Rust server owner essentials

A starter pack for new Rust admins. The plugin ecosystem runs on Oxide/uMod - install that first, then everything below is a .cs file dropped into your oxide/plugins folder. None of these are us - all credit to the authors linked on each card.

Admin and moderation

Plugins for running a server, not playing one. Get these in before your first players arrive.

AdminMenuby Mevent

Clean in-game admin panel for managing players without console. Kick, ban, teleport, spectate - all from a single UI.

Vanishby Whispers88

Makes admins invisible to other players. Useful for monitoring grief reports or checking for rule violations without tipping anyone off.

AdminRadarby nivex

Toggleable radar showing player positions, resources, and entities on the map. Important for anti-cheat monitoring.

ZoneManagerby k1lly0u

Define zones with custom rules (no-pvp, no-build, no-loot). Foundation for safe zones, arenas, event areas, and shop regions.

NoEscapeby k1lly0u

Blocks teleports and commands while a player is in combat or being raided. Prevents the most common abuse of convenience plugins.

Gameplay and quality of life

The plugins players actually notice. Most servers run a subset of these depending on wipe speed and server identity.

Kitsby Mevent

Configurable starter and VIP kits with cooldowns. One of the first plugins any new server needs.

Clansby k1lly0u

Full clan system with shared team chat, ranks, alliance support, and clan tags in player names.

Economicsby k1lly0u

Virtual currency system used as the foundation for most economy plugins (shop, rewards, bounties, etc.).

Shopby Mevent

In-game shop backed by Economics. Supports categories, item limits per wipe, and configurable sell-back prices.

Backpacksby LaserHydra

Extra inventory space per player. Configurable capacity by permission group. A common perk for donator tiers.

GatherManagerby k1lly0u

Controls gather rates per resource type, per permission group, or globally. Standard for 2x/5x/10x servers.

QuickSmeltby Vlad-00003

Speeds up furnace smelting and cooking. Common quality-of-life plugin on servers that want to reduce the grind without changing gather rates.

Tradeby Wulf

Allows players to request and accept item trades with each other. Reduces drop-trade exploits through a structured exchange UI.

server.cfg essentials

Goes in server/<identity>/cfg/server.cfg and runs at startup. Change the hostname, description, seed, and RCON password before going live.

server.cfg

# ── Identity ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
server.hostname "My Rust Server"
server.description "Short description shown in the browser"
server.headerimage "https://i.imgur.com/yourimage.png"
server.url "https://yourwebsite.com"

# ── World ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
server.worldsize 3500
server.seed 12345
server.maxplayers 100

# ── Networking ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
server.tickrate 10

# ── RCON (change the password before going live) ───────────────────────────────
rcon.ip "0.0.0.0"
rcon.port 28016
rcon.password "changeme"

# ── Performance ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
fps.limit 30
aimanager.ai_dormant true

# ── Decay ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
decay.scale 1.0

server.tickrate - default is 10. Higher values increase CPU load significantly. Most community servers stay at 10.

aimanager.ai_dormant - puts NPC AI to sleep when no players are nearby. Saves CPU on large maps.

decay.scale - 1.0 is vanilla rate. Lower values slow base decay, which matters a lot on low-pop servers where players are offline for days at a time.

Map seeds and community tools

Picking the right seed makes a real difference to player experience. Too many monuments close together, or a coastline that cuts off half the map, and players leave after the first wipe.

RustMaps

The main map seed database. Preview any seed/size combination before committing, browse community-rated maps, and filter by monument count or layout.

Just-Wiped

Server browser that tracks wipe schedules. Useful for understanding when players are actively looking to join new servers and what the competition looks like at wipe time.

Rust.io

Community site with server lists, map previews, and player stats. Worth listing your server here once it has regular players.

Want a Rust server to test plugins on?

Oxide and Carbon install from the panel, with RCON, scheduled wipes and off-site backups with restore. Plans start from the pricing page - no trial for this game yet.

View pricing →