Common script errors and what they mean
Executor errors look worse than they are. There are perhaps six you will ever see, and each one points at a specific cause.
attempt to index nil with 'Something'
The script looked for something in the game and it was not there. Either the game changed and that thing was renamed or removed, or the game had not finished loading when the script ran.
Try it once more after rejoining and waiting until you are properly spawned in. If it happens again, the game has changed and the script needs updating — that is the author's job, not yours.
attempt to call a nil value
The script tried to use a function that does not exist. Usually that function belongs to the executor rather than the game, which means the script expects a capability yours does not have.
The same script on a different, currently-working executor is the quickest test.
HttpGet failed / Http requests are not enabled
The loader could not fetch the script. Either the URL is dead — the author took it down or the host removed it — or your executor is blocking or failing the request.
Open the URL from the loader in a browser. If it shows Lua code, the problem is the executor. If it 404s, the script is gone and nothing on your end will bring it back.
Nothing happens at all
No error, no menu. Almost always the executor never attached, so the paste went nowhere. Check its status; if it says anything other than attached or ready, start there.
The other cause is a Roblox client update that the executor has not been patched for yet, in which case nothing at all will run until it is.
Script timeout / exhausted execution time
The script ran a loop without giving the game a moment to breathe, and Roblox cut it off. This is a bug in the script rather than anything about your setup, and there is nothing to configure around it.
Roblox crashes the moment you execute
Usually the executor is out of date for the current client — a mismatch at that level takes the whole process down rather than raising a tidy error.
If one specific script crashes you and everything else is fine, it is that script. Stop running it; a crash loop is not something to push through.
The one-minute triage
- 1
Does any other script run?
No — the executor is the problem. Yes — this script is. - 2
Does the loader's URL open in a browser?
No — the script is gone. Yes — it is reaching you, so the failure is later. - 3
How old is the script?
Old date, busy game: assume the game moved on. Every script page here shows the date for this reason.
Questions
Does an error mean the script is malicious?
No. Errors are overwhelmingly ordinary breakage — a game changed, a host went down, an executor is behind. Malicious scripts have every reason not to throw errors at you.
Should I try a different executor when a script errors?
It is a good first test, because it separates a script problem from an executor problem in one step.
Read next
- Why a script stops working after an updateA script that worked yesterday and errors today is normal, and there are only three reasons for it. How to tell which one you have hit in about a minute.
- How to run a Roblox scriptWhat an executor is, where the loadstring goes, and what to do when nothing happens. The whole process, start to finish, in five minutes.
- How to choose a Roblox executorThree things separate executors in practice: whether it still works after the last update, what it runs on, and how much is in your way.
Looking for the scripts themselves? Browse the catalogue, or compare executors.