Connect a game
Create an Open Cloud API key in the Creator Dashboard, give it the right permissions and connect your Roblox experience to Modhelm.
5 min read
Modhelm bans players through the Roblox Open Cloud ban API, the same system the Creator Hub uses. To do that it needs an API key for your experience. The key is stored encrypted, is never shown again in full and is checked every day.
Before you start
- You need to be the owner of the experience, or a member of the owning group with permission to create API keys.
- Have the Universe ID ready. It is not the Place ID. In the Creator Dashboard, open Creations, hover over your experience, open the menu with the three dots and choose Copy Universe ID.
Create the API key
- Open the Creator Dashboard at create.roblox.com and go to Open Cloud > API Keys.
- Click Create API Key and give it a name, for example
Modhelm. - Under Access Permissions, add the API systems from the table below. For each one, pick your experience and allow the listed operations.
- Optional: under Security > Accepted IP Addresses, add
187.124.189.36. This is the only address Modhelm calls Roblox from. - Leave the Expiration empty. Modhelm keeps the key active for you (see below).
- Click Save & Generate Key and copy the key. Roblox shows it only once.
Permissions
| API system | Operations | Required? | What Modhelm uses it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Restrictions | Read, Write | Required | Ban, temp ban, unban, read the ban list and ban logs |
| Memory Stores (queue) | Dequeue, Discard | Optional | In-game reports from the ModhelmReports queue |
| Messaging Service | Publish | Optional | Not needed for bans or reports. Only add it if you want it for your own purposes |
| Universe | Read | Optional | Name of the experience, if the public lookup fails |
The scope names you may see in error messages are universe.user-restriction:read, universe.user-restriction:write, memory-store.queue:dequeue and memory-store.queue:discard.
Connect the game in the dashboard
- Open your server in the dashboard and go to Games.
- Click Connect game, paste the Universe ID and the API key.
- Modhelm checks the key with the Roblox introspection endpoint, loads the name and icon of the experience and stores the key encrypted. From now on only the last four characters are visible.
If the key is missing a permission, the game is still saved and the page tells you exactly which permission to add. Click Check again after you edited the key in the Creator Dashboard.
How many games
The Free plan includes one game, Pro covers up to 10 and White Label up to 25. All games of a server share one reports channel; the game is shown on every card.
Keep the key alive
Roblox expires an API key automatically after 60 days without use, even without an expiration date. Modhelm prevents that: once a day it runs a health check for every connected game, which makes one read call with the key and records the result. The check also writes an entry to your log channel a few days before a key with an expiration date runs out.
If a key stops working anyway, the Games page shows Key not valid and the log channel gets a message. Create a new key and click Replace key. The old key is deleted from Modhelm right away.
Optional: in-game reports
If you want players to report from inside your game, add Memory Stores with the queue permissions Dequeue and Discard to the same key. Then turn on In-game reports on the Games page and copy the script. The full setup, including the Luau module, is in Reports.
Import existing bans
Click Import bans on a game to read the ban list of the experience. Bans made in the Creator Hub or by scripts are added to the player histories, so your team sees them as priors. The import runs in the background and can take a few minutes.
Error messages and what they mean
| Message | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| This API key doesn't work. | The key was deleted, turned off, copied incompletely or Roblox moderated it. | Create a new key and replace it. Check that the whole key was pasted. |
| This API key has expired. | The expiration date passed, or the key was unused for 60 days before you connected it. | In the Creator Dashboard, turn Enable Key off and on again or edit any property, then Check again. Or create a new key. |
| This API key is missing permissions. | User Restrictions is missing read or write. | Edit the key, allow both operations for your experience and check again. |
| This API key has no access to this game. | The key is restricted to other experiences. | Add this experience to the User Restrictions permission of the key. |
| We couldn't find a Roblox game with this universe ID. | The ID is a Place ID or has a typo. | Copy the Universe ID again from the experience menu. |
| This game is already connected to this server. | The same universe is connected twice. | Nothing to do. Replace the key of the existing entry if needed. |
| You've reached the game limit of your plan. | More games than the plan allows. | Remove a game or upgrade under Billing. |
| Roblox is limiting requests right now. | The key check endpoint allows about 20 checks per minute. | Wait a minute and try again. |
| Roblox isn't responding right now. | Roblox outage or network problem. | Try again in a few minutes. The status page shows whether Roblox is reachable from our side. |
Messages in the log channel after a failed ban use the same wording: "The API key of this game was rejected by Roblox", "The API key is not allowed to ban players in this game", "Roblox does not know this game" or "Roblox is busy right now. Please try the ban again later."
Remove a game
Click Remove on the Games page. The key is deleted from Modhelm. Reports and bans stay in your history, but new bans no longer reach this experience. Bans that are active on Roblox stay active.