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To stop a child buying loot boxes and other in-game items, use the purchase controls on the child’s own account: set the PlayStation monthly spending limit to 0, enable Xbox purchase approval, turn on Nintendo Account Spending Restrictions, block iPhone and iPad in-app purchases with Screen Time, or require Google Play approval through Family Link. These controls do different things: some block purchases, some ask an adult to approve them, and an account balance only sets an amount available to spend. Their reach is limited to the account, store or billing system they govern, so they are not a universal lock on every checkout a game might offer.
Before changing settings, confirm the child is playing on a supervised or child account rather than a shared adult account. Then choose whether the goal is no spending, adult approval for each purchase, or a deliberately funded allowance.
Which control should I choose: block, approve, or allow a balance?
Choose a block when the rule is “no purchases,” an approval setting when an adult should review requests, and a balance only when the child may spend a set amount. Those options are not interchangeable: a funded wallet or account balance can still be spent, while a request prompt gives an adult a chance to deny a purchase.
| Platform | Control and outcome | Account or billing scope | Where to manage it |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 4 | Monthly Spending Limit set to 0: no-spend policy for the child’s PlayStation Store account | Child’s PlayStation account; purchases draw from the family manager’s wallet | Console settings, Account Management, or PlayStation Family app |
| Xbox | Ask a parent or Require approval for every purchase: review requests before purchases | Child’s Xbox account and the applicable family spending controls | Xbox settings or Microsoft Family Safety |
| Nintendo Switch family, including Switch 2 | Spending Restrictions: disable purchases and auto-renewal | Supervised Nintendo Account; Nintendo eShop, Nintendo Store, and physical store orders | Parent or guardian Nintendo Account family group |
| iPhone or iPad | Screen Time In-app Purchases set to Blocked: block Apple in-app purchases; Ask to Buy instead requests approval | Apple purchase controls for the child’s device or Family Sharing account, depending on the option | Settings app |
| Android | Google Play Require approval for: require approval for selected purchase categories | Transactions through Google Play’s billing system | Family Link or Google Play family settings |
The table distinguishes the documented control from its scope. None should be treated as proof that every game payment route is covered. A game may use a different account, store or billing system, so the relevant platform setting must match the account and checkout the child actually uses.
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Before you change a setting
Make a short inventory of the child’s devices, signed-in accounts and payment routes. A console may have several profiles, a phone may have a different store account from the game account, and a game can sometimes open a web checkout. Write down the child’s supervised account and the adult account that manages it before selecting a menu.
- Use a child or supervised account: Controls attached to an adult account may allow spending even when the same device has parental restrictions elsewhere.
- Decide the outcome: Select a zero-spend block, approval for each covered transaction, or a finite allowance. Do not assume an empty balance is a permanent block.
- Secure adult credentials: Keep the family-manager, organizer or parent password private. A child who can use that account can often change the restriction.
- Check renewals: Where a service offers subscriptions, verify whether the restriction also affects auto-renewal and whether an existing subscription needs separate cancellation.
- Test safely: After saving the setting, try to reach the purchase confirmation screen without completing a transaction. This confirms that the child is using the account you intended.
How do I stop my kid buying loot boxes on PlayStation?
Set the child’s Monthly Spending Limit to 0 in the PlayStation family controls. PlayStation says the default is already 0, but check the value rather than assuming it has not been changed.
Set the limit on PS5
- Sign in as the family manager or an eligible guardian, and make sure the child is a member of the PlayStation family.
- On the PS5, open Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management.
- Select the child, open Parental Controls, and choose Monthly Spending Limit.
- Set the limit to 0 to make the policy no spending, then confirm the change.
Set the limit on PS4
- Open Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management.
- Select the child, then go to Applications/Devices/Network Features > Monthly Spending Limit.
- Set the limit to 0 and save the change.
The family manager can also manage the setting through Account Management > Family Management or the PlayStation Family app. Purchases on the child’s PlayStation Store account draw from the family manager’s wallet, so review who has guardian privileges: another appointed guardian can change a limit. If a change is made while a game is running, PlayStation advises signing the child out and back in.
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The limit concerns the child’s PlayStation Store account, not every account that might be used on the console. If a child switches to an adult profile, the child-account limit will not be the control governing that profile. Check the profile shown on the game’s purchase prompt and remove saved payment access from any profile the child can use.
How do I turn on Ask a parent on Xbox?
For an approval-first policy, turn on Ask a parent for the child’s account. Microsoft Family Safety also provides a Require approval for every purchase control in the child’s spending settings.
Use the Xbox console setting
- Sign in as the family organizer.
- Open Profile & system > Settings > Account > Family settings > Manage family members.
