Use for Roblox server or cross-server data: OrderedDataStore leaderboards, MessagingService, world state, seasons, or guilds.

Roblox Server & Shared Data When to Load Load for server level or cross server data: leaderboards (OrderedDataStore), cross server messaging (MessagingService), temporary queues and sorted maps (MemoryStoreService), shared world state, persistent non player data, season/guild data. For player data (DataStore, ProfileStore, session locking), use roblox data ; for Open Cloud and external APIs, use roblox cloud . Quick Reference OrderedDataStore (Leaderboards) Sortable DataStore. Keys are strings; use a stable key such as tostring(UserId) . Values are integers used for sorting; choose the sign and ordering intentionally. GetSortedAsync(ascending, pageSize, minValue, maxValue) → sorted pages For leaderboards only, not player data MessagingService (Cross Server) Real time server communication: SubscribeAsync / PublishAsync No delivery or ordering guarantee; design for idempotency. GlobalDataStore (Shared State) Persistent non player state such as guilds, seasons, and counters. Use UpdateAsync ; never use it for player session data. MemoryStoreService (Temporary Coordination) Queues and sorted maps for expiring matchmaking, leases, and coordination. Remove a read batch only after successful, idempotent processing. Use MessagingService or TeleportData for notification and handoff. Cross Server Patterns Register servers with expiring heartbeats; use MessagingService for notifications. Pitfalls MessagingService is fire and forget: no delivery guarantee, no ordering GlobalDataStore has same rate limits as player DataStores; don't spam OrderedDataStore keys are strings; values are integers used for sorting Never store Instances; serialize to primitives first UpdateAsync for any shared counter to prevent lost updates Need more detail? Load references/full.md for the complete reference with code examples, API tables, and edge cases.

roblox-server-data