If you're tired of the default pop-ups in your game, learning how to write a custom roblox interaction system prompt script is the best way to give your project a professional, polished feel. We've all seen the standard black-and-white ProximityPrompt that Roblox provides by default. It works, sure, but it doesn't exactly scream "unique." When you're building an immersive world, you want every little detail—including the buttons players press—to match your game's aesthetic.
Why move away from the default prompts?
The standard ProximityPrompt is a great tool for beginners because it handles a lot of the heavy lifting. It calculates distances, manages keybinds, and handles the "hold" duration automatically. However, it's also very rigid. You can't easily change the font to something wacky, you can't add custom animations that fit a sci-fi vibe, and you certainly can't make it react dynamically to the player's mouse movement.
By creating your own roblox interaction system prompt script, you're taking full control over the user interface. You can make prompts that fade in with a smooth tween, prompts that jiggle when you hover over them, or even prompts that change color based on the player's health or team. It's about branding and game feel. If your game is a gritty horror experience, a bubbly, bright blue "Press E" button is going to ruin the mood instantly.
The secret to custom prompts: ProximityPromptService
Most people don't realize that you don't actually have to code an entire interaction system from scratch to get custom visuals. Roblox actually gives us a specific service called ProximityPromptService that lets us "hook" into the existing system but replace the visuals with our own.
To start, you have to set the Style property of your ProximityPrompt to Custom. Once you do that, the default UI disappears, and it's up to your script to decide what happens next. This is where the roblox interaction system prompt script comes into play. You'll usually want to put a LocalScript inside StarterPlayerScripts or StarterGui to listen for when a prompt is triggered.
Setting up the BillboardGui
Before you even touch the code, you need something to show the player. This is almost always a BillboardGui. Unlike a ScreenGui that stays flat on your monitor, a BillboardGui exists in the 3D world but always faces the camera.
You'll want to design a nice frame, maybe a circular progress bar for those "hold to interact" actions, and a text label for the keybind. Keep it clean. If the UI is too cluttered, players will get frustrated when they're trying to pick up items quickly.
Writing the core logic
The logic of your roblox interaction system prompt script needs to be efficient. You don't want to be checking distances every single frame if you don't have to. The ProximityPromptService has two main events that are absolute lifesavers: PromptShown and PromptHidden.
When PromptShown fires, your script gets a reference to the prompt object. You can then grab the position of the part it's attached to and move your custom BillboardGui right on top of it. This is also the time to fire off any "fade-in" animations. Using TweenService here is a must. A simple 0.2-second transparency transition makes the whole system feel a lot more premium than a UI that just "pops" into existence.
Handling the "Hold" mechanic
If your prompt requires the player to hold a button for a few seconds—like reviving a teammate or fixing a generator—you need to visually represent that progress. The PromptButtonHoldBegan and PromptButtonHoldEnded events are your best friends here.
Inside your roblox interaction system prompt script, you can use these events to start and stop a progress bar. If you're using a circular UI, you can adjust the UIGradient rotation or the Size of a bar. It's really satisfying for a player to see that bar fill up as they hold "E." If they let go too early, just reset the bar or tween it back to zero.
Making it feel reactive and alive
A good interaction system isn't just functional; it's tactile. Think about how the prompt reacts when the player is within range. Maybe the text gets slightly larger, or the border glows. You can even add a tiny sound effect—a subtle "click" or "whoosh"—when the prompt appears.
In your roblox interaction system prompt script, you can also account for different input types. Remember that not everyone plays on a keyboard. Some people are on mobile, and some are using controllers. The ProximityPrompt object actually tells you what the preferred input key is. Your script should check if the player is on a gamepad and swap the "E" icon for a "X" or "A" button icon automatically. It's a small touch, but it makes your game feel way more professional.
Avoiding common pitfalls
One mistake I see a lot of developers make when writing a roblox interaction system prompt script is forgetting to clean up their UI elements. If you're constantly creating new BillboardGuis every time a player walks near an object, you're going to run into memory issues eventually.
Instead of creating and destroying objects, try using a "pool" of UI elements or just have one main BillboardGui that gets moved around and enabled/disabled as needed. Also, make sure your script doesn't interfere with other GUI elements. There's nothing worse than a "Press E" prompt overlapping with a player's inventory or health bar.
Performance matters
Since this script is running on the client side, you want it to be as lightweight as possible. Avoid using wait() inside loops or doing heavy calculations. The ProximityPromptService is already doing the heavy lifting of distance checking in the C++ backend of Roblox, so let it do its job. Your script should mostly just be responding to the signals the service sends out.
Final touches and polish
Once you've got the basic roblox interaction system prompt script working, it's time to add the "juice." Juice is that extra layer of animation and feedback that makes a game feel great.
Try adding a slight "bounce" effect when the prompt appears using an Elastic or Back easing style in your tweens. You could also make the prompt shake slightly if the player tries to interact with something they don't have permission for (like a locked door).
By the time you're done, your interaction system won't just be a way to open doors or pick up coins; it'll be a core part of your game's identity. It takes a bit more work than just sticking with the defaults, but the impact it has on the player's first impression is huge. Players notice when a developer has put effort into the small things, and a custom interaction system is one of the easiest ways to show that your game is a cut above the rest.