- Select the child, then open Privacy & online safety > Xbox Live privacy > View details & customize > Buy & download.
- Turn Ask a parent on.
Use Microsoft Family Safety spending controls
Open the child’s Spending page in the Family Safety app or family account settings, then enable Require approval for every purchase as directed for the child’s payment methods. Check the control for the payment method involved; setting up notifications is not itself a purchase approval requirement.
An organizer can add money to a child’s balance, but that money is an allowance, not a no-spend lock. If the intended rule is that an adult must approve purchases, use the approval setting rather than relying on an empty balance or notifications. Approval also means an adult must respond to each request; it is not the same as hiding every offer in a game.
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Where are Nintendo eShop spending restrictions?
Nintendo’s purchase restriction is managed through the parent or guardian’s Nintendo Account family group, not through the console’s Parental Controls app. Nintendo states: “Only a parent/guardian Nintendo Account in a Nintendo family group can set Nintendo eShop purchase restrictions.”
- Sign in to the parent or guardian Nintendo Account.
- Open the Family group and select the supervised account.
- Check Spending Restrictions and save the change.
Nintendo says this restriction disables purchases and auto-renewal on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and Nintendo Store, including physical store orders. It is distinct from Age-Based Content Restrictions, which govern what is visible in the eShop rather than whether purchases are allowed. Nintendo’s comparison of parental controls places purchase restrictions under the Nintendo Account, not the console or Parental Controls app.
If the child uses more than one Switch, the supervised Nintendo Account is the important part. Changing a console-only setting or relying on the Parental Controls app without changing the family-group spending checkbox will not produce the documented purchase restriction. Review the family group periodically so a newly added account is not left outside the rule.
Can I block iPhone and iPad in-app purchases instead of approving them?
Yes. If the goal is to block Apple in-app purchases rather than ask for approval, use Screen Time and set In-app Purchases to Blocked. Apple’s direct blocking instructions, published September 17, 2026, give this path:
- Turn on Screen Time if it is not already enabled.
- Open Settings > Screen Time > Apps & Websites > App Store > In-app Purchases.
- Choose Blocked.
Do not substitute a password prompt or Ask to Buy when the requirement is an outright block. Apple describes these as separate controls: it says, “You also can require a password for purchases, prevent certain types of purchases, or turn off purchasing completely.”
Use Ask to Buy when adult approval is the goal
For an approval request instead of a block, Apple’s child-account instructions published October 26, 2026 give the path Settings > Family > child > Apps & Websites > Restrictions > Ask to Buy > Require Purchase Approval. Ask to Buy and the Screen Time block are different choices: the first allows an adult to review requests; the second is the direct blocking option.
Apple notes that controls and defaults can vary with a child’s age, jurisdiction and software version. Treat these as Apple’s currently documented paths, not a promise that every older device shows identical menus. If a menu is missing, verify the device software, the Family Sharing relationship and that the child is signed in to the intended Apple account.
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How do I require approval for Google Play purchases on Android?
Use Family Link to choose which Google Play purchases need approval. Google explicitly limits this protection to purchases made through Google Play’s billing system.
- In Family Link, select the child.
- Open Controls > Google Play > Require approval for.
- Choose In-app purchases only, Paid content only, or All content, depending on how broadly you want to review purchases and downloads.
The Google Play app also offers Settings > Family > Manage family members > child > Purchase approvals. An approval request can be denied, but the setting is an approval workflow, not a categorical ban on a game displaying an offer. Google’s wording is precise: “Purchase approval settings only apply to purchases made through Google Play’s billing system.” For another payment route, the Google Play approval setting may not govern the transaction.
Choose In-app purchases only when apps and games may be installed without review but every covered game payment should prompt an adult. Choose Paid content only or All content for a broader rule that also reviews paid downloads. These choices are approval categories, not a promise that an external website or carrier billing page will appear in the Google Play workflow.
What do loot-box labels tell parents?
A rating label can help identify a game with paid randomized rewards, but it is not a spending control. The ESRB’s In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items) interactive-element label identifies paid digital offers whose specific rewards are unknown beforehand, including loot boxes, item packs and mystery awards. The broader In-Game Purchases label covers offers for digital goods more generally.
ESRB says interactive elements do not influence its age-rating assignment. Use the label as a screening clue when considering a game, not as evidence that purchases are blocked or that a game without the label has no other spending route. On Google Play, developers must disclose odds for purchases of randomized virtual items; disclosure informs the buyer but does not prevent a purchase.
What do these settings not cover?
The controls are tied to a particular account, store or billing system. They may not govern a checkout that uses a publisher account, an external web page, a different console profile, a carrier payment route or another adult’s store account. A game can also show a free-to-play offer even when the purchase itself is blocked; visibility of the offer and ability to complete payment are separate issues.
