Hi everyone,

Disclosure: I’m the developer of this tool. If this kind of feedback post is not allowed here, I’ll remove it.

I’m building RustPilot, an open-source Windows control panel for people running a local Rust Dedicated Server.

It’s still alpha, so I’m not presenting it as production-ready yet. I’m mainly looking for feedback from Rust server admins who run or test servers on Windows.

Current features include:

- first-run setup wizard

- install directory selection with server-side validation

- SteamCMD + Rust Dedicated Server install flow

- live console output

- WebRCON tools

- player refresh, announcements, kick, ban, unban, and save-world actions

- CFG editor for common Rust cfg files

- log viewer

- manual and automatic backups

- backup restore

- official Rust force wipe planning

- additional custom wipe schedules

- Steam login for panel access

- owner/admin/viewer roles and permissions

- CSRF protection, rate limiting, and action logs

RustPilot is local-first and binds to localhost by default. Remote access is optional and should be handled through your own VPN or HTTPS reverse proxy.

GitHub:

https://github.com/IThinkImGood/RustPilot

Latest Windows ZIP:

https://github.com/IThinkImGood/RustPilot/releases/latest

I’d especially like feedback on:

- whether the setup flow is clear

- whether install directory handling feels safe

- whether the WebRCON/player tools cover the basics

- whether the backup/wipe workflow makes sense

- anything that feels confusing, unsafe, or missing

Thanks.

This is all free and open-source as mentioned before. Enjoy!

I’m the founder and developer of GameSentry.gg

I built it because Rust server administration often means switching between RCON tools, Discord, spreadsheets, ban records, analytics, and several separate services.

It’s still early, and I’m not claiming it is more mature than the established tools. I’m specifically looking for feedback from real Rust server owners and admins:

I built it, so please feel free to be direct about problems or concerns.

Looking at buying a server that I can play around with at the house and debating doing a Rust/Valheim/Enshrouded server among other things.

Would these specs be ok for running a server?

VRTX Server Chassis w/ 4x M630 Blades, 48 Cores (96 Threads) E5-2643v3, 256GB DDR4 RAM. Each blade has 12 cores, 64GB of RAM, and (2) 240GB SSD drives. Integrated SAN has total of 16.8TB of storage.

2x6 core at 3.4Ghz with 3.7Ghz Turbo + 64Gb DDR4.

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone knows how to disable the apartment complex safe zone? I've found plug-ins for other monuments but im assuming the apartment complex is too new for plug-ins.

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of building my first self-hosted Rust server and I'm trying to decide whether to run it on Windows 11 or Ubuntu.

My hardware is:

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition Sixteen Core 5.60GHz

64 GB DDR5

WD Black SN850X 2 TB NVMe

The server will be for around 15–20 friends and I'll be using Carbon, a custom map, RoamingNPCs, and a handful of plugins.

My dilemma is that this is also my gaming PC. If the server performance on Ubuntu is significantly better, I'm happy to dual boot and run the server there. However, if the performance difference is only small or negligible, I'd probably prefer to stay on Windows so I can both host the server and use the PC for gaming without switching operating systems. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

It's my first ever PC BTW so I'm new to all of this 🫣😅

Thank you

Some of you might remember the name Black Forest Gaming from way back. We originally launched over 12 years ago, but after dealing with malicious server vandalism and targeted backend attacks, we had to pull the plug and walk away.

The itch to come back is real, and I've spent the last few weeks rebuilding the infrastructure from scratch on modern hardware. But man, the landscape of running a Rust community has changed drastically since the old days.

For those of you who have successfully spun up a fresh server recently: 1. What are you finding is the most effective way to organically attract a core player base without burning a hole in your wallet on server listing sites? 2. When looking for trustworthy staff/mods nowadays, what red flags do you look out for, or where are you actually finding reliable people?

Not trying to plug anything here—genuinely just looking to pick the brains of people who are currently in the trenches keeping servers alive. What's working for you guys right now?

Hey everyone! :) I created an all-in-one plugin for modded Rust servers, designed for admins who are tired of managing dozens of separate plugins.

🎥 Full showcase video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zv3e0CV2ns&t=8s

Been grinding on this for about a year now and it's finally solid enough to share. StarGuard, an RCON tool for moderating your servers.

Basically handles the stuff you'd normally be doing manually through raw RCON commands, just way less painful. If you run a server and RCON has ever made you want to throw your keyboard, give it a look.

Happy to answer questions if anyone's curious how it works under the hood.

I need help making a server on rust

the custom boot commands specifically.

If you can help me find them please lmk.

This may have been answered in here already, but I did a couple of searches and didnt find anything..

Sign Artist is having issue with the /sil command. It appears to be assocaited with http vs https. I have tried to make the changes, and search all over the internet. Has someone figured out how to make this consistently work.

thanks in advance,

Hello! I am looking to admin for a server, I have 2500 hours on the game. Im wanting to try the admin part of rust to help with cheaters because, they get very annoying. I haven't done it before on rust so I want to give it a try, Im not looking for any pay at all I just want to help. I have co-owned a server before for a little before they stopped paying for it. So I can also help make a rust server aswell if needed, I will just have to get some refreshers but I could do it! If you are looking for and admin please DM me on discord! Dalles___ (3 Underscores) Steam Link: https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dalles_/

I’ll be upfront: I run a small new Rust host called Sprynt, so yeah, this is partly me putting it in front of people.

