Rust server.cfg and admin commands

Your Rust server reads settings from two places: fields on the Startup tab, and the server.cfg file Rust loads on boot. Mixing the two up is the most common reason a setting won't stick. Here's what lives where, the server.cfg convars worth knowing, and the admin commands you'll use most.

Where server.cfg lives

Every Rust server keeps its files under an identity folder; ours is fixed to rust. Open the File Manager and you'll find the file at server/rust/cfg/server.cfg, next to users.cfg in the same cfg folder. If server.cfg isn't there yet, make a plain text file named server.cfg on your computer and Upload it into that cfg folder.

Rust only reads server.cfg at startup. Editing it while the server is running changes nothing until you restart.

Settings that belong on the Startup tab

A lot of what looks like server.cfg territory is actually decided before server.cfg ever loads. Your Startup tab builds the command Rust launches with every time it boots, and Rust applies those launch settings after it reads server.cfg. Whatever the Startup tab sends always wins, and the same setting sitting in server.cfg is silently ignored.

That covers Server Name, Server Description, Website URL, Server Banner Image, Server Logo, Map, World Size, World Seed, Max Players, Save Interval, RCON Port, RCON Password and Rust+ App Port. Change any of these from the Startup tab and press Save, then Restart, rather than editing server.cfg.

Useful server.cfg convars

Once the settings above are accounted for, server.cfg is for everything else. A few worth knowing:

Restart the server after any server.cfg edit for the new values to load.

Make yourself owner or moderator

Rust admin is granted per player by Steam ID, not a shared password.

1. Join your server, then open the Console tab and type users. It lists everyone connected with their SteamID64, the 17-digit number starting with 7656.
2. Type ownerid <SteamID64> "YourName", for example ownerid 76561198123456789 "TomSmith". Owners can run every admin command, including granting admin to others.
3. For a friend who should have admin without being able to add more admins, use moderatorid <SteamID64> "Name" instead.
4. Leave the server and rejoin. The new level only applies once you reconnect.

Rust writes both straight to server/rust/cfg/users.cfg, so there's no need to run server.writecfg afterwards.

To take access away, use removeowner <SteamID64> or removemoderator <SteamID64> the same way you granted it. You can also open users.cfg in the File Manager and delete their line by hand.

Everyday admin commands

Type these into the Console tab, which acts as your server's remote console already connected:

spectate <name or SteamID64>, god and noclip act on your own character, so they only work in your own in-game console (press F1 after joining as owner or moderator). Typing them into the panel's Console tab does nothing, because the panel has no character of its own in the world.

Remote admin tools (RCON)

Your server's RCON port and password are the RCON Port and RCON Password fields on the Startup tab. Point a tool like RustAdmin, or a web-based RCON client, at them to run any command above from outside the panel. For everyday admin the panel's Console tab does the same job with nothing extra to set up. Rust server setup: connect, admin and wipes covers connecting for the first time and finding those fields.

Apply your changes

A server.cfg edit needs a Restart before it does anything, since Rust only reads the file at boot. A command typed into the Console, like decay.scale 0.5 or env.time 12, takes effect immediately but lives in memory only: it's gone at the next restart unless you also run server.writecfg to save it into server.cfg, or add the line to server.cfg yourself.

Common mistakes

1. A Startup tab field and server.cfg disagree. The Startup tab always wins. Check the list above before you assume server.cfg is broken.
2. server.cfg changes don't seem to apply. You edited the file while the server kept running on the old copy in memory, or forgot to restart afterwards. Restart after every edit.
3. No convar for gather rates. Rust doesn't expose gather multipliers through server.cfg. They need an Oxide or Carbon plugin. How to install Oxide/uMod plugins on your Rust server covers installing the framework and a plugin.
4. ownerid didn't seem to work. It did. The new admin level only applies from your next join, so reconnect.