Here’s a round-up of 10 interesting RUST admin tickets you may encounter
It was an action-packed night, full of RUST admin tickets. You just wrapped up your last call, reflected on the events of the evening with the other admins on hand, and concluded with your typical ‘see you guys tomorrow‘ outro—just another day in paradise.
They stick with you as you settle in for much-deserved slumber time. You play them back in your mind, questioning your decisions and the validity of the information you collected. You pour over every detail incessantly, reassuring yourself that all decisions were made correctly and judgments handed out fairly. You will lose no sleep over second-guessing.
You are, of course, thinking of your ticket queue(s). From first to last, you should give each ticket received the same fresh perspective; if someone has a problem, let’s find a solution. In that same spirit of helpfulness, we’ve compiled a small list of relatively common, albeit delicate, tickets you should know about before tackling your queue.
A brief disclaimer before we start
It would be folly to not first disclose that many of the tickets cited below could be considered circumstantial, one-off, or a bit extreme for smaller servers. Granted, no two server groups are the same, despite probably having considerable player overlap.
That said, no two tickets are ever the same. While we have taken great strides to depict accurate representations of actual ticket scenarios, it is important to realize that different circumstances call for different admin procedures.
1. Someone hacked my account. Why am I banned?
One of the more common situations you may encounter is someone else being responsible for the actions taken on my account. To be fair, it does happen. You will see this within the game in very rare, isolated circumstances. What is the chief difference between an authentically ‘hacked’ account and one that a kid brother jumped temporarily spammed from? The degree of transgression.
When nefarious organizations hack accounts, they are typically stripped of valuable skins, which are then either resold or used for further gain by the hackers. It is very uncommon for an account to appear on John Q. Server owner’s RUST domain, spam obscenities, or use cheap day-pass hacks to selectively target rival clans.
Resolution:
It is good practice to have a policy in place for this in advance. Admins who can link directly to a website or Discord rules section are much better prepared to handle this scenario.
We cannot possibly prove who is on the other side of the computer, so we are forced to instead ‘discipline’ Steam IDs alone. In the event that an account was actually compromised and there is a solid degree of proof, perhaps you allow for second chances. Do yourself a favor: plan ahead for as much as possible.
2. “I have 2000 hours; I know a cheater when I see one!”
From GigaChads to SuperSads, there are no limits to the number of expert cheater catchers you will interact with. It’s a part of the game and definitely a part of your day-to-day experience spotting cheaters as a RUST admin.
Resolution:
It’s important to recognize when someone is emotionally compromised. More important still is the capacity within yourself to be as calm as possible at all times. Nothing is gained when admins go full-tilt.
Many server groups incorporate wording into their rules to protect information during ‘investigation periods .’Lending words of assurance to the reporting party builds a degree of trust. Laying out your steps, such as informing the reporter that ‘all reports are taken very seriously, and we will do all possible to follow this investigation to its fair and just conclusion,’ is typically enough.
Be forthright in policy when necessary, and let the reporter know that you won’t be able to discuss the outcome of the investigation with anyone other than the reporting party, when applicable. Stay even in tone and message, and follow through. Most cheat claims are by slighted players, but you get a real one every once in a while.
3. “My codes are all changed; help!”
While less prevalent since the implementation of the lock-out period, code-raiding is real. Alternatively, team insiding is also very real, as is ‘cheating .’
It is important to have tools such as Admin Hammer (and other essentials) in your arsenal to tell the difference.
Resolution:
Only through thorough investigation will you crack this shell. Determine who is authorized to be on the door and who built the structure, and try to ascertain whether a raid recently took place.
- If the base was raided, simply state that.
- If you can help within the scope of your server’s format, that would be great.
- If you can’t, that’s Rust.
The same goes for the team insiding scenario.
You are going to get this a lot. Sometimes it’s a simple case of forgetting to set a code and an outsider taking advantage of it. It is important to provide the full RUST experience consistent with your server’s mission – whatever that may be.
4. “All of my stashes are gone.”
We’ve all been there at some point. Whether it was in the early days when we thought stashes were sneaky, or we were trying to do too many events at once. Stashes get lost. They decay over time, and the game reclaims possessions.
But what do you do when you wake up to multiple reports of stashes disappearing in a single night? As alluded to in our Vagrant Life article, using stashes can be quite a precarious undertaking; cheaters are attracted to them like moths to a flame.
Resolution:
While admins typically cannot reimburse players for items lost to bugs, stashes, or the like, we do have measures to test for nefarious players stealing them with ‘help .’
If you feel that your server is the target of ESP stash thieves, the most efficient method for testing is to set up your own ‘trapped’ stashes in the remote corners of the world; landmines make great welcome gifts for would-be cheaters. Fly around a bit, and monitor persons for suspicious behavior.
If people lose their stashes due to forgetfulness, it might be time for a coffee break.
