Getting your game to look exactly how you want often starts with a roblox studio core gui script to hide all those default buttons that clutter the screen. When you first open a fresh place in Roblox Studio, you're greeted with the standard kit: the chat box in the top left, the player leaderboard on the right, the backpack at the bottom, and that ever-present hamburger menu. While these are super functional for most games, they can really kill the vibe if you're trying to build something immersive, like a cinematic horror experience or a clean, minimalist simulator.
The thing about the Core GUI is that it's protected. You can't just go into the Explorer window, find a folder called "RobloxUI," and hit the delete key. It's baked into the engine. To mess with it, you have to talk to the StarterGui service using a script. It's one of those hurdles every developer hits eventually—usually right after they finish their first custom health bar and realize the default one is still sitting right behind it, looking awkward.
Why you'd want to touch the Core GUI
Let's be real: the default Roblox UI is iconic, but it's also very "Roblox." If you're making a competitive shooter, you probably want your own custom leaderboard that shows kills, deaths, and maybe a specialized ranking system. The default leaderboard just takes up space. Or maybe you're building a game where the player shouldn't be able to see their inventory at all times. In that case, the backpack has to go.
Using a roblox studio core gui script allows you to toggle these elements on and off. It's not just about hiding things, either. Sometimes you want to change how the "Reset Character" button works or send your own system notifications that look like the official ones. It's all about taking control of the player's screen so they're looking at your hard work, not the default engine assets.
The magic of SetCoreGuiEnabled
This is the bread and butter of UI management. The SetCoreGuiEnabled function is what you'll use 90% of the time. It's a method of the StarterGui service, and it's pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. You basically tell the engine which part of the UI you're talking to and whether it should be visible or not.
For example, if you want to wipe the slate clean and hide everything, you'd use Enum.CoreGuiType.All and set it to false. Just like that, the chat, the leaderboard, and the backpack vanish. It's a bit of a power trip the first time you do it, honestly. But usually, you want a more surgical approach. You might want to keep the chat but hide the backpack. In that case, you just specify Enum.CoreGuiType.Backpack instead.
Where the script actually goes
I've seen a lot of beginners get stuck here. They'll put a script in ServerScriptService and wonder why the UI is still there. Here's the thing: the Core GUI is a local thing. It exists on the player's machine, not on the server. So, your roblox studio core gui script needs to be a LocalScript.
The best place to put it is usually in StarterPlayerScripts or StarterGui itself. When the player joins, that script runs on their client and tells their specific version of the game to hide those elements. If you try to do this from a regular script (server-side), it's just going to throw an error because the server doesn't have a "screen" to hide things from.
Dealing with the "Not Registered" error
If you've spent any time on the DevForum, you've probably seen people complaining about the "SetCore: [Name] has not been registered" error. This is a classic Roblox quirk. Sometimes, your script runs so fast that it tries to change a Core GUI element before the game has even finished loading it. It's like trying to paint a wall before the house has been built.
To get around this, you usually have to wrap your code in a pcall (protected call) and put it inside a loop or use a small delay. It's a bit of a "hacky" solution, but even the pros do it. You basically tell the script: "Hey, try to hide the reset button. If it fails, wait a second and try again until it works." It keeps your game from crashing and ensures the UI actually disappears like it's supposed to.
Customizing the Reset Button
Speaking of the reset button, that's another big reason to use a roblox studio core gui script. Sometimes, you don't want players to be able to reset. Maybe they're in the middle of a cutscene, or maybe resetting breaks a specific mechanic in your game.
You can use SetCore with the "ResetButtonCallback" to either disable the button entirely or make it do something else. Some games make it so that when you click "Reset," it triggers a custom death animation or sends you back to a specific checkpoint instead of just deleting your character. It's a small touch, but it makes the game feel way more polished and professional.
Creating custom notifications
Another cool thing you can do with a roblox studio core gui script is use StarterGui:SetCore("SendNotification", ). Have you ever seen those little grey boxes that pop up in the bottom right corner of the screen in games like Welcome to Bloxburg? Those are often just the built-in Roblox notifications.
They're super handy because they're easy to trigger and they don't require you to design your own notification system from scratch. You can set the title, the text, the duration, and even add a little icon. It's perfect for things like "You found a secret!" or "Player1 has joined the party." It feels native to the platform, which some players really appreciate.
Balancing custom UI and Core UI
There's a bit of a debate among developers about how much of the Core GUI you should actually hide. While it's tempting to hide everything and build a 100% custom interface, you have to think about the user experience. Roblox players are used to certain things. They know where the chat is. They know how to check the leaderboard to see who else is in the game.
If you hide the chat without providing a really good alternative, players are going to feel isolated. If you hide the backpack but your game has twenty different items to manage, it might get confusing. The best use of a roblox studio core gui script is usually to enhance the experience, not just to delete things for the sake of it. Maybe hide the default health bar because you made a cooler one, but keep the chat because social interaction is a huge part of the platform.
Performance and clean code
One thing to keep in mind is that you don't need a million different scripts to manage this. You can usually handle all your Core GUI changes in one single LocalScript. Keep it organized. If you're hiding the leaderboard and the backpack, do it in the same block of code.
Also, remember that these settings stay active as long as the script is running or until you change them back. If you have a system where the UI comes back during certain parts of the game, you'll need to write logic to toggle those SetCoreGuiEnabled calls. It's all about keeping the player's screen clean and relevant to what they're doing at that exact moment.
Wrapping it up
At the end of the day, a roblox studio core gui script is a simple tool that gives you a massive amount of control over the "feel" of your game. It's the difference between a project that looks like a basic template and one that feels like a standalone experience. Whether you're just killing the backpack to make room for your own inventory system or you're completely redesigning the HUD from the ground up, knowing how to talk to the StarterGui service is an essential skill.
Don't be afraid to experiment with it. Try hiding different elements and see how it changes the atmosphere of your game. Just remember to use those pcalls to avoid those annoying startup errors, and always keep the player's convenience in mind. A clean screen is great, but a functional one is even better. Happy scripting, and hopefully, your UI ends up looking exactly how you imagined it!