How to Make a Custom Character Controller in Roblox

Learn to build your own character controller from scratch, giving you complete control over player movement and opening doors to unique gameplay mechanics.

Hey there, scripter! If you’ve been developing Roblox games for a while, you’ve probably noticed that the default character controller is great for most situations—but sometimes you need something different. Maybe you’re building a racing game where players control vehicles, a flight simulator, or a platformer with custom physics. That’s where custom character controllers come in!

In this tutorial, we’ll build a custom character controller from the ground up. You’ll learn not just how to move a character with code, but why each piece works the way it does. By the end, you’ll have the foundation to create any kind of movement system you can imagine.

Why Build a Custom Controller?

Before we dive into code, let’s talk about why you’d want to replace Roblox’s built-in controller. The default system uses the Humanoid object, which is powerful but also rigid. It’s designed for walking, running, and jumping—that’s about it.

Custom controllers give you:

  • Complete control over movement physics and feel
  • The ability to create unique movement mechanics (flying, wall-running, grappling hooks, etc.)
  • Better performance in specific scenarios
  • Freedom from Humanoid limitations and quirks

The tradeoff? You’ll need to handle everything yourself—including the parts that Humanoid does for free. But that’s exactly what makes this so powerful!

Setting Up Your Character

First, let’s create a simple character model. For this tutorial, we’ll use a basic block character to keep things simple. You can always swap in a more detailed model later.

Creating the Character Model

In Studio, create a new Model in Workspace and name it “CustomCharacter”. Inside it, add a Part called “HumanoidRootPart” (yes, we’re keeping this name for compatibility with Roblox systems). Set its properties:

  • Size: 2, 2, 1
  • Transparency: 1 (invisible)
  • CanCollide: true
  • Anchored: false

Add a Part called “Body” for visibility. Position it at the same location as HumanoidRootPart and weld them together. The HumanoidRootPart is what we’ll actually move—everything else just follows along.

Understanding the Core Movement Loop

Character controllers work on a simple principle: every frame, we calculate where the character should move based on input, then apply forces or directly update the position. We’ll use BodyVelocity (or the newer LinearVelocity) to move smoothly.

Here’s why we use forces instead of just teleporting the character: physics! When you apply velocity, the character interacts naturally with the world—it can be pushed by other objects, slide down slopes, and collide properly. Teleporting breaks all of that.

Building the Controller Script

Create a Script inside ServerScriptService called “CharacterController”. Here’s our basic framework:

local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")
local Players = game:GetService("Players")

local character = workspace.CustomCharacter
local rootPart = character.HumanoidRootPart

-- Movement settings
local MOVE_SPEED = 16
local JUMP_POWER = 50

-- Create BodyVelocity for movement
local bodyVelocity = Instance.new("BodyVelocity")
bodyVelocity.MaxForce = Vector3.new(100000, 0, 100000) -- Only control X and Z
bodyVelocity.Velocity = Vector3.new(0, 0, 0)
bodyVelocity.Parent = rootPart

-- Create BodyGyro for rotation
local bodyGyro = Instance.new("BodyGyro")
bodyGyro.MaxTorque = Vector3.new(0, 100000, 0)
bodyGyro.P = 10000
bodyGyro.Parent = rootPart

Let’s break down what’s happening here. We’re creating a BodyVelocity to control horizontal movement. Notice the MaxForce—we set Y to 0 because we don’t want to interfere with gravity. The character should still fall naturally!

The BodyGyro keeps our character facing the right direction. Without it, the character might rotate unexpectedly when colliding with objects.

Capturing Player Input

Now we need to detect when the player wants to move. For this tutorial, we’ll handle this on the server, but in a real game, you’d want to use RemoteEvents to send input from the client for better responsiveness.

