Add a Custom Map to Your Rust Server

A Rust server normally generates a procedural map from its World Size and World Seed. A custom map replaces that with a .map file someone built in a map editor. Rust loads it from a web link, and your server's Startup tab has a field for that link. This guide covers hosting the file, setting the link, and going back to a normal map.

Host the map file

Your players download the map from your link, not from your server. Facepunch's wiki on hosting custom maps says the file needs to sit on a public website that works around the clock, and that if the link breaks, new players can't join until it works again. The link must be a direct download: opening it in your browser should start the download straight away. A page that makes you click a button first won't work, and the server will throw an error. The wiki notes a public GitHub release works for hosting the file.

If you want to make a map rather than download one, Facepunch's wiki lists two editors: RustEdit and Rust Map Editor.

Add the link to your server

1. Take a backup from the Backups tab. See How to create and restore backups.
2. Open the Startup tab and find Custom Map URL.
3. Paste the direct link to your .map file and save it.
4. Leave Map on Procedural Map. That field is only for special built-in maps.
5. Restart the server and watch the Console until you see Server startup complete.

When Custom Map URL has a value, it replaces the procedural map and World Size and World Seed are ignored. Our start-up line passes the link to Rust as +server.levelurl, which the game describes as the URL to download a custom map file from, loaded instead of generating one.

Old saves and wipes

The world your server saved on the old map is still on disk in server/rust, in files ending in .map and .sav. To start the custom map from a clean state, run a map wipe. Use the Wipes tab, choose Map only, and press Wipe now, as described in How to set your Rust wipe schedule, map and blueprint wipes. A wipe deletes the .map and .sav files, and with Custom Map URL set the server loads your map from the link again on its next start. While the link is set, the Seed control on the Wipes tab is replaced by a note that you are running a custom map and there is no seed to change.

Go back to a procedural map

Clear Custom Map URL, save, and restart. The server then generates a map from World Size and World Seed again. Run a map wipe first if you want the new map from a clean start.

Memory

Bigger maps need more RAM. How much RAM does a Rust server need? covers procedural map sizes, and a custom map's size is set by its maker, so check it before you pick one.

Common problems

1. The server won't start after adding the link - the link isn't a direct download, or it has gone offline. Test it in a browser, or clear the field.
2. Players are stuck downloading or can't join - your hosting for the file is down or slow. It must stay up for as long as the server runs.
3. The same old map came back - the field is empty, or you didn't restart after saving.

Want a map with no monuments at all? See How to run a Rust server with no monuments.