Settings Configuration Guide

All election behavior is controlled in ServerScriptService → ElectionManager → Settings.lua

This guide walks through each setting so you know what to change.

Opening Settings.lua

1. In Roblox Studio, expand ServerScriptService in the Explorer
2. Expand ElectionManager folder
3. Click on Settings.lua (opens in the Script Editor)
4. You'll see a long list of settings

Essential Settings (Start Here)

1. Election Title & Country

countryId = "MyGame",
ui = {
    electionTitle = "President of MyGame",
    accentColour = { r = 0, g = 100, b = 255 },  -- Blue (RGB 0-255)
    placeholderAvatarId = "0",
},

• countryId — Internal name for your election (can be anything, doesn't show to players)
• electionTitle — What players see at the top of the voting booth
• accentColour — Main color of the UI (change the RGB values)
  • Red: { r = 255, g = 0, b = 0 }
  • Green: { r = 0, g = 255, b = 0 }
  • Blue: { r = 0, g = 100, b = 255 }

2. Voting Method

votingMethod = "FPTP",

Choose ONE voting method:

Method	What It Does	Best For
FPTP	Most votes wins (no ranking)	Simple, quick elections
IRV	Voters rank candidates; eliminates lowest until majority	Fair, representative
Approval	Voters approve multiple candidates	consensus-based
Score	Voters give scores to candidates (1-5 stars)	Detailed feedback
TwoRound	Two-round runoff if no majority	Guaranteed majority
Borda	Points awarded based on ranking	Proportional
STV	Multi-winner ranked choice	Multiple seats needed
PartyListPR	Party-based proportional	Party-focused
MMP	Hybrid (local + party votes)	Mixed representation
Condorcet	Pairwise comparisons	Theoretical best
STAR	Score then automatic runoff	Hybrid scoring
Cumulative	Voters allocate points across candidates	Budget-style voting
Parallel	Separate local & party votes	Dual ballot
Sortition	Random selection	Lottery style

Recommendation for beginners: Use "FPTP" or "IRV" (ranked choice is popular and fair).

3. Voting Times

openAt = 1700000000,    -- Unix timestamp when voting opens
closeAt = 1700086400,   -- Unix timestamp when voting closes

Problem: Unix timestamps are confusing. Use this website:

• Go to unixtimestamp.com
• Choose your open date/time
• Copy the number into openAt
• Choose your close date/time
• Copy into closeAt

Example:

openAt = 1735689600,    -- Jan 1, 2025, 12:00 PM UTC
closeAt = 1735776000,   -- Jan 2, 2025, 12:00 PM UTC

⚠️ Don't set times in the past! Your election will skip straight to "Closed" phase.

4. Candidates

candidates = {
    { candidateId = "alice", userId = "0", name = "Alice", bio = "Candidate for President", policyTags = {}, partyId = nil },
    { candidateId = "bob", userId = "0", name = "Bob", bio = "Candidate for President", policyTags = {}, partyId = nil },
},

For each candidate:

• candidateId — Internal unique ID (use lowercase, no spaces)
• name — What players see
• userId — Can be "0" (doesn't matter for place file users)
• bio — Short description
• partyId — Which party they belong to (can be nil for non-party elections)

Example:

candidates = {
    { candidateId = "john_smith", userId = "0", name = "John Smith", bio = "Experienced leader with 10 years in government", policyTags = {}, partyId = nil },
    { candidateId = "jane_doe", userId = "0", name = "Jane Doe", bio = "Community organizer focused on local issues", policyTags = {}, partyId = nil },
},

5. Parties (Optional, for party-based elections)

parties = {
    { partyId = "dems", name = "Democratic Party", decalId = 0, colour = { r = 0, g = 100, b = 255 }, description = "Left-leaning party" },
    { partyId = "reps", name = "Republican Party", decalId = 0, colour = { r = 255, g = 0, b = 0 }, description = "Right-leaning party" },
},

Only needed if your candidates belong to parties. Otherwise leave as empty:

parties = {},

Eligibility Settings (Who Can Vote?)

eligibility = {
    minGroupRank = { groupId = 0, minRank = 0 },  -- 0 = don't check
    minAccountAgeDays = 0,                         -- 0 = no age requirement
    bannedGroupIds = {},
    bannedUsernames = {},
},

Examples

Allow everyone to vote:

eligibility = {
    minGroupRank = { groupId = 0, minRank = 0 },
    minAccountAgeDays = 0,
    bannedGroupIds = {},
    bannedUsernames = {},
},

Require players in a specific group with minimum rank:

eligibility = {
    minGroupRank = { groupId = 12345, minRank = 5 },  -- Replace 12345 with your group ID
    minAccountAgeDays = 0,
    bannedGroupIds = {},
    bannedUsernames = {},
},

Ban specific usernames:

eligibility = {
    minGroupRank = { groupId = 0, minRank = 0 },
    minAccountAgeDays = 0,
    bannedGroupIds = {},
    bannedUsernames = { "BadPlayer", "AltAccount" },
},

Require accounts to be at least 30 days old:

eligibility = {
    minGroupRank = { groupId = 0, minRank = 0 },
    minAccountAgeDays = 30,
    bannedGroupIds = {},
    bannedUsernames = {},
},

Alt Detection (Prevent Cheating)

altDetection = {
    enabled = false,
    onDetect = "InvalidateVote",  -- or "KickWithScreen"
    heuristic = "both",
    rapidVoteThresholdSeconds = 2,
},

What is it? Detects if someone is voting multiple times from different accounts.