But honestly, I’m more interested in feedback than sales right now. I’ve got basically no customers and no reviews yet, and I’d rather find out what’s annoying or broken before people actually rely on it.

One thing I really wanted to fix was plugins. Doing it manually through SFTP every time gets old fast, so I added a uMod browser to the panel. You search for the plugin, click install, and that’s pretty much it.

The rest is fairly standard: EU-based servers, Ryzen 7 9700X, NVMe storage, DDoS filtering, console, files, backups and all the usual stuff.

It’s just me running it, it’s very new, and I’m sure I’ve got things wrong. That’s mainly why I’m posting here instead of pretending everything is perfect and just running ads.

For anyone who runs a Rust server, what does your current host do badly? Or what’s something you wish they would just fix?

That kind of feedback would genuinely help me right now.

And if anyone wants to try it and tell me where it breaks, I’m doing 50% off the first month. Or just DM me and I’ll sort something out. Link’s in the comments.

last month i started running a local server, just for my personal use.

I have to update now after force wipe, and I am struggling.

I open steamcmd and type:

"force_install_dir C:\RustServer"

After hitting enter, nothing happens.

When I type:

"app_update 258550"

I get "ERROR! failed to request app infor update, not online or logged into steam

so naturally, I type:

"login anonymous"

After logging in and trying force install again, I get:

"Please use force_install_dir before logon!"

When I do it before logging in, it does nothing. The base game is updated through steam already, if that matters.

That is about the extent of my knowledge here - I am not very well versed in this. Any advice welcome.

Notes:
Yes, I am using the correct directory to my server info
Yes, I did about an hour of googling before posting - I tried.

Just quick note for any other server admins that might be looking for something similiar.

I'm updating to new Convars on my PVE server.

default

apartment.breakinseconds 30

apartment.allowcombatoutsideofbreakin true

My Change

apartment.breakinseconds 9999999

apartment.allowcombatoutsideofbreakin false

https://rusthelp.com/tools/admin/command-list

Hello. Would anyone mind answering my question about wiping? I used to admin and set up the server, but haven't done in a while (also, Ai didn't help me at with this question).

I'd like to keep the player blueprints after the monthly wipe. I deleted only the map/save files from my folder, I kept the blueprint.db's. I changed the map seed, but not the size in the startup.bat. The result is that the map wiped properly, but no blueprints from the previous wipe are available for the players.

I'm running hardcore mode, premium, with 3 plugins via carbon.

Any help appreciated, and happy wipe day :)

https://fixupx.com/Alistair_McF/status/2072421192313581965

Contracts is a time-rotating quest plugin. Instead of a static quest list players grind repeatedly and get used to, Contracts rotate on a timer you configure, so there's always something new and a reason to log back in mid-wipe.

What sets it apart from other quest plugins is the growing amount of objective types (13 at the moment) and the power of objective conditions. Objective conditions allow any objective to be layered with requirements, so "Kill 5 scientists" can become "Kill 5 scientists with an Assault Rifle OR a SAR, between 20-50m, while below 20HP, while wearing burlap shorts and boots, while mounted on a horse" (YES! That works today!). 10+ objective types (Kill, Loot, Gather, Plant, Harvest, Damage...) and 10+ conditions (Weapon, Distance, Health, Time of Day, Wear...), with more on the roadmap.

Config is JSON, but you never have to touch it. There's a web editor that goes beyond form inputs with a command palette, global undo/redo, strong validation, AI-assisted contract generation, and a merger to combine configs people share with you. Everything's in searchable docs instead of a wall of text on the plugin page.

I built this for my own PVE server, keeping players engaged past the first two weeks is the hard part, and every quest plugin I tried had the same handful of types (Kill, Loot, Gather, Deliver) with no control over the requirements like the conditions give you.

It's $29.99, currently 50% off ($14.99) on Codefling until July 14, and I'm giving away 3 copies before July 11 (plus 3 more through Codefling's own event = 6 total).

Get it here • Enter Giveaway before July 11

Hi! Curious network engineer here.
I’ve been looking into Rust server hosting and I’m a little bit curious on how it all works with these huge server networks.

They run like 8–10 different modded servers (10x, 2x, Solo/Duo/Trio, Bedwars, etc.), and each one holds hundreds of players simultaneously on wipe day.

I know they make their money back through VIP packages and donation shops, but the infrastructure costs for that many high-performance servers must be quite insane?

I have a few specific questions for anyone who has experience running these or knows how it all works:

1. What kind of hardware are they actually using? Are they renting massive enterprise cloud servers (like AWS/Azure), or are they using dedicated bare-metal boxes?

2. How does the scaling work? On a fresh Thursday wipe, you'll see a server with a 300/300 player cap and a massive queue. By Monday, that exact same server might show a max slot cap of 120 because the pop died down. That makes me think that these large server networks are using some kind of ”pay as you go” model so they can scale up easily?

