Rust server hosting where the map is yours to choose.
On Rust, the map IS the product decision — and here the seed and world size are panel fields, not a support ticket. We measured live servers before pricing this, twice: a 3000 map runs a 4.9 GB working set, and a 4500 map with players on peaked at 8.85 GB. Map size is the memory lever, so the floor is 12 GB at $32 on a Ryzen 9 9950X — the same number Facepunch asks for, and we published the whole size-by-size table below rather than one convenient figure — with 150 server settings as labeled fields and the Carbon mod loader ready for the whole Oxide plugin ecosystem.
- ✓Backed up nightly, off-site — restore or download them yourself.
- ✓Every file is yours — file manager and config editor in the browser.
- ✓Share the server, not your account — and take the keys back anytime.
- ✓Switch games later, keep the world — your RAM is a pool.
Automatic server install.
150 settings as labeled fields, each with the game’s own default beside it
One-click Carbon — runs Oxide plugins
Nightly off-site backups, full file access, and your world downloadable any time — plus a live map in your panel
You set the player limit — Rust ships at 100, and we never sell slots
Small groups and fresh worlds — the smallest box we would run this on
monthly · no contracts · 72-hour money-back · nightly off-site backups · cancel from the panel
What comes with a Rust server
All of it on every plan. The rungs differ by memory, not by what you are allowed to do.
Run it from the browser
No SSH, no ticket, no waiting on us.
- ✓Start, stop and restart whenever you like
- ✓Scheduled restarts on a timer you set
- ✓Password your server and see who is on it
- ✓Switch this server to another game and your Rust world is kept — no charge, no rebuild, switch back whenever
A world that actually saves
The part we found the hard way.
- ✓We save before every stop and before every backup
- ✓Nightly off-site backups — restore or download any of them yourself
Mods, bans and your files
They stick across restarts and updates.
- ✓File manager and config editor in the panel
- ✓Share it with a friend — an invite link or their email, for this one server, revoked whenever you like
- ✓A history you keep — joins, leaves, power actions and setting changes, stored outside the container so a rebuild cannot erase it
- ✓Bring a world in, or take yours out, whenever you want
The hardware, named
You can go and look every part of this up.
- ✓AMD Ryzen 9 9950X — not “premium hardware”
- ✓NVMe SSD storage
- ✓Dedicated RAM, never oversold — the number is on your receipt
- ✓DDoS-protected network
- ✓Direct game and query ports — no proxy hops
- ✓NA East (Montreal), one location, stated plainly
We asked the game itself
what a Rust server can do.
The settings, the memory floor and the mod loader were all measured on our own node — not copied off a wiki.
Two measurements. One honest floor.
We read the memory off live servers the way you are supposed to — the unreclaimable working set from the kernel, not a dashboard number padded with cache. A 3000 map: 4.9 GB, peaking 6.3. A 4500 map with players aboard: 8.85 GB at peak — past an 8 GB cap. The worldsize slider in our own panel reaches 6000, and so Rust starts at 12 GB, which is also what Facepunch asks for. Cheaper floors exist — 8 and 10 GB are common — and they are fine on a small map with a few friends. What they do not tell you is where that stops. The table below does.
Seed, size, and a fresh world when YOU say.
Rust servers live and die by their map. Seed and world size are labeled panel fields here — new wipe, new seed, done. The panel is honest about the sharp edge: changing either regenerates the world, and it says so before you do it. The other 148 settings — player cap, PvE mode, damage multipliers, decay, populations — came from asking the running game to enumerate its own convars, descriptions and defaults included.
Carbon, because Oxide breaks on shared images.
Oxide patches a DLL inside the game install — on any host that shares game files between servers, that patch silently vanishes on the next rebuild and your "modded" server reverts to vanilla. We ship Carbon instead: it touches nothing in the game tree, hot-loads .cs plugins without a restart, and runs Oxide plugins unmodified. Same ecosystem, none of the quiet reverts. And your SteamID lands in users.cfg as owner — you are admin on the thing you pay for.
How much RAM does a Rust server need?
