If you've spent any time in Studio lately, you've probably thought about how a roblox custom radar script could totally change the way players navigate your map. Whether you're building a massive open-world RPG or a fast-paced tactical shooter, players need to know where they are and, more importantly, where their enemies are. Relying on just the 3D view is fine, but adding a functional radar gives your game that professional polish that separates a "starter project" from something people actually want to play for hours.
The thing about radar scripts is that they can get overcomplicated really fast. You start thinking about viewports, math transforms, and 3D-to-2D projections, and suddenly you're staring at a screen full of red errors. But it doesn't have to be that way. We're going to break down how to build one that's clean, efficient, and—most importantly—customizable.
Why You Shouldn't Just Use a Free Model
It's tempting to just grab a radar from the Toolbox, right? We've all been there. But here's the problem: most free model radars are bloated, outdated, or just plain ugly. They often use old methods that can lag a game once you have more than five players moving around at once.
When you write your own roblox custom radar script, you have total control. You decide if it shows teammates, enemies, or objective markers. You control the color palette to match your game's aesthetic. Plus, you won't have to worry about some random script in the Toolbox having a backdoor or breaking the moment Roblox updates its engine.
Setting Up the UI First
Before we touch a single line of code, we need a place for the radar to live. You'll want to head into your StarterGui and create a ScreenGui. Inside that, throw in a Frame. This is going to be your radar's container.
A lot of people like to make the radar circular because it looks "military" or "high-tech." If that's what you're going for, just add a UICorner to the Frame and set the corner radius to 1, 0. Boom—instant circle. Make sure you give it a nice semi-transparent background color so it doesn't totally block the player's view of the actual game.
Inside this main frame, you'll also need a "Center Point." This represents the player. Usually, a small white arrow or a simple dot works best. Position it exactly at {0.5, 0}, {0.5, 0} so it stays right in the middle.
The Logic Behind the Radar
Here's where the "magic" happens. The core of a roblox custom radar script is basically just a math problem. You need to take the distance between the player and an object in the 3D world and translate that into a 2D position on your UI Frame.
Think about it this way: if an enemy is 100 studs away from you in the game, you want them to appear as a dot near the edge of your radar. If they're 10 studs away, that dot should be right next to your center icon.
The trickiest part isn't the distance, though—it's the rotation. If you turn your character to the left, the radar should rotate to the right (or the icons should move) so that what's "in front" of you in the game is always "at the top" of the radar. Without this, your players will be spinning in circles trying to figure out which way is north.
Handling the Distance Scaling
You don't want the radar to show every single thing in the entire game world; that would just be a mess of dots. You need a "Max Distance" variable. Let's say your radar has a range of 200 studs. Anything further away than that just doesn't get rendered on the UI. This keeps things clean and actually useful for the player.
Writing the Core Script
You'll want to use a LocalScript for this, likely placed inside the UI Frame itself. We want to use RunService.RenderStepped because it runs every single frame, making the radar movement look buttery smooth. If you use a standard while wait() do loop, the radar will look choppy and "laggy," even if the game itself is running fine.
In your script, you'll want to loop through all the players (or whatever objects you're tracking). For each one, you calculate the relative position. A simple way to do this is to take the target's HumanoidRootPart.Position and subtract the local player's HumanoidRootPart.Position.
Once you have that relative vector, you can use some basic trigonometry (don't worry, it's not as scary as it sounds) or CFrame math to rotate that vector based on where the player's camera is pointing.
A Quick Code Example
Here is a very simplified look at how you might calculate that position:
```lua local relativePos = targetPos - playerPos local distance = relativePos.Magnitude
if distance <= MaxDistance then local x = relativePos.X / MaxDistance local z = relativePos.Z / MaxDistance -- Then apply these to the UI dot's Position property end ```
Making It Look Professional
Once you have the dots moving correctly, it's time to make it look like it actually belongs in your game. A roblox custom radar script shouldn't just be a bunch of red squares.
- Custom Icons: Use
ImageLabelsinstead ofFramesfor the blips. You can have different icons for vehicles, health packs, or bosses. - Fading Effects: You can make the dots get more transparent the further away they are from the player. It's a subtle touch, but it adds a lot of depth.
- Rotation: Instead of moving the dots around a static background, try rotating the background map or the radar ring itself. It feels much more immersive.
Performance is Key
One mistake I see all the time is people creating and destroying UI elements every frame. Don't do that. If you have 20 players on a server and you're creating 20 new Frame objects 60 times a second, you're going to kill the player's frame rate.
Instead, use a "Pool" of UI elements. Create a few dozen dots when the game starts, hide them (set Visible to false), and then just move and show them as needed. It's way more efficient and keeps the garbage collector from having a heart attack.
Another tip: you don't actually need to update the radar every single frame for objects that are really far away. You can stagger the updates to save on processing power, though for a standard 20-player match, RenderStepped is usually totally fine if your math is clean.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
If your dots are flying off the screen or moving in the wrong direction, it's almost always a coordinate system issue. Remember that in Roblox, the Y-axis is "up," but on a 2D radar, you're usually mapping the X and Z axes (the floor) to the X and Y axes of the screen. It sounds confusing, but once you visualize the top-down view, it makes sense.
Also, make sure you're checking if the player's character actually exists before trying to get their position. If a player resets or hasn't spawned in yet, your script will throw a "nil" error and stop working entirely. A simple if character and character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart") then check will save you a lot of headaches.
Final Thoughts
Building a roblox custom radar script is one of those projects that feels really rewarding once it finally clicks. It's a perfect blend of UI design and logical scripting. It forces you to think about how 3D space translates to a 2D interface, which is a super valuable skill to have as a developer.
Take your time with the math, keep your UI organized, and don't be afraid to experiment with the visuals. A good radar isn't just a tool; it's a part of the game's identity. Once you get the hang of the basic distance mapping, you can start adding cool features like height indicators (showing if an enemy is above or below you) or ping systems. The sky's the limit!