Learn about the Admin UI and what it can be used for
In October of 2021, Facepunch, the developers of RUST, pushed the highly anticipated Missions & Quality of Life Update to all servers. This update brought many significant, game-altering changes.
Chief among these changes was the ability to land minicopters on cargoship decks, adding the camper module to our vehicle arsenal, and putting that red siren light on top of airdrops falling at night. It also brought a new in-game Admin UI made accessible by pressing the F1 key and selecting the Server tab. This feature enables admins to modify server settings with an in-game GUI, amongst other features.
A feature release that almost went unnoticed by most RUST players, this interface added quite a few notable changes for the RUST admin community. The tools now exist in the game’s UI for admins to perform functions without remembering numerous server commands and variables. RUST admins can take action against offensive players in real time with the Admin UI. This is yet another item to be added to their personal toolbox.
Admin UI Controls
Let’s first look at the buttons used to interact with the various sections in the Admin UI.
| Icon | Label | Description |
 | Refresh | Used to force-refresh the category above which it sits. |
 | Edit | Used to open a numeric adjustment window for convars. |
 | Save | Used to save changes made to convar values or any other adjustment. |
 | Cancel | Used to close the convar adjustment window without making changes. |
 | View History | Displays the full edit history of the sign. |
 | Delete | Force-removes content displayed on the sign remotely. Note: This action cannot be undone. |
 | Spectate | With the player information window open, spectate simulates the “spectate playerid” command, killing the admin and debugging their field of view into that of the player selected; use ‘respawn’ in F1 to end. |
 | Kick | Temporarily remove the selected player from the server until reconnection, citing the reason when entered. |
 | Ban | Permanently remove the selected player from the server until unbanned, citing the reason when entered. |
 | Copy | Used to copy field information provided |
Admin UI Sections
1. Players Section
The Players section is a very efficient method for searching and sifting through the current player list, finding the party that the admin would like to investigate potentially, and having information quick-displayed at a glance. Most features of this section are self-explanatory, such as the current ping of the player next to their name, but others are more involved. From this section, admins may also use the spectate, kick or ban buttons as described above.
| Value | Description |
| Player Name | Current player-entered Steam Name on the account in question. |
| Steam ID | The numeric unique steam ID of the account in question. |
| Owner Steam ID | Relic coding, associated with Family Share, is no longer in RUST. |
| Ping | Speed measurement in gaming to determine client-to-server responsiveness. |
| Address | The IP of the connected account user. |
| Connected Time | The time that the connected account has been interfacing with your server. |
| Violation Level | Indicator when the anti-hack violation kicks are disabled of cheat-like instances made by the account. |
| Health | A player’s current health in-game. |
2. Server Information Section
The Server Information section provides a brief synopsis of the server’s current overall status. Some terms may be familiar to the average admin, while others are more advanced and usually background noise at best. All of the following are used in crash reporting to troubleshoot issues.
This information is also accessible through the global.serverinfo command in the F1 console.
| Value | Description |
| Hostname | The currently displayed name of the server. |
| MaxPlayers | The threshold for simultaneous user connections is usually a factor of 5. |
| Players | The current sum of connected users. |
| Queued | Users wishing to connect but are unable at this time due to the MaxPlayers threshold being met – connection will establish when room permits. |
| Joining | The number of players actively connecting to the server beyond the Queued phase. |
| EntityCount | The total number of savable entities on the map at the moment. |
| GameTime | The internal clock and sun location determine the current in-game hour. |
| Uptime | The total uptime since the last server start event. |
| Map | Information about the currently loaded map. |
| Framerate | The average frames per second of all players connected to the server. |
| Memory | The memory allocation performance reporting metric. |
| Collections | The memory collection performance reporting metric. |
| NetworkIn | Network packets coming in. |
| NetworkOut | Network packets going out. |
| Restarting | False by default if not currently restarting. |
| SaveCreatedTime | The last savestate entry, made every 10 minutes by default. |
| Version | The current server version loaded. |
| Protocol | The current server version loaded, with the patch protocol identifier |
3. Convars Section
The Convars section of the Admin UI allows admins to set server-specific settings. Some can have immediate gameplay impacts, while others may be used to enforce rule mechanics and more. They control things as simple as chicken populations and as complex as weather patterns, ocean levels, or how the server is searchable. Like other categories detailed above, most of the convars are self-explanatory but will be detailed below.
| Value | Description |
| bear.population | The current bear population. |
| boar.population | The current boar population. |
| boombox.serverurllist | Used to designate custom radio station lists. |
| chicken.population | The current chicken population. |
| env.time | The numerical representation (0 – 23) of in-game time. |
| global.maxspraysperplayer | Spraycan convar for the number of sprays allowed at once per player. |
| global.sprayduration | Spraycan convar controlling time sprays remain. |
| global.sprayoutofauthmultiplier | Spraycan convar multiplier for owned tool cupboard sprays. |
| player.woundforever | The default false, if set true, players will remain wounded until killed. |
| server.description | The server description text is displayed on the server listing screen. |
| server.headerimage | The server header image is displayed on the server listing screen. |
| server.hostname | The server hostname is the displayed name on the server listing screen. |
| server.idlekick | When enabled, determines duration until AFK kicks initiate. |
| server.logoimage | The set URL to display the overlay logo image. |
| server.maxplayers | When applicable, sets MaxPlayers to numerical representation. |
| server.motd | Message displayed to all connecting players upon entering the server. |
| server.radiation | The default true determines if radiation is present on the server. |
| server.savebackupcount | The number of backups by default created. |
| server.tags | The server tags are displayed on the server listing screen. |
| server.url | An external URL can be set and opened when pressing View Webpage in the server listing screen. |
| halloweendungeon.lifetime | This sets the duration of the Halloween dungeons across a server. |
| halloweendungeon.population | This enables or disables the Halloween dungeons across a server. |
| horse.population | The current horse population (wild horses, discontinued, not ridable). |
| hotairballoon.population | This sets the population of hot air balloons across the server. |
| minicopter.population | The current population of minicopters across the server. |
| modularcar.population | The current population of modular cars across the server. |
| polarbear.population | The current population of polar bears across the server. |
| rhib.rhibpopulation | The current population of RHIBs found across the server. |
| ridablehorse.population | The current population of ridable horses across the server. |
| scraptransporthelicopter.population | The current population of scrap transport helicopters across the server. |
| stag.population | The current population of stags across the server. |
| traincar.population | The current population of traincars across the server. |
| wolf.population | The current population of wolves across the server. |
| xmasdungeon.xmaslifetime | This sets the duration of Xmas dungeons across a server. |
| xmasdungeon.xmaspopulation | This sets the population of Xmas dungeons across a server. |
| zombie.population | The current population of zombies across the server. |
4. User-Generated Content Section
The User-Generated Content section of the Admin UI facilitates remotely reviewing all player-created signs on the server. This allows admins to take action against offensive and inappropriate content without having to fly around and look for it or have players discover it first.
Every sign on the map will display within the interface and is browsable by anyone with administrative permissions. From here, admins may view the complete sign artist history and delete content when necessary. You cannot undo this action.
It’s important to note that this section does not include drawings done via Spraycan.
