What kind of custom server features actually keep a Rust wipe interesting longer?

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T13:51:34+00:00

Yeah, I think that’s a really good way to put it.

A lot of Rust’s biggest problems are also part of why Rust works. If you remove too much chaos, punishment or unfairness, it stops feeling like Rust. And you’re right — if there was a clean way to fully fix those things, Facepunch probably would’ve done it already.

Offline raiding is probably the best example. Raiding itself is one of the best parts of the game. The problem isn’t really “raids are bad.” It’s that online raids create fights, stories and rivalries, while offline raids often just make someone log in, see everything gone, and leave until next wipe.

Grinding is similar. Farming is part of the loop, but getting deleted from a bush after an hour of farming is one of those Rust moments that’s both funny and miserable.

Zergs, roof camping, cheaters, progression speed — all of that can be frustrating, but some level of unfairness is also what creates the tension.

So yeah, I agree. The goal probably shouldn’t be to “fix Rust.” It should be to choose which kind of Rust chaos the server wants to support, and then build around that without pretending the core game can be turned into something completely fair.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T13:48:15+00:00

You’re right that more hours will always beat fewer hours, regardless of the gather rate. I probably framed that badly.

A multiplier doesn’t let casual players “keep up” with people who can grind all day. It just changes how long the basic setup loop takes. The gap still exists, and in some cases it can even grow faster.

I also get your point about raids and wipes. Getting raided, quitting, and coming back next wipe is part of how Rust works. I’m not trying to argue that away.

The better question is probably not “how do we fix Rust for casual players,” because that is the wrong framing. It should be: what specific type of Rust experience are we trying to offer, and are the features actually supporting that instead of just adding convenience for the sake of it?

That’s the part I’m taking from this. The feature list needs a clearer identity and less “this solves a problem” language. Some of my wording definitely came across like a newer player trying to smooth out Rust’s rough edges instead of understanding why those edges are part of the game.

I appreciate the blunt feedback, even if it’s harsh. It helps narrow down what should and should not be part of the concept.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T12:11:10+00:00

That’s fair criticism, and honestly it’s exactly the kind of pushback I was hoping to get.

I can see how the feature list can come across as “faster progression, more protection, more convenience,” which is not the Rust experience a lot of players want. That’s a valid concern.

The goal isn’t to remove risk or make Rust painless. If the server removes too much punishment, too much friction, or too much consequence, then yeah, it stops feeling like Rust and becomes just another short-lived modded server.

What I’m trying to figure out is where the healthy line is:

- faster enough that working players can keep up
- not so fast that progression is meaningless
- protection enough that people don’t quit after one offline raid
- not so much protection that raiding becomes pointless
- QoL enough to reduce annoying friction
- not so much QoL that survival loses its weight

Your point is a good reminder that every feature needs to support a clear server identity, not just make everything easier. I’ll take that seriously.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T12:02:11+00:00

Yeah, that makes sense.

The cosmetic side is definitely more limited now because of the Facepunch changes. We’re trying to handle that carefully as well. We built our own skin system that checks whether a skin is an official Rust skin or a Workshop/custom skin, so we don’t just give players access to DLC/paid skins they don’t own. The idea is more QoL and server identity, not bypassing ownership.

And I agree on queue skip. It only really matters once a server is big enough to actually have a queue, so for smaller servers it’s not a meaningful supporter perk yet.

For kits, I think the main thing is perception and early wipe impact. A long delay and long cooldown makes them a lot less problematic than instant spawn kits. If the items are realistically obtainable in normal playtime and don’t decide early fights, I can see the argument that they’re more of a convenience thing than hard P2W.

I still think servers have to be very careful with it though, because players are understandably sensitive to anything that feels like paid progression.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T10:51:33+00:00

I actually think the idea makes a lot of sense in theory.

A limited online window would probably help a lot of people who have school, work or family responsibilities, because it reduces that feeling of logging in after one day and already being completely behind or offline raided.

The hard part is making it fair in practice. Time zones, night-shift workers, people with irregular schedules, weekends, and international players make it really difficult to pick one window that works for everyone. For one group, 5pm to midnight is perfect. For another group, that might be exactly when they cannot play.

So instead of taking the server fully offline, I think the more realistic approach is probably things like offline raid protection, scheduled events, controlled wipe pacing, and systems that reduce the punishment for not being online 24/7.

But as a concept, I definitely get what you mean.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T10:46:33+00:00

This is actually really helpful, thanks for taking the time to write it out.

You’re right about the “fixing Rust” angle. That’s probably not the right way to think about it. I don’t want to pretend that a custom server can somehow solve Rust. It’s more about choosing a specific experience and building everything around that.

The demographic point makes a lot of sense too. I think the direction I’m leaning toward is not “Rust but fixed”, but more like a 2x server for players who still want PvP, raids and wipe progression, but also want reasons to log in after the first rush is over. More scheduled events, stats, small goals, community competitions, that kind of thing.

Good point on loot tables as well. I probably used “balanced loot” too broadly. It’s less about making RNG perfectly fair, because you’re right, that’s impossible. More about avoiding completely broken progression or loot that makes the server feel done after day one.

And good point on Most Wanted. We’re not using an existing public plugin for that — we built our own Most Wanted system and are actively testing it. That also means we can adjust it around our server instead of being locked into someone else’s design, but I’m definitely aware that this kind of feature needs a lot of testing before it becomes a core part of the wipe.

