TextChatService filtering messages at a higher rate when prefixes and chat colors are added

[hyberjection (Lucky)]

I’m encountering an issue where, when using TextChatService to append PrefixText and chat colors to text, a higher rate of messages being filtered is seen in our game Soro’s Restaurant Franchise.

The code we use:

		Properties.PrefixText = string.format("<font color='#%s'>%s%s</font>", tagColor, enabledTag, prefixText) end
		if enabledChatColor ~= "ffffff" then Properties.Text = string.format("<font color='#%s'>%s</font>", enabledChatColor, text) end

tagColor & enabledChatColor = A color, i.e. ff0000
enabledTag = A chat tag, i.e. [ ]
prefixText = The message’s pre-edited PrefixText
text = The message’s pre-edited Text

The game in question: [ 🥡 TAKEOUT] 🍕 Soro's Italian Restaurant 🍝 - Roblox

I am able to most frequently reproduce this by simply typing “123” in the chat a few times, though simply having conversations and mentioning items like “SoroBux” (a resource we use) is often filtered as well.

System Information: Intel Core i5-9300H CPU @ 2.40ghz, 16 GB, Nvidia GEFORCE GTX 1650, Intel UHD Graphics 630

[thirdtakeonit]

Thanks for the report! We’ll follow up when we have an update for you.

[be_nj (benjj)]

Hey, thanks for the report. I believe there’s some confirmation bias here that is misdiagnosing the issue.

You mention these appear at higher frequency when the prefix tag is used, presumably within an OnIncomingMessage callback. These callbacks only run on the client after the text has been filtered. These callbacks will have no effect on the text filter result.

The text filter itself is contextual and will change its results based on text around it. I can type the “123” about 2-3 times in any chat on roblox and it will eventually be filtered, including Roblox’s platform chat on web.

Likewise, “robux” seems to be a sensitive word when it comes to the text filter, presumably for phishing and scam reasons. The filter is likely considering “sorobux” as a potential bypass for “robux” in this particular example.

If I talk about nothing but robux for a few messages, they will eventually be filtered – in your game or in any other roblox chat.

Unfortunately I dont work on the text filter itself to say more, these are just my black box observations. TextChat itself seems to be working as intended. I can pass along this feedback to the text filter team.

[hyberjection (Lucky)]

Heyo! Thank you for letting me know about this - if modifications to TextChatMessage.PrefixText and TextChatMessage.Text aren’t filtered, then you should be correct! I’ve submitted a request to see if SoroBux could be lightened up a bit on the filter.
Thank you so much for the helpful response! ^^ Have a good day!