Learning how to make a inventory system in roblox studio is basically a rite of passage for any dev who wants to build something more complex than a basic obby. If you're making an RPG, a survival game, or even a simulator, your players are going to want to pick stuff up, and they're going to want a place to see what they've got.
It sounds intimidating if you're new to Luau scripting, but it's really just a conversation between the server and the player's screen. In this article, we're going to break down the logic of how these systems work, how to set up the UI, and how to make sure everything actually saves when someone picks up a shiny new sword.
Start With the Visuals: Designing the UI
Before we even touch a script, we need something for the player to look at. In Roblox, all your visual stuff lives in StarterGui. You'll want to create a ScreenGui and call it something like "InventoryGui."
Inside that, I usually add a Frame that serves as the main background. This is where you get to be creative. Make it a bit transparent, give it some rounded corners with a UICorner, and maybe center it on the screen. But the real star of the show is the ScrollingFrame.
Why a ScrollingFrame? Because you never know how many items a player might hoard. If you just use a regular frame, your items will eventually bleed off the edge of the screen. Inside that ScrollingFrame, make sure to add a UIGridLayout. This is a lifesaver—it automatically organizes your item slots into neat rows and columns so you don't have to manually position every single button.
Creating the Item Template
Here's a pro tip: don't make fifty different slots by hand. Just make one. Create a TextButton or an ImageButton inside your ScreenGui (keep it outside the main frame for now) and call it "ItemTemplate." This is what your script will clone every time the player gets a new item. Design it to look like a square slot with a little label for the item name. Once you like how it looks, put it in a Folder inside the ScreenGui or in ReplicatedStorage.
Setting Up the Backend Logic
Now that we have the "look," we need the "brain." When you're thinking about how to make a inventory system in roblox studio, you have to remember the golden rule: Never trust the client.
If you handle the inventory entirely on the player's side (the LocalScript), a exploiter can just tell the game they have 999 legendary items. To prevent that, we store the actual data on the server.
Go to ServerStorage and create a folder called "PlayerInventories." When a player joins the game, your script should create a folder for that specific player inside there. This folder will hold all the "Items"—which are usually just StringValues or ObjectValues named after the items they've picked up.
The Power of RemoteEvents
Since the server knows what you have and the client (the UI) needs to show it, they need a way to talk. This is where RemoteEvents come in. Create a RemoteEvent in ReplicatedStorage and name it "UpdateInventory."
When a player picks up an item, the server will update the folder in ServerStorage and then "fire" this event to the player. The player's UI will hear that event and say, "Oh, I need to redraw the list of items now!"
Scripting the Pickup System
You can't have an inventory if you can't pick anything up. The simplest way to do this is using a ProximityPrompt on a Part.
Let's say you have a "Wood" part on the ground. You add a ProximityPrompt to it. When the player triggers it, a Script (on the server) checks who triggered it, creates a new StringValue named "Wood," and parents it to that player's inventory folder in ServerStorage.
Once that's done, the server calls UpdateInventory:FireClient(player). This tells the player's UI to refresh. It's a clean, circular flow that keeps everything synced up.
Making the UI Dynamic
This is the part that feels like magic. In your InventoryGui, you'll need a LocalScript. This script's job is to listen for that "UpdateInventory" event.
When the event fires, the script should: 1. Clear out all the old buttons in the ScrollingFrame (except the UIGridLayout, obviously). 2. Look at the player's inventory folder (usually you'll need a way for the client to see this, or send the data through the event). 3. Loop through every item in that folder. 4. For every item, clone that "ItemTemplate" we made earlier. 5. Change the text of the button to the name of the item. 6. Parent that button to the ScrollingFrame.
Because we used a UIGridLayout, you don't have to worry about where the buttons go. They'll just pop into place. It's satisfying to watch.
Handling Item Usage and Equipping
An inventory isn't just a list; people usually want to do something with their stuff. If you want players to be able to equip a tool from their inventory, you'll need another RemoteEvent called "EquipItem."
When a player clicks one of those buttons in their UI, the LocalScript should fire that "EquipItem" event to the server, passing along the name of the item. The server then looks in a "MasterItemFolder" (where you keep all your actual Tool objects), finds the one that matches, and clones it into the player's Backpack.
Don't forget to check if the player actually owns the item before giving it to them! Again, never trust the client to tell you the truth about what they own.
Saving the Data
If you spend three hours grinding for loot and then lose it all because you left the game, you're going to be pretty upset. To prevent this, you'll need to use DataStoreService.
When a player leaves the game, you want your script to look at their inventory folder, put all the item names into a table, and save that table to the Roblox cloud. When they join back, you just do the reverse: load the table and recreate those StringValues in their folder.
It sounds complicated, but it's mostly just using JSONEncode or just saving a simple table of strings. Just make sure you enable "API Services" in your Game Settings, or your scripts won't be able to talk to the data servers.
Polishing the Experience
Once the basic system is working, you can start adding the "juice." * Sounds: Add a little click sound when they open the menu or a pop when they pick up an item. * Animations: Make the UI slide in from the side of the screen instead of just appearing. * Rarity: Use different colors for the item name text based on how rare the item is (Common = White, Legendary = Gold).
These little touches are what separate a "test project" from a game that people actually want to play.
Final Thoughts on the Process
Figuring out how to make a inventory system in roblox studio is really about understanding how data moves around. You've got the physical item in the world, the data entry on the server, and the visual representation on the UI. If you can keep those three things in sync, you can build almost anything.
Don't get discouraged if your first attempt results in a bunch of red errors in the output window. Scripting is 10% writing code and 90% figuring out why the code you just wrote isn't working. Double-check your names, make sure your RemoteEvents are in the right place, and always use print() statements to see where the logic is breaking. You've got this!