How to Set Up a Rust Dedicated Server: The Complete Guide

What a Rust dedicated server needs

The Rust dedicated server is a separate program from Facepunch, installed with SteamCMD as app 258550. You do not need a Steam account to install or run it, but every player needs a Steam account that owns Rust. These are the figures from Facepunch's guide to creating a server:

A Rust server uses four ports. You only need the game port to connect and play, so get that working first and add the others after:

Host it yourself or rent a server: an honest comparison

Running your own Rust server is free and a good way to learn how it works. Facepunch's guide boils down to these steps:

1. Download SteamCMD from Valve and install the server anonymously: steamcmd +force_install_dir C:\Rust\MyServer +login anonymous +app_update 258550 validate +quit. Without +login anonymous you get a "No subscription" error.
2. Write a start file (a .bat on Windows; on Linux SteamCMD installs a basic runds.sh). It runs RustDedicated.exe -batchmode with your settings, for example +server.port 28015 +server.level "Procedural Map" +server.seed 1234 +server.worldsize 4000 +server.maxplayers 10 +server.hostname "My Server" +server.identity "server1" +rcon.port 28016 +rcon.password your-own-password +rcon.web 1 -logfile rustserverlog.txt.
3. Start it and wait: Facepunch says a start takes several minutes, and the server is ready when the console prints Server startup complete.
4. Test it on the same PC: press F1 in Rust and type connect localhost:28015.
5. For friends outside your network, give the PC a fixed local IP and forward the game port (UDP) on your router, then the query port (UDP) so it shows in the browser.
6. After every Rust update, run the SteamCMD line again and restart. If you use Oxide, install its new version after the update: SteamCMD puts the server files back to vanilla.

Facepunch still links an old quick-install zip, but its own wiki warns that the zip dates from 2015, that the -autoupdate it relies on no longer exists, and that you do not need it.

If your group wants a map that is up every day of the wipe, our Rust server hosting runs the same Facepunch server for you, with the control panel described below.

Setting up your Rust server in the GTX game panel

A GTX Rust server is set up as soon as you order it. This is the order we suggest for the first evening:

1. Log in to the game panel at gamepanel.gtxgaming.co.uk and open your Rust server.
2. Stop the server with STOP before you change any file.
3. Open Configuration Files. server.cfg holds the name, description, tags and header image (Text Editor) and the custom map setting (Config Editor). start.bat holds the RCON password and a Custom Commands box for start-line settings such as decay and the wipe timer. Users.cfg holds your owners.
4. Add plugins if you want them. The Mod Manager installs uMod (Oxide) or Carbon, Rust Edit and other extensions; UMod/Carbon Plugins searches and installs plugins.
5. Press START and copy your address from CONNECTION INFO in the Connection & Controls box. Your RCON details are under Server Details.
6. Join it: start Rust, press F1, type connect followed by that address and press Enter. Always use the full address from the panel: your port may not be 28015.

server.cfg, the start line and the settings that matter

Facepunch's advice is to put only the essentials, such as ports and RCON, on the start line and everything else in server.cfg, which lives in server/<identity>/cfg/. The server reads it at startup and it wins over the start line. In the file you leave out the + in front of each setting. A few settings, such as the weather chance values, only work once the server is running, so set those from the console or RCON.

Don't remember a setting's name? Type find and part of the name into the console, for example find decay. Since April 2026 the console also has a command list, and admins get auto-completion for server settings.

Decay changed in September 2026: tool cupboards now add an upkeep tax for bigger groups (the first four players free, then 2% and later 4% per player, up to 300%). Facepunch put the settings in the decay group, so a server owner can change the tax or switch it off.

Wipe day: force wipes, blueprints and the wipe timer

Facepunch promises "monthly updates on the first Thursday of every month", and recent ones kept to it: Power Trip on 6 August, Breach and Clear on 3 September and Livestock on 1 October 2026. That update brings a new save version, so every server starts a fresh map: the force wipe. Facepunch's wiki explains that the number in the save file's name goes up at a forced wipe, which makes the server create a new map instead of loading the old one, and that a forced wipe only wipes the map.

The release hour can change from month to month, so check Facepunch's announcement and schedule your wipe for a little after it. It also ships the odd extra mandatory update: the Halloween update is due on 22 October 2026 at 18:00 BST, and Facepunch asked server owners to remember the date.

On GTX, the Monthly Update and Wipe button does wipe day in one go: it updates the server, keeps blueprints if you tick Save blueprints, changes the world seed if you want, and updates Oxide or Carbon if either is installed. You can also run it as a one-time Scheduled Task on the Thursday, as our guide to updating and wiping on force wipe day shows. Between wipes, Steam Update is enough.

