Decided to host your own Rust Server? The installation and set-up for the Rust Server are effortless and straightforward. With this guide, you'll learn to use Game Panel to host your first Rust server!
Choosing the Right VPS Server
Here at Hostinger, we offer a wide variety of gaming VPS plans, and choosing the right plan is key to having a well-performing server and smooth gameplay!
RAM memory is the most important resource, and according to the official Rust Wiki, you need to have at least 4GB of RAM memory and 8GB of RAM for the best available performance. Generally, the more RAM you have, the better it is. However, if you plan on having a relatively small server for testing, learning building designs, creating traps, or just playing peacefully with your friends, 4GB of RAM would also work perfectly fine.
Setting Up the Rust Server on Game Panel
The Game Panel is the main console you'll be using while creating, managing, modifying, or doing any changes to the Rust server itself. The Game Panel is easy to use and often updated to make the use of it even easier.
Once you log in to the Game Panel, you'll have no instances. In this case, simply click on Create Instance and choose Rust from the dropdown list. If you did everything correctly, the instance creation pop-up should look like this:
This will create an instance or a container where your server files and configurations will be stored.
Now, click on the instance and choose the Manage option on the right side menu:
By doing this, you've opened a page where your Rust server will be located and managed. At this point, you need to follow these simple steps:
Head to Configuration > Rust. There, you'll be able to change the name of your server, map, install Umod (formally Oxide, used for installing plugins and mods), enable or disable PVE, etc. Simply change the options according to your liking.
Head back to the status page or console and click on start to start the server. At first, it will give you an error that Rust is not installed, and it will begin the installation from the backend. You can see the progress in the console:
Kindly note that the Rust server download might take up to 15 minutes to complete.
Once the download is completed, you'll see this message in the console:
Success! App '258550' fully installed.
Now click Start once again, and it will start your first Rust Server! These messages below (can be seen in the console) means that your server is up and running, and you can now connect to it:
Now you can open Rust, press F1 to turn on the console, and insert client.connect 185.185.185.185:28015 (instead of this IP and port, you should insert your own server IP and port). This will connect you to your Rust server.
You can also see your server in either Community or Modded tabs, depending on if you installed Umod or not:
Adding Yourself to an Administrator Group
To add yourself to the admin group, you'll have to open up the server console in the Game Panel. There, you'll need to insert this command:
ownerid <SteamID> <"STEAM Nickname">
example:
ownerid 12345678901234567 "Hostinger"
Console output:
Added owner Hostinger, steamid 12345678901234567
If you have friends that you'd like to turn into moderators, you'll need to insert this command instead:
moderatorid <SteamID> <"STEAM Nickname">
example:
moderatorid 12345678901234567 "Hostinger"
Console output:
Added moderator Hostinger, steamid 12345678901234567
Now save your server config to make sure that the server would remember owners and moderators when you restart the server:
writecfg