How to Fix a Rust Server That Does Not Appear in the Server List

This is the most common Rust ticket we see, and in most cases the server is running perfectly and the browser is the problem. Work through these in order.

1. Confirm the server is actually up

Open the Console section in the panel. Rust logs its startup in stages. You are looking for the map to finish generating and then a line reporting that the server has started. Until that appears, nothing can see or join it.

A first boot on a 4000 size map routinely takes five minutes or more. A larger world size takes longer still.

2. Join directly to prove it works

Press F1 at the Rust main menu and run:

client.connect YOUR_IP:YOUR_PORT

Use the SERVER_PORT value, not the query port. If you get in this way, the server is fine and only the listing is missing, which is a browser issue and not a server issue.

3. Look in the right tab

• A server running Oxide plugins appears under Modded, never under Community or Official.
• A brand new server has to register with Facepunch before it is listed at all. Allow up to thirty minutes after the first successful start.
• The browser applies your filters from the last session. Clear the search box, reset the player count and ping sliders, and untick any region or map size filters.

4. Check the query port

The browser talks to the query port, not the game port. Your server has both, listed in the panel. If the query port assignment was changed by hand, restore it to the value shown on the server overview and restart.

5. Make sure the server wants to be listed

Open server/rust/cfg/server.cfg in Files. If it contains:

server.official false
server.hostname "..."

that is normal. What matters is that a hostname is set. A server with an empty hostname is very hard to find and looks broken in the list.

6. After a forced update

On the first Thursday of the month Rust forces a client and server update. Until your server is on the new build it cannot be joined by updated clients, and until Oxide publishes a matching build your plugins will not load. Restart the server so it pulls the new files, and give Oxide a few hours if plugins are still failing.

Still missing

Open a ticket with your server IP and port, the last fifty lines from the console, and whether client.connect works. Those three things settle it quickly.