A rating label, age filter, password prompt, notification or empty wallet is not automatically a zero-spend policy. Age-based restrictions decide what content is shown, while purchase controls decide whether a covered transaction can proceed or needs permission. Explain this distinction to other adults in the household so a well-meaning change does not undo the intended rule.
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What should I check if a purchase control does not behave as expected?
First identify the account and checkout that the child used. A setting can only do its documented job within its own account, store or billing scope; a control on one platform does not automatically cover a different account or checkout.
- Confirm the child account: Check that the child is signed in to the supervised account where you changed the setting, not a shared adult account.
- Verify the control type: A balance, notification, password prompt, age filter and approval request are not the same as a no-spend block.
- Check the responsible account: On PlayStation, review the family manager and appointed guardians. On Nintendo, use the parent or guardian account in the family group.
- Check the billing route: Google Play approval applies to Google Play billing, and other systems may have their own checkout controls.
- Refresh the session when appropriate: PlayStation advises signing the child out and back in if its setting changes while a game is running.
- Review saved payment methods: Remove cards or payment accounts from profiles the child can access, while keeping the manager’s credentials private.
- Recheck after account changes: Adding a new child profile, changing family roles or moving to a new device can put the game under a different account than the one you configured.
If the purchase route is outside the setting’s scope, use the controls provided by the account or billing service handling that checkout, if available. The platform settings above should not be described as universal enforcement over every external game payment.
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For a strict no-spend rule, use the platform’s documented blocking setting where one exists: PlayStation’s 0 monthly limit, Nintendo’s Spending Restrictions, or Apple’s Screen Time block for in-app purchases. On Xbox and Google Play, use the relevant approval setting when an adult must review purchases. Keep the child on a supervised account and make clear which store or billing route the setting covers.
For a less restrictive arrangement, decide in advance whether approvals or a finite allowance better matches the family’s rule. An allowance is permission to spend the balance; an approval workflow preserves the adult’s decision on each covered request. Content and age filters can serve a separate purpose, but should not be mistaken for purchase controls.
Write the household rule down: who receives requests, what counts as an acceptable purchase, and whether subscriptions or auto-renewals are allowed. Revisit it when the child receives a new device, joins a different family group or starts a game that uses another store. A short monthly check of profiles, family roles and payment routes can catch a changed setting before an unexpected charge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Google Play loot-box odds disclosures stop a purchase?
No. Google Play’s developer policy requires odds disclosure for purchases of randomized virtual items, but showing the odds does not block or require approval for the transaction. The purchase approval control is a separate setting and applies only to transactions through Google Play billing.
Do ESRB in-game-purchase labels change a game’s age rating?
No. ESRB says its interactive-element labels, including the labels for in-game purchases, do not influence the age-rating assignment. The labels describe features and offers rather than setting an age rating or restricting spending.
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Does a Nintendo purchase restriction apply to auto-renewals?
Nintendo says its Spending Restrictions disable auto-renewal as well as purchases on the covered Nintendo services. This is separate from the age-based eShop content restriction.
How do I stop my kid buying loot boxes on PS5?
Put the child in the PlayStation family and set Settings > Family and Parental Controls > Family Management > child > Parental Controls > Monthly Spending Limit to 0. Check guardian privileges and sign the child out and back in if the game was running when you changed the setting.
Is an Xbox account balance a spending block?
No. Money added by a family organizer is an allowance that the child can spend. Turn on Ask a parent or Require approval for every purchase when an adult must review each purchase.
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Can I block Apple in-app purchases instead of approving them?
Yes. Turn on Screen Time and set Settings > Screen Time > Apps & Websites > App Store > In-app Purchases to Blocked. Ask to Buy is a separate approval option, not the outright block.
Where do I find Nintendo eShop spending restrictions?
Sign in to the parent or guardian Nintendo Account, open the Family group, select the supervised account, and enable Spending Restrictions. The Nintendo Parental Controls app and age-based content setting are separate controls.
Does Google Family Link block every payment a game might offer?
No. Google says purchase approval settings apply only to purchases made through Google Play’s billing system. An external website or other billing route needs its own account or payment controls.
Will an age rating or loot-box label prevent a child from spending?
No. ESRB interactive-element labels identify purchasing features, and age restrictions control content visibility. Neither is a substitute for the platform’s purchase block or approval setting.
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Use the child’s supervised account and match the control to your rule: PlayStation 0, Nintendo Spending Restrictions and Apple Screen Time Blocked are direct blocking choices; Xbox Ask a parent and Google Play approval are review workflows; a balance is permission to spend. Always verify the store and billing route involved.
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