RUST Rowboat Command (Boat, Motorboat)

The RUST Rowboat Command (Boat, Motorboat)

The RUST Rowboat command enables admins to spawn in the first player-driven boat, introduced to RUST in the “Vehicle Update.” This update also introduced the RUST Chinook 47 and floating junk piles, which the boat can be used to access conveniently.

Players can quickly maneuver through waterways, such as lakes, rivers, and the ever-surrounding sea, with the RUST Rowboats. While boats cannot be crafted by players directly, they do naturally spawn across the map and can be found anywhere that bodies of water are found. They’ve also added a sinking visual and interaction to Rowboats, among other items in the game.

Each boat starts with 400 health maximum and, over time, will begin to decay. When Rowboats are left out in the open and not in use, their life will slowly wither away, similar to the RHIB. To sustain a boat, you will need to create a boathouse in which the boat must be able to ‘dock.’ The RUST Rowboats can also be repaired and are generally easily found across the map, though server admins can modify the number of Rowboats found per KM.

The RUST Rowboats allow up to 4 players to board, including the captain’s seat. Despite their in-game name being a Rowboat, they do come equipped with a functioning motor. The boats have a fuel storage capacity of 500, utilizing low-grade fuel. The fuel storage is accessible by holding down the “e” button while looking at the motor.

Practical reasons for using the RUST Rowboat command and variables

  • A potential future for this becoming a vessel that can be used when transitioning to a different server.
  • Can be used for adding additional travel methods to your servers
  • Spawn the Rowboat into the game for custom events and mayhem
  • Adds additional interactions for players to use and be creative with
  • Admins using the Rowboat can advertise unique aspects of their RUST servers, especially once modded
  • Provide an additional means for transportation in the game beyond running, walking, and swimming
  • Easily access sunken treasure and floating junk piles

RUST rowboat screenshots 

RUST Rowboat video

This video was originally posted on the Devblog Vehicle Update

Who can enter the RUST Rowboat command 

The RUST Rowboat 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 RUST Rowboat command and variables. The Rowboats do spawn randomly across the map, based on a variable that is enabled by default and can be increased, lowered, or disabled altogether by admins.

RUST Rowboat command syntax and usage

  • This command is used to manually spawn a Rowboat into the game, regardless of whether the server is enabled to automatically spawn them
  • When issuing this command, the initiating player must be above the ground and not clipped in a wall or geography
  • The person issuing this command must have their mouse cursor pointed in the exact location of where the Rowboat should spawn (Point above the water level)
  • The Rowboat can be removed using the ent kill command

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

Use the command below to spawn a single Rowboat:

spawn rowboat

On success the console will display:

spawned rowboat[24212] at (111.0, 0.1, 124.9)

Related rowboat variables

VariableDefault Description
vehicle.boat_corpse_seconds300The duration in which the boat’s corpse will remain in game
motorrowboat.deepwaterdecayminutes120How long before a boat is killed while in deep water. If it’s outside as well, the minimum of the two is used
motorrowboat.outsidedecayminutes180How long before a boat is killed while outside. If it’s in deep water as well, the minimum of the two is used
motorrowboat.population0Population active on the server, per KM
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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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