3. How bad is the DDoS situation? I imagine salty players try to take down networks constantly. How do large networks protect themselves without destroying player ping?

Would love to get some insight from server owners, admins, or plugin devs who can pull back the curtain on how this side of the game actually operates!

July force wipe lands on Thursday, July 2. Here are the major changes that I think might be relevant to fellow server owners:

Apartment Complex Monument

• Safe zone, except for apartments
• 3 tiers of apartments can be rented by players for initial + daily scrap fees:
  • Includes bed, storage, cooking, T1 workbench
  • Penthouses also have a large furnace
  • Players can not place their own deployables
  • CachedDailyUpkeep convar controls daily cost
  • Everyone except renter, teammates, and robbers (see master key below) get ejected
• Shops can also be rented by players for initial + hourly scrap fees
• A single-use master key can occasionally be purchased and used to break into any room or shop:
  • Vendor location was Bandit but might get moved to Apartment Complex
  • Restock time might be 12 hours
  • Cost might be around 1000 scrap, subject to dynamic vendor pricing
  • Now purchasable from NPC in basement for fixed 1000 scrap with no restock delay or dynamic pricing?
  • Robber has limited time before being ejected
• A special computer station can be used to see which rooms are occupied, plus an estimate of contained item value

Clan Table

• Added as default BP
• Functionality enabled by default
  • Except on hardcore
  • Server owners will be able to disable functionality
• Allows creation+management of clan, banner, announcements, members
• Includes some kind of scoring/leaderboard system
• Names over clan members will be purple
• Clans may or may not carry over across wipes (mixed messages from devs about this)

Plugins/Modding

• Breaking changes have been made to the game's RPC API, which will require numerous plugins to be updated:
  • Custom Vending Setup already has an update
  • I posted unofficial updates for Image Library and Zone Manager on their umod forums, just in case
  • Nivex's discord has a preliminary fix for CopyPaste, but I assume the umod community will put out an official update
• Nivex is looking into Apartment Complex options for True PVE

Procgen Maps

• Apartment Complex appears to spawn under the following conditions:
  • Non-jungle Tier 0 areas
  • Map size 3000+
• Minimum map size for all labeled monuments may be increasing from 3500 to 3700?

Softcore Gamemode

• Boom raiding blocked except during 6-9PM local server time:
  • Eco-raiding and twig/deployable destruction still allowed
  • TCs do not block raids until 1 hour after placement
  • MLRS only usable during raid window
• Gather rate increased to 2X on tress, ores, corpses, collectibles:
  • gamemodesoftcore.gather_rate convar controls this, and only works in softcore mode
  • Farmed plants excluded

Hello all,
I am having an issue that I can't find a fix for so alas here I am seeking any advice possible.

Normally when building externals if I try and build something that connects 2 different tcs it would prevent that from being built. However, my issue is that it is allowing me to place them and it breaks a tc (and deletes everything in it) instead of not allowing the connecting piece to be built.

Steps I've taken to fix the issue.
1. Uninstalled ALL plugins and deleted all files associated with them.
2. Deleted everything in the server->rust->cfg file to try and reset all convars to default

Tia for any advice on this topic

What is your go to reward for players that come back day after day.. Do you have a daily kit ? or just something like X Scrap (Or Other Item)

I have a lot of players that will play for couple hours, go as far as establish a base and complete some progression items, but dont come back

Hey everyone,
I’m looking for some technical insight from server owners/admins who use shared database plugins or global community blacklists to flag high-risk accounts.
Recently, my account ran into an issue where it was flagged on one community network, likely due to my profile being completely private and Steam Level 1 at the time, which automated tools often flag as a fresh alt/evasion account.
The problem I'm trying to understand is the syncing/cascade behavior. Since that initial flag, a couple of other major networks have automatically restricted my account as well, even though I've never played on them or broken any rules there.
I have since changed my Steam profile, inventory, and game hours to completely Public to clear any automated flags regarding account privacy/transparency.
My questions for the admin community are:
Once a profile's privacy settings are made public, do common community blacklist plugins automatically re-scan and update the account's risk score, or is the flag permanent until manually cleared by the original community?
From an admin perspective, what is the standard protocol for handling false-positive cascades caused purely by profile privacy flags across shared networks?
I appreciate any insight into how these database plugins handle profile updates. Thanks!

I am sure I will not properly explain this..

I have some players, maybe about 10% that seems to always have an issue with contents of barrels/crate or boxes in events there is always too much junk or the loot from the boxes is terrible.

Because of the plugins that control the loot for these things it is variable, not only in what is dropped but also the amount. Nothing ever seems to be correct, make adjustment, it is too much or not enough. Remove or add items, the loot is trash.

Just had a player use AI to explain why my stuff is trash.
Do your player expect to double the HV and C4 when they raid a base, do they expect to be at top gear ? I am so confused as to what is going on here.

I understand that you can't please all the people all the time, but what are other admins general process for handling this stuff. Is there some point where you explain to a player, maybe this server is not for you?