Getting your roblox studio checkpoint system script set up correctly is basically the first rite of passage for any aspiring game dev. If you're building an obby, or really any kind of adventure game, you need a way to make sure players don't lose all their progress the second they trip over a lava brick. Let's be real, there is nothing more frustrating than getting 90% of the way through a difficult stage only to be sent back to the very beginning because a script didn't fire.
In this article, we're going to walk through how to build a checkpoint system that actually works, doesn't lag your game, and is easy to expand as you add more levels. We'll skip the overly complicated stuff and focus on a clean, logic-based approach that uses leaderstats to track where everyone is.
Why you should script your checkpoints
You might be tempted to just throw a bunch of SpawnLocations into your game and call it a day. While that kind of works for tiny projects, it becomes a nightmare to manage once you have more than three or four stages. Using a proper roblox studio checkpoint system script gives you way more control.
With a script, you can easily track a player's "Stage" number, show it on the leaderboard, and even save their progress so they can come back later. Plus, it just looks more professional. When a player sees that "Stage 5" icon in the corner of their screen, they feel a sense of accomplishment that a generic spawn point just doesn't provide.
Setting up the workspace
Before we even touch the code, we need to get the physical parts ready in Roblox Studio. I like to keep things organized, so here is the setup I recommend:
- Create a Folder in the
Workspaceand name it "Checkpoints". - Inside that folder, create your checkpoint parts. These can be simple blocks or fancy platforms.
- Important: Name each part according to its stage number. Start with "1", then "2", then "3", and so on.
- Make sure all your checkpoint parts have
CanCollideturned off (so players don't trip) andAnchoredturned on (so they don't fall through the floor). - Set
CanTouchto true. This is the big one—if this is off, our script won't know when a player has arrived.
By naming the parts "1", "2", and so on, we're making it incredibly easy for our script to loop through them later. It saves us from having to write a unique line of code for every single level in your game.
Creating the leaderstats
The first part of our roblox studio checkpoint system script involves setting up the "leaderstats." This is the data that follows the player around. We need a way to store which stage the player is currently on.
Head over to ServerScriptService, create a new Script, and name it something like "LeaderstatsHandler". You can paste in something like this:
```lua game.Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player) local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder") leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats" leaderstats.Parent = player
local stage = Instance.new("IntValue") stage.Name = "Stage" stage.Value = 1 -- Everyone starts at stage 1 stage.Parent = leaderstats end) ```
This bit of code runs every single time a new person joins your server. It creates a folder called "leaderstats" (it has to be named exactly that for Roblox to recognize it) and sticks an IntValue inside it called "Stage". Now, when you play the game, you'll see a little leaderboard in the top right corner showing everyone's current level.
The core checkpoint logic
Now for the actual roblox studio checkpoint system script that handles the touching. You can put this in the same script or a new one in ServerScriptService. I usually keep them together for simplicity.
What we want to happen is this: When a player touches a checkpoint part, the script checks if that checkpoint's number is higher than their current stage. If it is, we update their stage number. We also need to make sure that when the player dies and respawns, they end up at the right spot.
Here is a simple way to handle the touching part:
```lua local checkpointsFolder = workspace:WaitForChild("Checkpoints")
for _, checkpoint in pairs(checkpointsFolder:GetChildren()) do checkpoint.Touched:Connect(function(hit) local character = hit.Parent local player = game.Players:GetPlayerFromCharacter(character)
if player then local currentStage = player.leaderstats.Stage local checkpointNumber = tonumber(checkpoint.Name) -- Only update if the checkpoint is the next one or a higher one if checkpointNumber > currentStage.Value then currentStage.Value = checkpointNumber -- Optional: Change the checkpoint color to show it's activated checkpoint.Color = Color3.fromRGB(0, 255, 0) end end end) end ```
Making the respawn work
The script above tracks the number, but it doesn't actually move the player when they respawn yet. To do that, we need to tap into the CharacterAdded event. Basically, every time a player's character loads into the world, we want to teleport them to the position of the checkpoint that matches their current stage number.
Add this inside your PlayerAdded function:
```lua player.CharacterAdded:Connect(function(character) task.wait(0.1) -- Give the character a split second to load local stageValue = player.leaderstats.Stage.Value local targetCheckpoint = checkpointsFolder:FindFirstChild(tostring(stageValue))
if targetCheckpoint then character:MoveTo(targetCheckpoint.Position + Vector3.new(0, 3, 0)) end end) ```
The + Vector3.new(0, 3, 0) part is just a little trick to make sure the player spawns slightly above the checkpoint rather than stuck halfway inside it.
Polishing the experience
Now that you have a basic roblox studio checkpoint system script working, you might notice it feels a bit "static." In a real game, you want the player to know they hit a checkpoint.
One easy way to do this is by adding a sound effect or a particle emitter. Inside the .Touched event we wrote earlier, you could add Instance.new("ParticleEmitter", checkpoint) and then use task.wait(1) before destroying it. It's those little visual cues that make a game feel polished and satisfying to play.
Another thing to consider is DataStores. Right now, if a player leaves the game and joins back, they'll be reset to Stage 1. If your obby is long, that's going to make people pretty annoyed. Adding a simple DataStore script to save the Stage.Value when they leave and load it when they join is the logical next step.
Common mistakes to avoid
I've seen a lot of people struggle with their roblox studio checkpoint system script because of a few tiny details. First off, check your names! If your folder is called "CheckPoints" (capital P) but your script looks for "Checkpoints", it's going to error out. Roblox is very picky about capitalization.
Secondly, make sure your checkpoint parts are actually reachable. If you put a checkpoint too far under the floor or too high in the air, the player's foot might never actually trigger the .Touched event.
Lastly, remember the tonumber() function. Since we named our parts with strings (text), we have to convert that text into a number so the script can compare it to the stage value. If you forget that, the script will try to ask "is the word '5' bigger than the number 4?" and it'll just get confused and stop working.
Wrapping things up
Building a roblox studio checkpoint system script is honestly one of the most rewarding early projects you can do. It covers the basics of events, loops, and player data, which are the building blocks for almost everything else in Roblox development.
Once you've got this system down, you can start getting creative. Maybe some checkpoints give the player a speed boost, or maybe others change the skybox color. The sky is the limit once you have a solid foundation to build on. Just keep testing, keep breaking things, and you'll have a fully functional game in no time. Happy building!