How to Make a Rust server

Installing SteamCMD

SteamCMD is a command-line version of the Steam client you all know and love. It can be used to install servers for various games, include Rust, which we'll be talking about here.

Windows

Create a new folder in your C:/. For simplicity, just call it steamcmd. We'll be using this moving forward. Download SteamCMD for Windows and extract the contents of the zip file into the steamcmd folder.

Linux

To install for linux, first you need to create a new user account. From root user, run this cmd:

useradd -m steam

Next, cd into the home directory:

cd /home/steam

Then install the package. This can vary depending on distro.

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install steamcmd

For 64-bit machines, you'll need to run additional commands to add multiverse:

sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install lib32gcc1 steamcmd

RedHat CentOS

yum install steamcmd

OS X

Open terminal and type in the following command:

mkdir ~/Steam && cd ~/Steam

Then download and extract SteamCMD for OSX:

curl -sqL "https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_osx.tar.gz" | tar zxvf -

Running SteamCMD

Windows

cd C:/steamcmd
steamcmd

Linux

cd ~
steamcmd

OSX

cd ~/steamcmd
./steamcmd.sh

Installing Rust Server

After running the SteamCMD client and allowing it to update, you'll be presented with a Steam> prompt. To install the rust server use this command to log in to the steam service, and download the server files.

Change the directory based on what's compatible with your operating system.

login anonymous
force_install_dir "c:\rustserver\"
app_update 258850
quit

This will install a default vanilla Rust server. You can also save this as a .bat file, or .sh file to update your server later when a game update occurs. 

Running your Server (Windows)

To run your server, navigate into the install folder and run the RunServer.bat (for Windows). To configure your server, you can edit the file. You'll see the following lines:

echo off
:start 
C:\steamcmd\steamcmd.exe +login anonymous +force_install_dir c:\rustserver\ +app_update 258550 +quit
RustDedicated.exe -batchmode 
+server.port 28015 
+server.level "Procedural Map" 
+server.seed 1234 
+server.worldsize 4000 
+server.maxplayers 10  
+server.hostname "Your Server Name" 
+server.description "Description shown on server connection window." 
+server.url "http://yourwebsite.com" 
+server.headerimage "http://yourwebsite.com/serverimage.jpg" 
+server.identity "server1" 
+rcon.port 28016 
+rcon.password letmein 
+rcon.web 1
goto start

Configuration

In here, you'll see a few options that are useful. We're going to focus on the ones you'll likely be editing.

Information about Ports

If a port is already in use, your server will not run. It must be a port number you know for a fact is not being used. (ie. port 80 is typically used for web servers, Skype, and many other services.). If you're running multiple instances of the same server, ensure they each have their own unique server.port and rcon.port. 

RCon

RCon stands for Remote Console. It's used for various adminsitrative actions such as giving other users moderator or administrator, giving items, etc. There are several GUI based options online you can use, or you can use the same commands from the in-game F1 menu. 

Banning Users

If you have a particularly bad person on your server, you can ban them quickly via your RCon or in-game using the F1 menu, or by editing your cfg/bans.cfg file located within the server's files.

To ban via the ingame menu, press F1 and type this command

ban "name" "reason"

The reason is entirely optional. This will write the reason to the bans.cfg file for later reference.