-- Track which keys are pressed
local moveDirection = Vector3.new(0, 0, 0)
local keys = {
	W = false,
	A = false,
	S = false,
	D = false
}

UserInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input, gameProcessed)
	if gameProcessed then return end
	
	local keyCode = input.KeyCode.Name
	if keys[keyCode] ~= nil then
		keys[keyCode] = true
	end
	
	if keyCode == "Space" then
		-- Jump (we'll implement this next)
		jump()
	end
end)

UserInputService.InputEnded:Connect(function(input)
	local keyCode = input.KeyCode.Name
	if keys[keyCode] ~= nil then
		keys[keyCode] = false
	end
end)

Implementing the Movement Loop

Here’s where the magic happens. Every frame, we calculate the movement direction and apply it:

local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")

RunService.Heartbeat:Connect(function()
	-- Calculate move direction from keys
	local direction = Vector3.new(0, 0, 0)
	
	if keys.W then direction = direction + Vector3.new(0, 0, -1) end
	if keys.S then direction = direction + Vector3.new(0, 0, 1) end
	if keys.A then direction = direction + Vector3.new(-1, 0, 0) end
	if keys.D then direction = direction + Vector3.new(1, 0, 0) end
	
	-- Normalize so diagonal movement isn't faster
	if direction.Magnitude > 0 then
		direction = direction.Unit
	end
	
	-- Apply camera-relative movement
	local camera = workspace.CurrentCamera
	local cameraCFrame = camera.CFrame
	local cameraDirection = cameraCFrame:VectorToWorldSpace(direction)
	
	-- Keep movement horizontal only
	cameraDirection = Vector3.new(cameraDirection.X, 0, cameraDirection.Z)
	
	-- Apply velocity
	bodyVelocity.Velocity = cameraDirection * MOVE_SPEED
	
	-- Rotate character to face movement direction
	if cameraDirection.Magnitude > 0 then
		bodyGyro.CFrame = CFrame.lookAt(rootPart.Position, rootPart.Position + cameraDirection)
	end
end)

This is the heart of our controller! Notice how we normalize the direction vector—this prevents diagonal movement from being 1.4x faster. We also use VectorToWorldSpace to make movement relative to the camera, which feels much more natural.

Adding Jump Functionality

Jumping requires detecting when the character is on the ground. We’ll use raycasting for this:

local function isGrounded()
	local rayOrigin = rootPart.Position
	local rayDirection = Vector3.new(0, -3, 0)
	
	local raycastParams = RaycastParams.new()
	raycastParams.FilterType = Enum.RaycastFilterType.Exclude
	raycastParams.FilterDescendantsInstances = {character}
	
	local result = workspace:Raycast(rayOrigin, rayDirection, raycastParams)
	return result ~= nil
end

function jump()
	if isGrounded() then
		rootPart.Velocity = Vector3.new(
			rootPart.Velocity.X,
			JUMP_POWER,
			rootPart.Velocity.Z
		)
	end
end

The raycast shoots downward from the character. If it hits something, we’re grounded and can jump. We directly set the Y velocity here because BodyVelocity isn’t controlling the Y axis.

Connecting to a Player

To actually use this controller, you’ll want to connect it when a player joins and set their camera to follow the character:

Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player)
	player.CharacterAdded:Connect(function()
		-- Disable default character
		player.Character:Destroy()
		
		-- Position custom character at spawn
		rootPart.CFrame = workspace.SpawnLocation.CFrame + Vector3.new(0, 5, 0)
		
		-- Set camera subject
		player.CameraMode = Enum.CameraMode.Classic
		workspace.CurrentCamera.CameraSubject = rootPart
	end)
end)

Polishing and Optimization

This basic controller works, but there’s room for improvement:

  • Client-side input: Move input detection to a LocalScript and use RemoteEvents for better responsiveness
  • Animations: Add an AnimationController to play walk/jump animations
  • State management: Track states like running, jumping, or falling to adjust behavior
  • Advanced physics: Add acceleration/deceleration for smoother movement feel

Recap and Next Steps

Congratulations! You’ve built a working custom character controller from scratch. You now understand how movement input translates to character velocity, why we use physics constraints instead of teleportation, and how camera-relative movement works.

Your controller can now walk, run, jump, and rotate—the foundation for any custom movement system. From here, you could add wall-running, double jumps, dash mechanics, or whatever your game needs!

What to learn next: Try implementing a stamina system that limits sprinting, or explore how to add swimming and climbing states to your controller. You might also want to learn about NetworkOwnership to optimize your controller for multiplayer games.

Happy scripting, and keep experimenting! 🚀

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