Privacy_Zone’, or your custom tag (editable in Config module), and resize / position it to fit the area you want to be a private zone.
If you want to create the zones on game start, there is a custom function in the Server_Handler module which you can fill in on line 23.
Unfortunately, due to Roblox’s policy changes, this likely won’t be officially supported. Games are locked to 17+ if they even have a single space that is considered private, regardless of Developer intention. It was made to be nuclear, and to clear any possibility of wrong-doing.
I do like the approach this system takes. Mainly because it still allows other individuals into the space, while also blocking inappropriate actions from spaces that are often seen with that kind of behavior. This strikes a good balance of safety without limiting the developers ability to create realistic spaces.
However, this is without acknowledging we live on a platform with exploits that are not very difficult to obtain regardless of Hyperion. Anyone could just delete the bounds and we’re back to the root of the issue again. Especially when you consider most bad actors use fresh new Roblox accounts to talk to unsuspecting individuals.
All in all, a good system, but definitely something Roblox could have used sooner as a wider adoption to curb the rates in which there are predators. It’s just too late now, and I don’t think Roblox will ever revert or lessen the restriction on Developers going forward.
This is honestly great, and frankly if it weren’t for Roblox’s blanket ban on anything that could even remotely look bad, should have been the number one go-to solution for this problem. Unfortunately, Roblox had to clean up their room and shoved everything under the bed so the parents (the court) don’t notice.
It would be relatively easy to do periodic server checks to make sure a player isn’t within bounds they shouldn’t be in. In fact, the module seems to already do this, opting to shift the player out of the zone instead when detected that they’re inside a claimed zone.
You can easily edit the _checkZoneIntruders function in Server_Handler to change the behavior.
Is it acceptable to basically make it so all other players are invisible while you’re inside private spaces? An alternative to private space claiming system.
That way, a player doesn’t AFK and lock others out.
Here’s how it works: invisible non-cancollide boxes define a room. When you enter the room, you won’t see the others as all other players are made invisible. The players are visible again when you leave.