5. “My friend didn’t mean it. He’s sorry.”
Commonplace within the world of RUST is the valiant yet all too often misinformed best friend. This scenario can appear under a few different circumstances, chiefly ‘my friend doesn’t use cheats’ and ‘he didn’t know that spamming that word would get him in trouble.’
Objectivity is paramount in this scenario. Whether the behaving teammate knows it or not, he is not responsible for others’ actions, nor is it appropriate to appeal on someone else’s behalf. Avenues for appeals should exist on your server website or Discord.
Resolution:
As with cheater reports, it is essential to remain impartial and objective. Allow the appealing friend the opportunity to speak their mind fully before gently letting them down.
It does no good for the community to incite further agitation and cause more incidents. If the party that committed the transgression wants to appeal, inform the friend that they’re free to do so through any available avenues.
6. “My body fell through the world with 47 C4.”
Oldest story in RUST—just when you’re headed from your furnace base to your main base with your entire wipes work in your inventory, BAM! Server crashes, you somehow manage to clip through the world, or a wild pack of chickens manifests and holds you at beakpoint.
Yes, bugs and glitches do happen. No game is perfect. Things break and go wrong, and sometimes good people pay the price.
Resolution:
The most important piece of advice we can offer here is to have a strong policy in place beforehand. Effectively a statement reading something like: ‘Administration are not responsible for game-related crashes, bugs, or other assorted developer technicalities.‘
While this might seem cold, there is absolutely no way to determine what was lost, except when you’re on-scene at the exact moment the body fell and can recover it yourself. It isn’t that admins don’t trust the people that play their servers, but let’s be honest for a second – no one does in RUST!
7. “I defended an online raid! Will you remove 9 walls for me?”
No. Just no.
Resolution:
There needs to be consequences for actions taken in RUST. Filling the core of your base with High Quality Metal walls to stop online raiders in their tracks is NOT an intended method of defending your base. Breaking walls, for this reason, would violate the community standards and do a severe disservice to the raiders and the rest of the community.
This ticket type falls into the things you should also address in your rules beforehand. If you make a mess, you should expect to clean it up.
8. “They’re breaking team limits, too!”
If you find yourself working for a team-limit server, many great tools are available (even for community-listed servers) that will make your job a lot easier. Even with these in place, you will still have groups that attempt to skirt the rules for the sake of advantage.
But here’s what makes this ticket type unique. It happens more than you’d think; one team reported another for cheating, but after a brief investigation, you can promptly conclude that the reporting team is ALSO breaking team limits.
Resolution:
Sometimes teams, or the individuals who make them up, don’t think. Anyone who works in a professional environment will immediately see the real-world parallels behind that statement.
At the end of the day, simple rule violations like this fall under the server’s laid-out rules and consequences. However, the point of including it is always to dig just a bit deeper. People do stupid things. It’s nice to laugh at life’s little ironies sometimes.
9. “The Bandit Camp wheel cheated me.”
Fortune favors the bold, except in RUST. Talk about a ticket that anyone can relate to. While not overly common, players sometimes go far enough to prove their point, showing that RUST Admins must be ready to respond. Video clips, screenshots, and eyewitness accounts will come your way.
Resolution:
Just as with bugs and glitches, it is crucial to have a policy in place beforehand that reads something like: ‘Administration are not responsible for game-related crashes, bugs or other assorted developer technicalities.‘
While this isn’t fair, it is the fairest we can be while remaining impartial and objective.
10. “It isn’t racism if I am the same race that I am insulting.”
We all know it’s coming – RUST can be a toxic environment sometimes. No one wants to listen to or deal with ignorance, hatred, and bigotry, but this is a pastime you’ve chosen.
While your policy might look differently on ‘freedom of speech,’ it is important to understand that as admins and owners, we are also responsible for upholding the Facepunch Guidelines regarding racism and homophobia.
Resolution:
Hate is Hate. We aren’t here to pass judgment on how people choose to present themselves, who they wish to associate with, or what they want to think. In fact, it is an excellent idea when dealing with this particular topic not to think of the ‘person’ piece at all.
You aren’t banning a person from your server – you’re banning an offending Steam ID. You don’t know who might be controlling that Steam ID; no more than they know who is taking action against them.
Anonymity on the internet is a two-way street, and people need to understand that actions taken behind an alias will have ramifications for the alias, not them personally.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Flying Purple People Eater; you can’t display prejudice publicly against your own kind under any context. Be better than that.
Closing thoughts
While these few RUST admin tickets are a single droplet in an ocean of crazy, these selected ticket topics should cast a pretty wide net for newer admins about what to expect on the job. For those veterans reading, I am sure you took some of this in with a shake of the head and a mild grin.
If you have a crazy admin interaction you’d like to share, be sure to reach out on Discord; you might make it into the next article!
