RateLimit

A small Luau rate-limiting utility for Roblox that helps protect remote event handlers and other per-source workflows from spam.

Overview

RateLimit provides a lightweight per-source limiter with optional strict wait behavior. It is designed to work with any source value, including Player instances, and automatically cleans up player references when players leave the game.

Key features

• Rate limits by source value
• Configurable events-per-second limit
• Optional strict wait mode for evenly spaced event processing
• Automatic cleanup for leaving Player instances
• Simple API with New, CheckRate, CleanSource, Cleanup, and Destroy

Installation

Install the package with Wally:

wally add ptekspy/RateLimit

Usage

Require the module from your package path. Adjust the path to your package structure.

local RateLimit = require(path.to.RateLimit.init)

local limiter = RateLimit.New(5)

if limiter:CheckRate(player) then
	-- process the action
else
	-- drop or ignore the action
end

API

RateLimit.New(rate, is_full_wait?)

Creates a new rate limiter.

• rate (number): allowed events per second.
• is_full_wait (boolean?): if true, the limiter enforces a full wait period between allowed events; if false, it allows bursty behavior up to the configured rate.

Returns a RateLimit instance.

RateLimit:CheckRate(source)

Checks whether the provided source may proceed.

• source (any): any value to rate limit by, such as a Player instance, user ID, or string key.

Returns true when the event should be processed, otherwise false.

RateLimit:CleanSource(source)

Forgets a single source. Use this when a non-player source will no longer be reused.

RateLimit:Cleanup()

Forgets all tracked sources for this rate limiter.

RateLimit:Destroy()

Stops tracking the limiter internally and clears its state.

Notes

• Player objects are automatically cleaned when they leave the game.
• A nil source is normalized internally to a string key so it can still be rate limited.

Development

To build the package, use:

argon build

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.md for details.