What is a wipe?
A wipe resets your Rust server, either completely or partly. Everyone starts again from scratch – with a rock and a torch on the beach. That’s part of Rust: without wipes, the big clans would eventually build over the entire map, and new players wouldn’t stand a chance. There are two kinds:
- Map wipe: the map is reset. All buildings, boxes and inventories are gone. Learned blueprints are kept.
- Blueprint wipe (BP wipe): learned blueprints are deleted as well. Everyone has to research items again.
When both are reset at the same time, it’s called a full wipe.
The forced wipe: once a month for everyone
Facepunch, the studio behind Rust, usually releases a big update on the first Thursday of every month – typically in the evening, European time. With this update, the map has to be reset on every server, because old saves no longer work with the new version. This is called the forced wipe. Whether blueprints are wiped too is usually up to you.
Good to know: after the update, the server needs the new Rust version before you can play again – Steam updates your game automatically. So allow a little extra time on forced-wipe evening.
Which wipe schedule suits your server?
Between forced wipes, you can wipe as often as you like. It mostly depends on who plays on your server:
- Group of friends or small clan: the monthly forced wipe is usually enough. That gives you plenty of time to build up your base.
- Active community: many community servers wipe the map weekly or every two weeks. That keeps the game exciting and gives new players a fair chance.
- Blueprints: a BP wipe with the monthly forced wipe is common. Many players find more frequent BP wipes frustrating.
More important than the exact schedule is that it’s reliable. Announce fixed wipe dates, for example in the server name or on your Discord – then everyone knows where they stand.
How to carry out a wipe
- Announce it: let your players know in good time when the wipe is coming.
- Make a backup: create a backup in the Game Panel under “Backups”. If anything goes wrong, you’re back with one click.
- Stop the server: stop the server in the Game Panel.
- Delete the files: open “Files” in the Game Panel and go to your server’s folder under
server/. For a map wipe, delete the map files ending in.mapand the saves ending in.sav. For a BP wipe, also delete the files whose names start withplayer.blueprints. - Start the server: on start-up, the server generates a fresh map. That takes a few minutes – then you’re good to go.
Rather not get it wrong? Drop us a line before your first wipe – we’ll show you which files belong to your server. We’re also happy to switch you to a new map with a different seed or size.
New map: seed and size
A Rust server’s map is generated from two values: the seed, a number that determines what the island looks like, and the map size. Keep both and you get the same island after the wipe. With a new seed, you’ll explore a completely new map.
As for size: the bigger the map, the more memory the server needs and the longer it takes for players to run into each other. For a small group, a smaller map ensures there are still encounters and raids. Large community servers use bigger maps.
Bonus: become an admin on your server
To manage players or use commands in-game, make yourself an admin. You need your SteamID64 for this – a 17-digit number you can find in your Steam profile link, for example, or with an online SteamID finder. Then enter in the console in the Game Panel:
ownerid 76561198000000000 "YourName"– makes you an admin (use your SteamID64 instead of the example number).server.writecfg– saves the change permanently.
Then reconnect to the server once – done.
