Use when optimizing a Roblox game for better frame rates, reducing lag, improving server or client performance, diagnosing FPS drops, handling large worlds, or when asked about streaming, draw calls, object pooling, LOD, MicroProfiler, or expensive loop operations.

Roblox Performance Optimization Quick Reference Technique Impact When to Use StreamingEnabled High Large open worlds Object pooling High Frequent spawn/destroy Cache references outside loops High Heartbeat/RenderStepped task.wait() over wait() Medium All scripts MeshParts over Unions Medium Many unique shapes LOD (hide at distance) Medium Complex models Anchor static parts Medium Reduce physics budget Limit PointLights High Any scene with many lights StreamingEnabled Enable for large worlds — engine sends only nearby parts to the client. Parts outside the radius are nil on the client — always guard with if part then . Set Model.LevelOfDetail = Disabled on models that must always be present. Pre stream an area before a cutscene or teleport: Hot Path Loop Optimization RunService.Heartbeat and RenderStepped fire every frame (~60×/sec). Keep them lean. Bad — searching the hierarchy every frame Good — cache references once, do work only when needed Rules: Cache game:GetService() and part references outside the loop. Never call FindFirstChild , GetChildren , or GetDescendants inside Heartbeat. Throttle work that doesn't need every frame: task Library vs Legacy Scheduler Always use task — wait() and spawn() throttle under load and are deprecated. Legacy Modern wait(n) task.wait(n) spawn(fn) task.spawn(fn) delay(n, fn) task.delay(n, fn) coroutine.wrap(fn)() task.spawn(fn) Object Pooling Reuse instances instead of creating and destroying them every frame. Level of Detail (LOD) Built in: Set Model.LevelOfDetail = Automatic — engine merges distant parts into an imposter mesh automatically. Manual distance based LOD: Reducing Draw Calls Merge parts that share a material into one MeshPart (export from Blender as .fbx ). MeshParts batch better than CSG Unions (Unions re triangulate at runtime). Reuse materials — 10 parts sharing SmoothPlastic costs far less than 10 unique textures. Use TextureId on a single MeshPart instead of stacking Decals on many parts. Profiling with MicroProfiler 1. Press Ctrl+F6 in game to open MicroProfiler. 2. Press Ctrl+P to pause and inspect a single frame. 3. Look for wide bars in heartbeatSignal (Lua), physicsStepped (physics), or render (GPU). 4. Label your own code: Common FPS Killers Cause Fix Thousands of individual parts Merge into MeshParts Unanchored static geometry Anchored = true on anything that never moves Many PointLight / SpotLight instances Limit to ~10–20 dynamic lights per area High rate ParticleEmitters Lower Rate and Lifetime ; disable when off screen wait() under heavy load Replace with task.wait() FindFirstChild chains inside Heartbeat Cache on load StreamingEnabled off on large maps Enable it Model.LevelOfDetail = Disabled everywhere Use Automatic where safe Common Mistakes Mistake Fix workspace:FindFirstChild every frame Cache reference on character/model load Destroying and re creating bullets/effects Use an object pool wait() in tight loops task.wait() All parts with unique materials Standardize to a small set of shared materials ParticleEmitters enabled off screen Disable Enabled when particle source is not visible Physics on decorative parts Anchored = true

roblox-performance