RUST Radiation Command & Variable

The RUST Radiation Command

The RUST radiation command is used to enable and disable radiation across the game server.  Certain rad towns and monuments spread across the game map can have specific areas where radiation levels have built up to toxic levels.

When a player enters these areas without sufficient radiation protection, their radiation count will begin to build up. Each players radiation count can reach a maximum of 500 points. A player inside of a radiation zone will hear an audible crackling noise from an ever-present Geiger counter, if their radiation resistance is not high enough, for as long as they are in the affected area.

If the player does not have enough radiation resistance, they will begin to lose life due to radiation poisoning. If enough radiation poison is built up, the player’s screen will also appear to dampen and visibility will be severely reduced. Over time the radiation poisoning will go away, however, players may die before it does. Radiation poisoning can be reduced or cured by a few different methods:

A few practical reasons for using the RUST radiation command:

  • If you are creating a custom RUST map and want to disable or enable radiation for any reason
  • If you want to remove radiation from the map at players requests
  • If you want to run a special event that involves radiation in specific areas, check out the plugin zone manager
  • If you’re looking to explore the map without the worries of dying to radiation

Who can enter the RUST radiation command

The RUST radiation command can be issued and configured on vanilla RUST servers by RUST admins and moderators only.  Non-admin players on vanilla RUST servers cannot use the radiation command and variables.

How to use the RUST radiation command

Before initiating the RUST radiation command:

  • This setting can be issued as a command and take effect instantly. If you intend to set it permanently, be sure to add it to your startup configurations or server.cfg file, otherwise, it will be removed upon the server updating and/or restarting.
  • Ensure players understand that this command and server setting are being put into place, as it affects everyone on the server.
  • Consider updating your server’s “hostname” and “description” to include “No Radiation”, if disabling.

The RUST radiation command can be issued from the in-game console and RCON platforms. Press the F1 key to open the in-game console and type in the specific syntax listed below, then press enter.

RUST radiation command & variable (1 of 1)

  • This variable is used to enable or disable radiation across the entire game map.
  • This setting defaults to true.

Note that this RUST admin command does work from RCON platforms and doesn’t require being logged into the game server.

Get the server’s current configuration value

Use the command below to report the current configuration:

server.radiation

On success the console will display:

server.radiation: "True"

Enable radiation on the server

Use the command below to enable radiation:

server.radiation “True”

On success the console will display:

server.radiation: "True"

Disable radiation on the server

Use the command below to disable radiation:

server.radiation “False”

On success the console will display:

server.radiation: "False"
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About Digital Ghost

Dg is the founder and co-owner of Corrosion Hour, a niche gaming community established in 2016 focusing on the survival game RUST. He is an active and contributing member of numerous other RUST communities. As a community leader and server owner for over 15 years, he spends much of his time researching and writing guides about survival games, covering topics such as server administration, game mechanics, and community growth.

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