Setting up a roblox overhead gui script rank is one of those small touches that makes a game feel way more professional, especially if you're building a roleplay world or a group-based game. It's pretty satisfying to walk around and see your group rank or a custom title floating right above your character's head. Most people start out by just wanting their name up there, but adding a specific rank system is where things actually start to look official.
If you've spent any time in military sims or those "work at a pizza place" style games, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You see players walking around with labels like "Manager," "Owner," or "Recruit" hovering over them. It helps everyone know who's who without having to check a leaderboard every five seconds. Getting this to work isn't nearly as hard as it looks, but there are a few specific steps you need to follow to make sure it doesn't break every time someone resets their character.
What actually goes into the system?
Before we dive into the code, you need to understand what pieces are moving here. You're essentially dealing with three main parts: the UI itself, the script that puts it there, and the logic that decides what the rank should actually say.
The UI part is usually a BillboardGui. Unlike a ScreenGui which sticks to your monitor, a BillboardGui lives in the 3D world. You attach it to a part—in this case, the player's head—and it faces the camera no matter where you move. Inside that, you'll have a TextLabel where the magic happens.
The script is the brain. It needs to detect when a player joins the game, wait for their character to actually load (this is a big one that people miss), and then clone that UI into the head. If you're using a group-based system, the script also has to talk to Roblox's servers to ask, "Hey, what rank is this person in my group?"
Designing the BillboardGui
You'll want to start by making the GUI in Roblox Studio. I usually just throw a BillboardGui into ServerStorage or ReplicatedStorage so it's safe and ready to be copied. Give it a name like "RankTag."
Inside that, add a TextLabel. This is where you get to be creative. You can change the font to something bold like Gotham or Luckiest Guy, add a UIStroke for a nice outline, or even a UIGradient if you want it to look fancy. Make sure the Size of the label is {1, 0}, {1, 0} so it fills the whole BillboardGui, and set the BackgroundTransparency to 1 unless you want a big clunky box floating over your head.
One pro tip: set the StudsOffset property on the BillboardGui to something like 0, 2, 0. This makes sure the tag floats above the head rather than being stuck inside the player's brain. Nobody wants a rank tag clipping through their hat.
Writing the roblox overhead gui script rank
Now for the part that actually makes it work. You'll want a Script (a regular server script) inside ServerScriptService. We use a server script because we want everyone in the game to see the rank, not just the player themselves.
The script starts with a PlayerAdded event. Inside that, we need a CharacterAdded event. This is crucial because every time a player dies and respawns, their old head disappears and a new one is created. If we don't run the script every time the character loads, the rank will disappear after their first death.
```lua local GroupID = 1234567 -- Put your group ID here local RankTag = game.ServerStorage.RankTag -- Wherever you put your GUI
game.Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player) player.CharacterAdded:Connect(function(character) -- Wait for the head to exist local head = character:WaitForChild("Head")
-- Clone our GUI local newTag = RankTag:Clone() newTag.Parent = head newTag.Adornee = head -- Set the name label local nameLabel = newTag.NameLabel -- Assuming you named it this local rankLabel = newTag.RankLabel nameLabel.Text = player.Name -- This is where the rank logic happens local rankName = player:GetRoleInGroup(GroupID) rankLabel.Text = rankName end) end) ```
This is a basic template, but it's the foundation of every roblox overhead gui script rank out there. The GetRoleInGroup function is super handy because it automatically pulls the name of the rank you've set up in your group settings. So if your rank is "Super Cool Admin," that's exactly what will show up.
Making it look better with colors
If you want to take it a step further, you can change the color of the text based on the rank. Maybe owners get a golden color, while regular members get white. You can do this with a simple if statement or by checking the player's rank power (their number from 0 to 255).
I've seen some developers use RichText to add multiple colors in a single line or even emojis. It sounds small, but these little visual cues help players identify staff members immediately. It's much easier to spot a "Moderator" in bright red than it is to look at a plain white label.
Common mistakes to avoid
One of the biggest headaches people run into is the "Infinite Yield" warning in the output. This usually happens because the script is looking for the "Head" before it's actually been placed in the game. Using WaitForChild("Head") is your best friend here. It tells the script to hang on for a second until the head exists.
Another thing to watch out for is the AlwaysOnTop property. If you check this box on the BillboardGui, the rank will be visible through walls. In some games, that's great—you want to find your friends easily. In others, like hide and seek or combat games, it's basically a legal wallhack. Decide if you want that enabled based on your game's genre.
Also, don't forget to handle the case where a player isn't in your group. If GetRoleInGroup is used on someone who isn't a member, it usually returns "Guest." You might want to write a little check to see if they are in the group first, and if not, maybe just display "Visitor" or don't show the rank label at all.
Why use a script instead of a plugin?
You'll find plenty of plugins that claim to do this for you with one click. While they're okay for beginners, I've always felt it's better to just write the script yourself. Plugins often add extra "bloat" or weird settings you don't need. When you write the roblox overhead gui script rank yourself, you know exactly how it works. If it breaks, you know where the problem is. Plus, it gives you the freedom to add extra features, like showing the player's level, their current team, or even a custom status they typed in.
Taking it to the next level
Once you've got the basic rank working, you can start doing some really cool stuff. For example, you could add an "AFK" tag that appears when the player hasn't moved for a while. Or, if you have a leveling system, the rank could update live as they earn XP.
I've even seen games where the overhead GUI has a small health bar or a "typing" indicator. Since you're already using a BillboardGui for the rank, adding these extra features is pretty straightforward. You just add more labels or frames into the same GUI and update them via script.
Anyway, it's a fun project to mess around with. It's one of the first things I learned when I started scripting in Roblox, and it's still something I use in almost every project. It just adds that layer of polish that makes your game feel like it was built with care. Don't be afraid to experiment with the fonts and layouts—sometimes the simplest designs end up looking the cleanest!