The RUST Admin Toolbox
Being a RUST admin can be a full-time job under the best of circumstances. Server staff often receive many comments, complaints, questions, reports, requests, and concerns from their players throughout the day. The scope and complexity of each of these communications can vary greatly, which can put a strain on server staff. And, like any person, a RUST admin can investigate only one issue at a time, which puts an added importance on the efficiency in which they investigate. With the RUST admin toolbox, we hope to help reduce the time and increase the efficiency of each investigation.
Like any other profession, knowing of and having access to the tools of the trade is essential to success in moderation and administration. Quick and correct actions can save your community’s reputation and your players’ goodwill. This makes having an admin toolbox or a quick-reference guide to common administrative tasks an essential tool for quickly responding to and remediating problems.
Cheater capabilities
There is no worse feeling as a RUST admin than recognizing that you have a cheater in your midst but lack the capacity to catch them and prove it. To better understand why so many tools might be necessary just to catch a cheater, you must first comprehend what you’re up against. If you haven’t already, it is highly encouraged to check out our How to Spot a Cheater in RUST guide so that you are better prepared to spot the unexpected. It includes most of the known bells and whistles that the average RUST hacker will employ to make the lives of everyday players miserable.
RUST’s built-in utilities for admins
Just as the carpenter has a favorite hammer, so do RUST admins have their favorite quick commands for optimizing their time on the server and making the biggest positive impact. Below is a rather comprehensive (yet not complete) listing of some of the more useful console commands to make your time monitoring and administering RUST much easier. Please note that ‘player_name’ may be supplemented with the player’s exact SteamID.
List references for RUST admins
- RUST Item List – For a quick reference to itemIDs and item shortnames for give commands.
- RUST Prefab List – For a quick reference to prefabs for deletions on servers that may experience F1 item spawn abuse.
- RUST Admin Command List – The full list of current admin commands in the release version of the game.
Mute commands
The mute command is fairly self-explanatory; this feature prohibits the target player name or steamID from transmitting via in-game text or voice feature.
Uses:
- Mute “player_name”
- Unmute “player_name”
Give commands
Give commands are used to spawn items into the game through a variety of methods to all or a specific player. You will need to know an item’s ID if you plan to give items by ID.
Uses:
- Inventory.give “short_name” “amount”
- Inventory.giveall “short_name” “amount”
- Inventory.giveto “player_name” “short_name” “amount”
- inventory.giveid “ItemID” “amount”
- inventory.givearm “player name” “short name” “amount”
Time commands
The use of admintime lets. This command sets (local to the individual admin) the in-game time. It does not change the time for anyone else.
Uses:
- Global.admintime “#” – # can be any number between 1 and 24, that number being 1 am to 11 pm.
Kill commands
The killplayer command instantly causes the named player to fall to the ground dead and can be used remotely.
Uses:
- killplayer “player_name_or_steamid”
Kick commands
Kick commands may be used to kick one or all players from a server, either for disruptive behavior or tentative updating.
Uses:
- kick “player_name_or_steamid” “optional_reason”
- kickall “” “optional_reason”
Ban commands
Ban commands are used to locally remove (for a duration or permanently) players selected by admins.
Uses:
- ban “player_name” “optional_reason”
- banid “steamid” “optional_reason”
- unban steamed
- banlistex
Ent commands
Ent commands allow admins to interact with deployed player entities for a variety of purposes.
Uses:
- Ent Kill – usually bound to a key, used to delete or remove any entity the admin looks at.
- Ent Auth – displays active authorizations currently valid on applicable entities (TCs, turrets, etc.)
- Ent Lock / Unlock – locks or unlocks applicable entity being looked at by the admin.
- Ent Who – displays entity owner information, such as foundations, deployables, or sleeping bags.
God command
The god command makes the admin immune to all damage, status effects, suicide, kill commands, or need for food or water.
Uses:
- god true – toggle god mode on
- god false – toggle god mode off
No clip / flying command
Admins can use no clip to fly and become fluid, passing through matter and entities at will.
Uses:
- Debug.noclip
Teleport commands
Teleport commands help the admin move around the map quickly using a variety of methods.
Uses:
- Teleport2marker – transports admin to a pinned point designated by them on the map.
- Teleport2owneditem steamID – transports admin to the nearest owned deployed entity based on steamID.
- Teleport2me steamID – teleports selected steamID to your location.
