How to use a custom map on your Rust server

Rust can load a custom .map file instead of generating a map. Paste a direct link to the file into Custom Map URL and restart. The server downloads the map at its next start, and your players download it from the same link when they join.

Back up first. Using a custom map leaves the current world behind. See How to back up and restore your Rust world.

Use a custom map

1. Put your .map file on a site that gives a direct link to the file, a link that starts the download by itself.
2. Open your server in the panel, click the Settings tab, then Game Settings.
3. Paste the link into Custom Map URL.

4. Restart the server. See How to start, stop, restart and force-stop your server.
5. Watch the Console while it starts. When the server is ready it shows Server startup complete.
6. Join and check the map. See How to join your Rust server.

Rules for the link

• It must be a direct http or https link to a .map file.
• A query string is fine, for example ?dl=1&v=2.
• No spaces, quotes or semicolons.
• It can be up to 512 characters.
• A link to a web page instead of the file fails. A Discord message link fails. A link that asks the visitor to click through a page first fails.
• Dropbox links need dl=1 at the end, not dl=0.

If the link is not valid, the panel refuses it and tells you. If the link is valid but is not the map file, the server cannot load it and stops: clear the field and restart to get back to a normal map.

What does not apply

World Size and World Seed do not apply to a custom map. On the Wipe page, Generate a new random seed and Use this seed are switched off too, and the page tells you that the seed decides nothing here.

Update the map

Use a new file name for each new version of the map. If you reuse a name, players can be served an old cached copy and see World cache version mismatch: see Players see World cache version mismatch on your Rust server. Then change the link in Custom Map URL and restart.

To restart the world on the new version of the same map, run a wipe too: How to wipe your Rust server.

Go back to a generated map

1. Clear Custom Map URL.
2. Check that Level is Procedural Map, and set World Size and World Seed: How to choose your Rust world size and seed.
3. Restart. A new map is generated.

Good to know

• The first time a player joins, the map is downloaded from your link before they spawn. The link must stay online as long as you use the map.
• To switch between several maps at each wipe, put their links, or generated maps, in a map rotation: How to set up a map rotation on your Rust server. The panel notes that maps with custom prefabs also need the RustEdit extension on Oxide or Carbon.
• Some custom maps need a plugin or extension from the map's author. Follow the author's instructions and check the Console for errors.
• To bring a map together with its saves from another computer or host, see How to upload your own Rust world.