The incident was thought to have begun when user Ellernate gained access to Roblox's admin panel by creating an account on SiteTest3 using a Roblox Administrator's Roblox username.

Ellernate was responsible for the website's most notable "hacking" on April 1, 2012. Ellernate gained access by logging into an admin account on SiteTest3 (because not all admins were on the testing sites). The use of the .ROBLOSECURITY cookie, the use of the warning banner, and unauthorized user promotions are all examples of .ROBLOSECURITY cookies. In a 2017 Reddit comment, former Roblox moderator Gordonrox24 stated that "It was nothing... You won't see it happen again".

A suspected precursor to the incident was a forum discussion that devolved into an argument between Minish and Merely about money and Roblox's economy. Caleb244 allegedly took over Minish's account, and Minish purchased Merely's famous Domino Crown, which was Merely's personal favorite avatar shop item. The forums quickly became inundated with threads debating the events. As a result, the two users were banned. This would also result in Merely briefly leaving Roblox.

Soon after, Ellernate-controlled accounts Pheedy and are17 were promoted to moderators and used their newfound authority to unban Minish. During this time, the user iTrapped, or Isaac Hymer, the creator of Brick Planet, dropped the prices of hats in the avatar shop tremendously, and hats were released by the minute for 1 Robux. Some hat names were changed, such as Explosive Hair was renamed to "Rocket Hair", Hooded Spacelord was renamed to "Noob Hood", and Memento Mori was renamed to "Candle Skull".

It is believed that 1dev2's account was one of the compromised accounts. During the event, many items were added to their inventory, and their avatar was changed several times. This led to a moderator subsequently deleting their account. This ban was never lifted, but 1dev2 may have been granted temporary access to their account after the event, during which time they uncopylocked their game "Welcome to the Town of Robloxia".