The wipe timer is the countdown on the warhead at the bottom of the Nuclear Missile Silo. It counts to your next wipe and starts the endgame events (F-15 flyovers and Bradleys on the roads) on the last day of a wipe. By default it follows the force wipe: the first Thursday of the month at 19:00 London time, or every Thursday with the weekly tag and the first and third Thursday with biweekly. Change it with +wipeDayofWeek (0 Sunday to 6 Saturday), +wipeHourofDay, wipeTimezone, or an exact wipeUnixTimestampOverride, and check it with PrintWipe (setting the silo timer on GTX).

Maps: seeds, world size and custom maps

Most servers run a procedural map, made from two numbers: server.seed (any number from 0 to 2147483647) and server.worldsize (1000 to 6000). The server saves the result as proceduralmap.SIZE.SEED.map, so the same seed and size give you the same map again. Facepunch's guide notes that a larger map needs more disk space and memory, and a 6k map uses more than the 12 GB baseline. On GTX, Monthly Update and Wipe can change the seed for you at the wipe.

A custom map is a .map file made in a map editor. Facepunch's wiki on hosting a custom map covers the rules:

• Set +server.levelurl to a direct download link and remove the seed and world size settings. Players download the map from that link, not from your server, so the host must be online 24/7. A Dropbox link only works with dl=1 at the end.
• Give every new version of the map a new file name. Players who still have the old file get a World cache version mismatch or World File Outdated error.
• A map with no route to the ocean can freeze the server while it loads, because Cargo Ship needs ocean paths. Add some ocean, or start with baseboat.generate_paths false and cargoship.event_enabled false.

On GTX, upload the map to Dropbox, install uMod (Oxide) and Rust Edit from the Mod Manager, then tick Custom Map Settings in the server.cfg Config Editor and paste the link (our custom map guide). A new map is a new world, so most owners switch maps on wipe day.

Admin, RCON and moderating players

Rust has two admin levels: owner (ownerid, the highest) and moderator (moderatorid). From the server console, run users to see each player's SteamID64, then ownerid 76561198123456789 "Name". The player has to reconnect to get the rights; Facepunch notes the change is saved automatically. With the server stopped you can also add a line such as ownerid 76561198123456789 "Name" "" to users.cfg.

On GTX, stop the server, open Users.cfg in Configuration Files with the Config Editor, press new owner and paste your SteamID64, the 17-digit number that starts with 7656119 (making yourself admin, step by step). To give a friend the panel without your password, create a sub-user with only the permissions they need.

RCON runs console commands without being in the game. Facepunch's start line sets +rcon.port, +rcon.password and +rcon.web 1, the WebRCON method it suggests. On GTX the Web Console logs in with your RCON password, tools such as RustAdmin connect with the details under Server Details, and you change the password in the start.bat Config Editor (RCON and WebRCON on GTX). Use a long password of your own, never Facepunch's example.

Running more than one server? Facepunch's centralized banning lets several servers share one ban list: set server.bansServerEndpoint to a web API you host.

Plugins: Oxide (uMod) and Carbon

Server plugins run on a modding framework that you install on the server. There are two:

Carbon replaces Oxide, so a server runs one or the other. On GTX both come from the Mod Manager: install it, start the server once so it creates its folders, stop it, then add plugins from the UMod Plugins Installer (installing Oxide plugins on GTX). Plugins that store data in MySQL can use a database from the Mod Manager, which you can open with phpMyAdmin.

Most plugins add permissions, such as pluginname.use, and players can only use that part of a plugin once you grant it. The commands work in the F1 console as an admin or over RCON:

• oxide.grant user <name> <permission> and oxide.revoke user ... for one player.
• oxide.group add vip, oxide.grant group vip <permission> and oxide.usergroup add <name> vip to manage a whole group at once.
• oxide.show perms lists every permission on the server; oxide.show user <name> shows one player's.

Our guide to configuring plugin permissions lists the rest. The best-known plugin job is a 2x, 5x or 10x server: the Gather Manager plugin plus gather.rate and dispenser.scale at the same multiplier, as in setting custom gather rates.

Rust+, server tags and getting found

Server tags are how players filter the browser. Set server.tags to a comma-separated list, for example server.tags monthly,vanilla,EU. The browser shows up to four. Use only one tag per group: one wipe schedule (monthly, biweekly, weekly), one difficulty (vanilla, hardcore, softcore) and one region (NA, SA, EU, WA, EA, OC, AF). Facepunch warns that two tags from one group break search and can hide your server. Other tags include pve, roleplay, creative, minigame, training, battlefield, broyale and builds; the full list is on Facepunch's server browser tags page. On GTX you add the line to the bottom of server.cfg with the Text Editor (adding Rust server tags).