- Teleport steamID steamID – teleports the first steamID to the location of the second.
Spectate commands
Spectate kills the admin and allows for first-person spectating through the eyes and actions of the spectated player.
Uses:
- Spectate – this will use alpha-numeric order to rotate between active players on the server.
- Spectate “player_name” – this will spectate a specific player.
- Respawn – this will remove the admin from spectating and spawn them back on the beach.
Debugcamera command
Debugcamera allows admins to debug from their player model and fly around as though noclipping, potentially to bait or track potential cheaters.
Uses:
- Debugcamera
Combatlog command
Combatlog can be used to display specific player combat log information, potentially to look for headshot scripts. It will display You in place of playerID.
Uses:
- Combatlog SteamID
Teaminfo command
Teaminfo steamID – used to display team status (and associations) based on applicable steam ID.
Uses:
- Teaminfo SteamID
Deleteby command
The Entity Deleteby command is dangerous. It can be used to remove all deployed entities and structures placed or created by the designated user steamID. Always use with caution.
Uses:
- Deleteby SteamID
F1 console options
Some options for administration are available under the F1 console.
- Layer Toggles – Under Tools, click to toggle (default) world features by layer. Of the listed, construction, tree, water, and world are commonly used for administration.
Must have uMod plugins for admins
Unfortunately, no default interface is ever really perfect. As such, the great folks over at uMod have created a number of tools sanctioned for use on Community servers by game developer Facepunch. Optional Admin-Specific UMOD tools that make life much easier:
| Command | Description |
| Admin Hammer | A very useful tool that makes most of the entity lookup commands redundant – simply right-click the interface to display authorization information. |
| Admin Radar | A tool that gives admins access to ESP capability, showing player health, distance away, team association, and other assorted. Can be toggled through in-game GUI to display other entity types |
| Sign History | A versatile tool used to view the history of sign edits when checking things like racially inappropriate or hate material – recently made less relevant due to an in-game F1 menu interface, but still worthy of mention. |
| Vanish | Depending on the configuration, allow admins to become completely invisible to regular players and investigate tickets or issues quietly. It may also allow for the opening of locked entities or authorization on locked tool cupboards. |
| Group Limits | While not every server imposes group-specific player limits, this invaluable tool will greatly aid the cause on servers that do |
| Admin UI | This nifty tool takes the functionality of many above-listed tools and adds the beauty of a click-button GUI to the admin interface. |
| Better Chat Mute | While the built-in mute feature is adequate in most temporary situations, sometimes it is prudent to permanently mute players. Meet BCM. To add voice chat muting as well, check out its cousin Better Chat Mute Voice. |
| Admin Logger | Monitors and logs all toggled-on options and outputs a log file containing all F1 console gives, commands, uMod plugin toggles, and other administrative tasks done |
Administrative Resources
The scope of being a moderator, administrator, or server owner in RUST is ever-growing and far-reaching. To make things a bit easier, the following is a compilation of useful tools and links everyone should know about. While there is no definitive one-stop shop for all things administrative, the listed links below are broken up by category, covering almost every aspect of resource that veteran and new admins alike depend on.
Web Links
- The official Facepunch RUST wiki
- BattleMetrics.com, a third-party RCON application, and web tool
- RUSTAdmin.com, a third-party RCON application, and web tool
- RUST Bans database
- ShadowFrax.com, RUST news, and developments
- RUSTEdit.com, all things custom map making
Official Discords
- Facepunch
- RustBans
- Corrosion Hour
- Rust Admin Community
- Battlemetrics Support
- RustAdmin Support
- Shadowfrax
- RustEdit Support
Helpful Corrosion Hour Links
- https://www.corrosionhour.com/category/rust-server-admin – More in-depth administrative command guides and overviews
- https://www.corrosionhour.com/rust-items-database/ – Comprehensive item database with detailed descriptions of every Rust item
- https://www.corrosionhour.com/category/rust-guides/ – Detailed player guides, custom map information, and more
- https://www.corrosionhour.com/rust-updates/ – Go-to for server update information
- https://www.corrosionhour.com/category/rust-server-admin/rust-plugins/ – Essential guides for the admin looking to add mods to their server (and toolbelt)
Closing thoughts
Sometimes the best tool we have to fight against rule breakers that prey on the community is the community itself. Check out our player resources guide to expand your knowledge base, network with other RUST communities, and be better prepared for the next report that comes your way.
