Rust server plugins: Oxide, Carbon and what to install first.

Rust Dedicated Server has no plugin system of its own. Plugins run on a modding framework that hooks into the game: either Oxide (the framework behind uMod, the main plugin site) or Carbon, a newer framework built to run the same plugins with faster loading and lower overhead. A plugin is a single C# file, usually with a .cs extension, dropped into a folder. The framework compiles it on the fly, so there is no build step.

Installing either framework puts your server in the Modded tab of the server browser, even with zero plugins loaded. That matters: the Community tab only lists unmodified servers, and a lot of players filter on it. If you want to stay in Community, you are limited to vanilla convars like decay.scale and craft.instant.

On RSH panel hosting the framework is a one-click install from the server's mod page: pick Oxide or Carbon, click install, restart the server. The panel's plugin browser then lists every plugin on uMod, so a plugin install is a click too, and updates are a click from the same screen. Files are still yours: the plugin, config and data folders are all editable from the file manager if you want to upload a paid plugin or hand-edit a config.

The folders are the same ones a self-hosted server uses, so every guide written for a manual install still applies.

1. Stop the server.
2. Download the latest Oxide.Rust build from the uMod website (it is published for Windows and Linux after every Rust update).
3. Extract the archive over your server install folder. It adds files to RustDedicated_Data/Managed and a new oxide folder appears on first boot.
4. Start the server. The console will log Oxide loading. Run oxide.version in the server console to confirm.

Plugins go in oxide/plugins, their configs appear in oxide/config on first load, and plugin data (kits, balances, homes) lives in oxide/data. Permissions are stored in oxide/data/oxide.users.data and oxide.groups.data.

Carbon installs the same way from the Carbon releases page, with carbon/plugins, carbon/configs and carbon/data as the equivalent folders, and c.version to confirm it loaded.

Most plugins gate their features behind permissions, granted to groups or to individual players. The pattern is the same for nearly every plugin, with the permission name printed in the plugin's documentation.

oxide.grant group default kits.use
oxide.grant user 76561198000000000 vanish.allow
oxide.revoke group default kits.use
oxide.group add vip
oxide.usergroup add 76561198000000000 vip
oxide.show perms

• oxide.load PluginName, oxide.unload PluginName, oxide.reload PluginName load, unload and reload a plugin without restarting. The name is the file name without .cs.
• oxide.reload * reloads everything. Useful after editing several configs.
• oxide.plugins lists what is loaded and how long each took.
• On Carbon the prefix is c. instead of oxide., so c.reload PluginName and c.grant.

The admin group gets everything; the default group is every player. Give default only what you would hand to a stranger. Our admin commands guide covers the vanilla side of running the server.

Every monthly Rust update changes the game's code, and the framework has to be rebuilt against it. Oxide and Carbon usually publish a matching build within a few hours of the force wipe, and until you install it the server will either not start or start with no plugins loaded.

The order that avoids a broken wipe night:

1. Update Rust itself (SteamCMD, or the panel's update button).
2. Install the new Oxide or Carbon build.
3. Start the server and read the console. Any plugin that prints a compile error is out of date; most are patched on uMod within a day or two of an update.
4. Unload anything broken rather than leaving it erroring, and update the rest from the panel's plugin page or by replacing the .cs file.

Plugin configs and data survive the update. The exception is a plugin that changes its config format, which will say so in its update notes and usually writes a fresh default config next to the old one.

These are the ones you see on almost every modded server, all free on uMod unless noted. Install the ones that fit your server type, not the whole list.

• Gather Manager: sets gather and pickup rates (2x, 5x, 10x) per resource.
• Kits: starter and VIP kits with cooldowns. Pair it with Economics or Server Rewards for a currency.
• NTeleportation: /home, /tpr and /tpa teleports with cooldowns and limits. The most-used plugin on casual servers.
• Clans and Better Chat: clan tags, chat formatting, name colours.
• Stack Size Controller and Furnace Splitter: bigger stacks and auto-split smelting.
• Remover Tool and BGrade: remove placed structures, and build straight to a chosen grade.
• Backpacks: extra inventory space, with a permission per size.
• Skinbox: lets players apply any workshop skin.
• Vanish, Godmode, Admin Radar: the admin toolkit vanilla does not have.
• Blueprint Manager: unlocks blueprints on join, for servers that advertise "all BPs".
• TruePVE and Zone Manager: the PvE rule set and safe zones; see the private and PvE guide.
• Raidable Bases (paid, Codefling): AI-defended bases players can raid. The most popular paid plugin on PvE servers.

Paid plugins from Codefling and Lone.Design are licensed per owner and usually tied to your account; buy them yourself and upload them through the file manager rather than installing a copy from anywhere else. "Leaked" plugins are the most common source of a server that crashes on wipe night.

Every plugin costs server performance. Twenty well-chosen plugins run fine on a 16 GB panel plan; eighty plugins and a 4500 map will want the Extreme tier or a VDS.