A banner and an icon make your listing stand out: server.headerimage at 1024 x 512 and server.logoimage at 256 x 256, both as direct links. The banner does not show when you join directly, only in the in-game browser.

Rust+ is Facepunch's companion app for iOS and Android. Once paired, players see the map, their team chat and their smart devices on their phone. Players pair from the in-game ESC screen with Rust+ and Pair with Server. For that to work the companion port must be reachable over TCP (by default the game or RCON port plus 67, whichever is higher). Facepunch also says to keep the companion.id file in your save folder with your backups and never copy it to another server.

Two more ways to grow: list the server on GameTracker from the panel's GameTracker Banners button, and let players chip in with a Clan Pay donation link from the Client Area. Facepunch's community server guidelines allow donations and paid perks, as long as the server never calls itself official and every player can use the Facepunch DLC they have bought.

Backups, restarts and updates

The Rust server saves the map regularly and keeps backups of the save each time. Facepunch also notes that most Rust servers restart once a day for stability and performance, and since September 2026 big events (oil rigs, Cargo Ship, the patrol helicopter, Bradley and satellite crash sites) survive a restart instead of vanishing. On GTX:

• Backups: Backup Server takes one now (stop the server first), a Scheduled Backup task takes them on a timer, the Backup Manager downloads them with its own password and Restore Server rolls the server back to a dated copy. Off-site backups are also taken daily and kept for six months.
• Restarts: the Restart with Messages task warns players 10, 5 and 2 minutes before, counts down the last minute, then restarts (restart with warning messages).
• Updates: stop the server and press Steam Update, then update your plugins. If the server stays on the old version, use Force Steam and Oxide Update from the MORE button (Steam and Oxide updates).
• Starting over: Reinstall under MORE wipes every server file back to a clean install; your backups and MySQL databases are kept.

Performance, RAM and player count

Facepunch asks for 12 GB of free RAM, more for a 6k map, and says the real figure depends on how the server is used and how many players it has. A map also grows during a wipe: Facepunch's notes describe the number of colliders in the world as "constantly growing during a wipe cycle". On our own 50-slot demo server, a fresh default map used about 3.3 GB right after startup with nobody online; players, bases and plugins add to that as the wipe goes on. Facepunch has been trimming the server too: in April 2026 it removed unused meshes from the server build, saving around 600 MB of memory.

• Size slots for wipe day. Count the players online at once on your busiest night, which is usually wipe day.
• Lag late in the wipe? Check Activity and Stats for memory and CPU at peak times, then add RAM or CPU priority from Upgrade/Downgrade Options in the Client Area and restart. A hardware change can move the server and change its IP and port.
• Short on memory? A smaller world size needs less memory, and a daily restart clears memory that builds up while the server runs.

Low FPS for one player is a different problem from server lag: it is the player's PC, and our Rust FPS guide covers the settings that help.

Troubleshooting a Rust server

• The server is not in the browser: the query port must be reachable over UDP and must differ from the game port, the server must be secure (encryption level 2, the default), and it must have finished starting. Join directly with F1 and connect IP:port in the meantime.
• It takes ages to start after a wipe: normal. The first start after an update or wipe generates the new map; give it a few minutes before you restart.
• Still on the old version after an update: use Force Steam and Oxide Update from the MORE button, then start again.
• Plugins stopped working after the monthly update: Oxide or Carbon and the plugins need their new versions. Read the Log Viewer: its last lines usually name the plugin that failed.
• Players cannot download your custom map: the link must start a download by itself (Dropbox with dl=1), and a changed map needs a new file name.
• Admin commands do nothing: reconnect after adding yourself with ownerid; server commands in the F1 console need admin rights.
• RCON will not connect: use the RCON port, not the game port, the exact password, and restart after changing it.
• Rust+ will not pair or keeps loading: remove the server in the app and pair again from the ESC menu; the companion port must be reachable.
• The banner does not show: the link must be public and point at the image itself; it never shows when you join directly.
• Restarts happen at the wrong time: tasks follow the server machine's clock, not yours.

Playing on your server: game guides

Once the server is up, these guides help your group play on it: setting up teams and clans, and getting a smoother frame rate in fights. We check them against Facepunch's update notes, but the game itself always has the last word. They are in one list: browse the play guides.