Setting up a roblox third person script is one of those foundational steps that can totally shift the vibe of your game from a generic hobby project to something that feels professional and intentional. While Roblox gives us a decent camera system right out of the box, it's often a bit too "floaty" or basic for specific genres. If you're making a tactical shooter, an over-the-shoulder adventure, or even a tight platformer, you don't want the player constantly fighting with the scroll wheel to get the right angle. You want to control that experience, and that's where custom scripting comes into play.
Why Go Custom Anyway?
Let's be real: the default camera is fine for most things. It lets you zoom in and out, and it follows the player. But the second you want a specific "feel," the default settings start to feel like a straightjacket. Maybe you want the camera locked at a specific distance so the player can't see things they aren't supposed to. Or maybe you want that cool over-the-shoulder look that makes every action feel more cinematic.
When you write your own roblox third person script, you're taking the steering wheel. You get to decide exactly how much the camera "swings" when the player turns, how it reacts when it hits a wall, and exactly where it sits relative to the character's head. It's about immersion. A snappy, responsive camera makes a game feel "expensive," even if you're just a solo dev working out of your bedroom.
The Basic Logic Behind the Camera
Before we jump into the deep end, let's talk about what's actually happening. In Roblox, the CurrentCamera is an object in the Workspace. Most of the time, the engine handles it for us. To create a custom third-person view, we basically tell the engine, "Hey, I've got this. Stop moving the camera, and I'll tell you exactly where to put it every single frame."
We usually do this using something called RenderStepped. It's a signal that fires right before the frame is rendered on the screen. Because it happens so fast (usually 60 times a second or more), the movement looks buttery smooth to the player. If you tried to update the camera using a standard wait() loop, it would look choppy and probably give your players a headache.
Setting Up Your Script
To get started, you're going to want to head over to StarterPlayer in the Explorer window and find the StarterPlayerScripts folder. This is where we put scripts that should run for the player locally. Since the camera is a purely "client-side" thing—meaning every player sees their own view—we use a LocalScript.
A basic version of this script usually starts by locking the mouse. If you've played any third-person game, you know the mouse usually controls the camera rotation rather than just moving a cursor around the screen. We do this by setting UserInputService.MouseBehavior to LockCenter.
Once the mouse is locked, we can track how much the player moves it and use those numbers to rotate the camera around the character. It's all just math, really—trigonometry, to be specific—but luckily, Roblox's CFrame system does most of the heavy lifting for us.
Making It "Over-the-Shoulder"
If you're going for that "OTS" (over-the-shoulder) look, you're looking at adding an offset. Instead of the camera being centered directly behind the character's torso, you push it a little to the right and maybe a little up.
In your script, this looks like taking the character's position and adding a Vector3.new(2, 2, 8) or something similar. The first number moves it to the side, the second moves it up, and the third moves it back. Tweaking these three numbers is where you spend 90% of your time. You'll find yourself jumping into "Play" mode, moving the camera, stopping, changing the numbers by 0.5, and doing it all over again until it feels just right.
Handling Collisions (The Hard Part)
Here is where a lot of beginner scripts fall apart. If your player walks into a tight corner or stands against a wall, a simple script might let the camera clip right through the bricks, showing the "backstage" of your map. It looks bad and breaks the immersion immediately.
To fix this, you have to use Raycasting. Think of it like the camera firing an invisible laser beam toward the player. If that laser hits a wall before it reaches the player, the script tells the camera to move closer so it stays inside the room. It's a bit of extra work, but it's the difference between a "tech demo" and a finished game.
Roblox has a pretty handy WorldRoot:Raycast() function that makes this manageable. You just have to make sure the "laser" ignores the player's own body parts; otherwise, the camera will constantly freak out because it thinks the player's head is a wall.
Smoothness and "Lerping"
If your camera snaps instantly to a new position, it can feel a bit robotic. To make it feel more "organic," developers use something called Lerping (Linear Interpolation). Essentially, instead of saying "Move to position B," you say "Move 10% of the way toward position B every frame."
This creates a slight "lag" or "weight" to the camera that feels much more natural to the human eye. It mimics how a real camera operator might move. Just don't overdo it—if the camera is too slow to catch up, the player will feel like they're playing underwater.
Adding Features: Toggling and Zooming
A great roblox third person script shouldn't be a one-trick pony. You might want to let the player switch which shoulder the camera is looking over (usually by pressing 'Q' or 'E'). This is great for shooters where you need to peek around corners.
You can also add a custom zoom. Instead of the default scroll, you can script it so that holding a button (like the right mouse button) lowers the Field of View (FOV) and moves the camera even closer to the shoulder. This creates a "focus" effect that is perfect for aiming or examining objects in the world.
Performance Considerations
Since this script is running every single frame, you want to keep it light. Avoid doing heavy calculations or searching through the game's hierarchy inside your RenderStepped function. Define your variables (like the Player, the Character, and the Camera) outside the loop so the script isn't constantly asking "Wait, who am I looking at again?"
Also, remember mobile players! If your game is going to be on phones or tablets, a script that relies entirely on a "Mouse Lock" won't work. You'll need to handle touch inputs or provide an on-screen toggle for the camera mode. It's more work, sure, but it opens your game up to a massive audience.
Final Thoughts
Building your own roblox third person script is a bit of a rite of passage for Roblox developers. It forces you to understand how the client sees the world and how to manipulate 3D space. Don't get discouraged if your first attempt results in a camera that spins wildly into the abyss—it happens to the best of us.
The beauty of the Roblox community is that there are tons of snippets and modules out there to learn from. Take a basic script, pull it apart, see what makes it tick, and then rebuild it to fit your specific vision. Once you get that camera feeling perfect, everything else in your game—the movement, the combat, the exploration—will suddenly feel ten times better. Happy scripting!