Settings:

• enabled — true to turn on, false to turn off
• onDetect — "InvalidateVote" (reject the alt's vote) or "KickWithScreen" (kick from game)
• rapidVoteThresholdSeconds — If 2 accounts vote within 2 seconds, flag as suspicious

Recommendation: Leave as false for testing, turn on true in production.

Administrative Settings

cmdr = {
    adminGroupId = 0,
    adminMinRank = 0,
},

If you have admin commands, set your group ID and minimum rank. Otherwise leave as 0.

Discord webhook (optional, server-only)

You can mirror admin-facing alerts to a Discord channel (successful votes, rejected votes including eligibility/ban-rule denials, alt-detection signals, and optionally phase transitions). Runs only on the server inside DiscordNotifier; it does not use Cmdr roles (your Discord admins see the channel you choose).

Security

• The webhook URL belongs in Settings.lua on the server only. Treat it like a password: anyone with the URL can post to your channel.
• RequestElectionConfig never sends discord (nor cmdr, countryId, or full Settings) to clients. Only UI-safe fields — voting method, seats, threshold, allocation method, ui, parties, candidates — are returned.

Requirements

1. In Home → Game Settings → Security, turn Allow HTTP Requests ON (published games may already allow this depending on configuration). Without HTTP access, webhook posts fail silently with a [DiscordNotifier] warning in server output.

Configuration (discord block)

discord = {
    enabled = false,              -- set true after pasting webhookUrl
    webhookUrl = "",               -- full URL from Discord: Server Settings → Integrations → Webhooks
    botUsername = "ElectionNotifier",  -- optional display name on Discord
    notifyVoteRecorded = true,      -- votes that stay recorded (not alt-flag invalidated)
    notifyVoteDenied = true,        -- ineligible / duplicate vote / invalid ballot
    notifyAltFlag = true,           -- alt heuristic triggered (invalidate or kick path)
    notifyPhaseChanges = false,     -- set true if you want every phase transition posted
},

If enabled is false, or webhookUrl is empty, nothing is posted.

Discord webhook overview: https://discord.com/developers/docs/resources/webhook

Government & Seat Settings

governmentType = "Presidential",
seatSystem = "SingleMemberDistrict",
seats = 1,
seatAllocationMethod = "DHondt",
threshold = 0,
runoffThreshold = 0.5,
compulsoryVoting = false,
electoralCollege = false,

For beginners: Leave all of these as default. They're for advanced setups.

Districts (For Geographic Elections)

districts = {},

Leave as empty list {} unless you want to divide voting by districts. Example:

districts = {
    { districtId = "north", name = "North District", seats = 5 },
    { districtId = "south", name = "South District", seats = 5 },
},

Complete Example: Simple Two-Candidate Election

countryId = "MyGame",
votingMethod = "FPTP",
governmentType = "Presidential",

openAt = 1735689600,    -- Jan 1, 2025, 12:00 PM
closeAt = 1735776000,   -- Jan 2, 2025, 12:00 PM

candidates = {
    { candidateId = "alice", userId = "0", name = "Alice", bio = "Experienced leader", policyTags = {}, partyId = nil },
    { candidateId = "bob", userId = "0", name = "Bob", bio = "Change maker", policyTags = {}, partyId = nil },
},

parties = {},

eligibility = {
    minGroupRank = { groupId = 0, minRank = 0 },
    minAccountAgeDays = 0,
    bannedGroupIds = {},
    bannedUsernames = {},
},

altDetection = {
    enabled = false,
    onDetect = "InvalidateVote",
    heuristic = "both",
    rapidVoteThresholdSeconds = 2,
},

cmdr = {
    adminGroupId = 0,
    adminMinRank = 255,
},

discord = {
    enabled = false,
    webhookUrl = "",
    botUsername = "ElectionNotifier",
    notifyVoteRecorded = true,
    notifyVoteDenied = true,
    notifyAltFlag = true,
    notifyPhaseChanges = false,
},

ui = {
    electionTitle = "Presidential Election",
    accentColour = { r = 0, g = 100, b = 255 },
    placeholderAvatarId = "0",
},

clearPlayerVoteOnJoin = false,

Saving Your Changes

After editing Settings.lua:

1. Press Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S on Mac) to save
2. Click the green Play button to test

Troubleshooting

"votingMethod unknown"

• Make sure you spelled it correctly (case-sensitive). "FPTP" not "fptp".

"No candidates found"

• The candidates table is empty. Add at least one candidate.

"Times are in the past"

• Set new times using unixtimestamp.com. Make sure openAt is before closeAt.

"Can't vote" or "You are ineligible"

• Check your eligibility settings. You might have set a group requirement or ban list that blocks yourself.

Discord webhook not firing

• Set discord.enabled = true and paste a valid webhook URL (https://discord.com/api/webhooks/...).
• Enable Allow HTTP Requests under Game Settings → Security.
• If the URL leaked, regenerate the webhook in Discord and update webhookUrl.

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Next: Custom UI Implementation