We measured live Rust servers twice. A 3000-size map: a 4.9 GB unreclaimable working set, peaking at 6.3 GB. A 4500-size map with players aboard: 8.85 GB at peak — past an 8 GB cap. The thing that grows Rust memory is the map, not the player count, our default world is 3500, and the size field runs to 6000 — so the floor is 12 GB — the number Facepunch itself asks for. Here is the honest part: 12 GB is sized for the default 3500 map and a group of friends. It will boot a 6000 map — we tried, 10.7 GB peak with 1.3 GB spare and nothing thrashing — but booting it is not the same as recommending it. Push past 4000, run a bigger group, or build heavy, and start at 16 GB.
| World size | RAM in use | Measured with | On 12 GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3000 | 4.9 GB · peak 6.3 | empty | Loads of room |
| 3500 (default) | 6.0 GB · peak 6.1 | one player on | Loads of room |
| 4500 | peak 8.9 GB | players aboard | Comfortable |
| 5000 | 9.6 GB · peak 9.6 | empty | Tight |
| 6000 (slider max) | 9.6 GB · peak 10.7 | empty · 178,904 entities | 1.3 GB spare |
Every row is read off our own node as the unreclaimable working set — the kernel number, not a dashboard figure padded with cache. The conditions differ per row and the column says which, because a 3500 reading with somebody on it and an empty 6000 reading are not the same kind of number. What we have not measured yet: a heavily-built world. Every figure above is a map plus its own trees and monuments — nobody’s 40-tier-3-foundation compound is in there. When we have that number we will put it in this table.
And if you would rather not choose: your RAM is a pool. Size up once and run Rust and something else side by side on the same plan, with no second bill.
Straight answers, no pitch
How much does Rust server hosting cost?
From $32/mo for 12 GB, $41 for 16 GB or $59 for 24 GB — guaranteed dedicated RAM, no slot pricing, no setup fee. You set the player cap yourself and the price does not move.
How much RAM does a Rust server actually need?
We measured twice. A 3000-size map runs a 4.9 GB working set, peaking at 6.3 GB — an 8 GB cap holds that with zero memory-pressure events. But the default world here is 3500, the size slider goes to 6000, and a 4500 map with players aboard peaked at 8.85 GB — past that same cap. Map size, not player count, is what grows Rust, so the floor is 12 GB, which is also Facepunch’s own stated requirement. 12 GB suits the default 3500 map and a group of friends. Past 4000, or with a bigger group, or if you build heavy, start at 16 GB — the size-by-size table on this page shows where the line falls.
Can I change the map — seed, size, all of it?
Yes, and on Rust that IS the server: seed and world size are panel fields, so every wipe can be a genuinely new map. One honest warning the panel repeats: changing seed or size regenerates the world — your old map is gone the moment the new one boots. Name, player cap and the rest change without touching the world.
Can I run plugins — Oxide, uMod, Carbon?
Yes. Your server ships with the Carbon mod loader available — flip mods on in the panel, drop .cs plugins into the carbon/plugins folder (the Files tab links you straight to it), and Carbon hot-loads them without a restart. Carbon runs Oxide/uMod plugins unmodified, so the whole existing ecosystem works. We proved the load path with our own probe plugin before shipping it.
Am I actually admin on my own server?
Yes — put your SteamID64 in the panel and it lands in users.cfg as owner before every boot. Worth saying plainly because vanilla Rust ships that file empty: on a lot of hosts you are renting a server you cannot even admin. RCON works too — the panel generates the password and wires the port, and tools like RustAdmin and BattleMetrics speak to it directly.
How do wipes work here?
You wipe when you want to: change the seed (or keep it and just delete the map file from the Files tab) and restart. There is no forced wipe schedule from us — your server, your calendar. Facepunch forces a map wipe on the first Thursday of each month only when the game updates require it, which is the same on every host.
Do you back up my server?
Yes — nightly, automatically, off-site on a separate network. One-click restore or download from the panel, plus pre-update snapshots before game patches.
Where are the servers?
NA East (Montreal) — AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, NVMe storage, DDoS-protected network, direct game and query ports. Every plan page measures your real ping in your browser before you buy.