A roblox move script is the first thing most developers want to master once they realize that just placing blocks in Studio isn't enough to make a real game. You've got your map, you've got your cool character skins, but everything is just sitting there. To make things interesting, you need stuff to move. Whether it's a sliding door, a patrolling NPC, or a complex hovering vehicle, scripting that motion is where the magic happens.
If you're just starting out, the whole Luau scripting language might look like a bunch of gibberish. But honestly, moving things in Roblox is actually pretty intuitive once you understand how the engine thinks about space. It's all about X, Y, and Z coordinates, and choosing the right method for the specific type of movement you're trying to achieve.
The Difference Between Position and CFrame
Before you even start typing out your roblox move script, you need to decide if you're moving a "Position" or a "CFrame." Most beginners grab the Position property because it's easy to understand—it's just where the object is in the world. If you change a part's Position from (0, 10, 0) to (0, 20, 0), it jumps up 10 studs.
The downside? Position doesn't care about rotation. If you want an object to move and stay tilted at a specific angle, using just Position can get messy. That's where CFrame (Coordinate Frame) comes in. CFrame is much more powerful because it handles both where the object is and which way it's facing. If you're making a bullet script or a car, you're definitely going to want to use CFrame. It's the "pro" way to do things and avoids a lot of the weird glitchy behavior you get when you just mess with raw coordinates.
Using TweenService for Smooth Motion
If you want an object to slide smoothly from Point A to Point B, you shouldn't just use a while loop to add 0.1 to its position every frame. That's a recipe for lag and jittery movement. Instead, you should use TweenService.
TweenService is basically a godsend for Roblox developers. It allows you to tell the game: "Hey, take this part and move it to this location over the next three seconds, and make it start slow and end slow." It handles all the heavy math for you.
When you're writing a roblox move script using TweenService, you'll define three main things: the object you're moving, the "TweenInfo" (which covers how long it takes and the easing style), and the goal (where it's going). Easing styles are the secret sauce—they can make things bounce, elasticize, or just move at a constant speed. For something like a UI menu sliding onto the screen or a lift going up a building, Tweening is 100% the way to go.
Moving Characters and NPCs
Moving a player's character or an NPC is a bit of a different beast compared to moving a floating brick. Characters have a Humanoid object inside them, which changes the rules. If you just force-change the CFrame of a player's torso, they'll essentially teleport, and it might break their animations.
For NPCs, most people use the MoveTo() function. It's a built-in method for Humanoids that tells the character to walk to a specific spot. It's super simple, but it's also a bit "dumb"—it doesn't know how to walk around walls. If you want your NPC to actually navigate a maze or avoid obstacles, you'll need to combine your movement script with PathfindingService. This service calculates a path of waypoints, and your script just tells the Humanoid to walk to each one in order.
Physics-Based Movement
Sometimes you don't want a "scripted" feel. You want things to move because of forces—like a ball being kicked or a boat floating on water. In these cases, your roblox move script won't be setting positions directly; instead, it'll be applying forces.
Roblox recently updated their physics constraints, so you'll want to look at things like LinearVelocity or VectorForce. These are great because they interact with the world's gravity and friction. If your object hits a wall, it'll actually stop or bounce back, rather than clipping through it like it would with a CFrame script. It takes a bit more tuning to get the "feel" right, but for vehicles or physics puzzles, it's much more immersive for the player.
The Client vs. Server Headache
This is where things usually go wrong for new scripters. You write a perfect roblox move script, you hit play, and it works but only for you. Or maybe it works, but it looks incredibly laggy.
In Roblox, you have to think about who is "running" the script. If you move a part in a LocalScript (which runs on the player's computer), only that player sees it move. To everyone else, that part is still sitting in the middle of the floor. If you want everyone to see the movement, the script generally needs to be a Server Script.
However, there's a catch. If the server is handling every single tiny movement for 50 different objects, the game is going to lag. A common trick for experienced devs is to have the server tell all the clients "Hey, this thing is moving now," and then let each client handle the actual visual movement locally. It's a bit more work to set up, but it makes the game feel way smoother.
Input-Based Movement
What if you want to move something only when a player presses a button? You'll need to hook your roblox move script into the UserInputService. This lets you detect when someone hits the 'W' key, clicks their mouse, or taps a button on their phone.
A typical setup involves detecting the input, then firing a remote event to the server (if needed), or directly manipulating the player's camera or character. For example, if you're making a "dash" mechanic, you'd listen for the player double-tapping a key and then use a LinearVelocity or a quick CFrame lerp to shove their character forward.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people forgetting to Anchor or Unanchor their parts. If you're using a script to move a part via CFrame, it usually needs to be Anchored so physics don't interfere. But if you're using physics forces to move it, it must be Unanchored, or it won't budge no matter how much force you apply. It sounds simple, but you'd be surprised how many hours are wasted debugging a script that was actually fine, but the part was just stuck because of a single checkbox in the properties window.
Another trap is the "Infinite Loop of Death." If you're moving something in a while true do loop, always make sure there is a task.wait() in there. Without it, the script will try to run a billion times a second, freeze your Studio, and probably make your computer fans sound like a jet engine taking off.
Putting It All Together
Writing a roblox move script is really about picking the right tool for the job.
- Want a smooth elevator? TweenService.
- Want a player to fly? LinearVelocity.
- Want a basic NPC to walk to a shop? Humanoid:MoveTo().
- Want a spinning coin? CFrame inside a simple loop.
Don't feel like you have to memorize every single API page on the Roblox Creator Documentation. Most of us just keep a few templates handy and tweak them as we go. The more you experiment with these different methods, the more you'll start to "feel" which one is right for your game. Just keep hitting that Play button, seeing why things broke, and fixing them. That's how every great Roblox game you've ever played was built—one broken movement script at a time.
At the end of the day, movement is what brings your world to life. It's the difference between a static scene and a living, breathing environment. So, grab a part, open up a script, and start messing around with some coordinates. You might just stumble onto the next big game mechanic.