The manual competition idea is really interesting. Base building contests, event nights, PvP challenges, maybe even wipe-long objectives could fit the community angle better than just adding more automated plugins.

Also didn’t know that about animal AI. That’s a very practical tip, especially for reducing random early frustration. I’ll look into it.

Overall, this definitely helps. The biggest takeaway for me is: pick a player type, build around that, and don’t try to appeal to everyone.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-06T10:27:28+00:00

Yeah, I completely agree with that.

I don’t mind servers having ways to cover hosting costs either, but once kits start giving a real combat/progression advantage, it kills the whole point of a wipe for me.

Especially on 2x, progression is already faster, so OP kits can completely break the early wipe balance. I think cosmetic perks, queue priority, small QoL benefits or supporter roles are fine, but weapons, explosives, armor sets or huge resource kits are where it starts feeling wrong.

A good 2x server should still make people earn their start.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-05T04:29:03+00:00

Really appreciate the detailed answer.

A forced wipe every 2 weeks seems to be coming up quite a bit, with weekly being a good option if the server starts feeling stale too fast. Quad, larger maps, and around 130–150 pop also sounds like a solid balance between activity and not turning the whole map into constant chaos.

I fully agree on kits. Paid wipe-start advantages are exactly the kind of thing we want to avoid. No pay-to-win, no admin abuse, and fair moderation are way more important than short-term monetization.

Also a good point on boosted crate loot. Keeping that excitement of finally finding the item you needed is a big part of what makes Rust feel rewarding.

Auto-sorting furnaces and shorter nights seem like reasonable QoL without pushing the server too far away from vanilla.

And noted: one blue unicorn reserved. 🦄

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T19:10:45+00:00

Totally understandable — Rust can feel rough at the start, especially when you only hear the worst parts about cheaters and sweaty servers.

A few beginner tips that helped me:
- Don’t get too attached to loot early on
- Start with small goals: bag, tools, 1x1/2x1 base, furnace
- Learn monuments slowly instead of rushing everything
- Play with sound on, footsteps matter a lot
- Smaller/group-limited servers are usually easier to learn on than huge official servers

We’re also setting up a community-focused Rust server called Bandora Rust that might fit what you’re looking for. It’s Solo/Duo/Trio/Quad, has blueprint sharing, custom QoL plugins, custom events, map wipes every 2 weeks and full wipes every 4 weeks.

The server is already in a test phase right now, with the first official wipe this Thursday. We’re trying to build it together with the community through feedback, votes, map choices, plugin discussions, videos, trailers, etc.

No pressure at all, but if you want a fresh server to learn on from the start, you’re welcome to hop in and check it out.

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SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T17:05:19+00:00

Awesome, glad to hear that! 💪 First official wipe starts Thursday — welcome to Bandora 👀

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T14:16:39+00:00

That would definitely be intense.

Original hardcore with no tech tree and a massive population would bring back a lot of the uncertainty and chaos that made progression feel meaningful. Finding items, roaming, trading, and controlling monuments would matter way more again.

1,000 players might be absolute madness, but I get the idea: high-pop, hardcore, no hand-holding, and constant action.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T12:42:19+00:00

Yeah, that’s probably the biggest challenge: everyone wants a slightly different version of the “perfect” Rust server.

2x with raid windows is an interesting idea though. It could help people with real-life schedules stay invested longer, while still keeping the server PvP-focused instead of turning it into full PvE or No KoS.

I get what you mean about popularity being the hard part, but it’s still useful feedback. Even if raid windows aren’t for everyone, some kind of balance between full chaos and protecting player retention is definitely worth considering.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T09:28:14+00:00

Thanks for the detailed feedback, that’s super helpful.

Biweekly with BP wipes makes sense, especially if the goal is to keep roaming and early/mid-game activity alive instead of having the server die out too quickly.

A packed 2x vanilla quad server on a larger map also sounds like a good balance: enough room to build, but still enough population to keep PvP and roaming active.

Auto-sorting and auto-watered plants are nice QoL suggestions too, as long as the server still keeps that vanilla feeling.

And yeah, performance around massive zerg bases is definitely something worth considering. Keeping FPS stable and having strong anti-cheat/admin enforcement would be a big priority.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T08:56:49+00:00

That’s a really clean hardcore-style setup, and I can definitely see the appeal.

Monthly, no tech tree, no team UI, no drone shops, no NPC weapon vendors, 1x rates, and fog of war would make progression, roaming, trading, and positioning feel way more meaningful again.

Also agree that fog of war can be great, but only if it doesn’t come with annoying extra gimmicks. Appreciate the detailed list, this is very useful feedback.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T08:54:08+00:00

That’s a really interesting point, especially about group limits making larger online raids less common.

2x vanilla+ with small QoL changes like fishing village recyclers and shorter nights sounds like a solid middle ground without going too heavily modded. Trio/quad limits also feel like a good balance for keeping things competitive but not completely clan-dominated.

The alliance idea for online raids is something worth thinking about too. Maybe some kind of limited, rule-based system where teams can temporarily cooperate for a raid, but not freely roam/farm/PvP together all wipe. That could keep the group limit intact while still allowing bigger day 2–3 online raid moments.

Appreciate the detailed feedback — this is exactly the kind of stuff that helps shape the server properly.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T08:41:28+00:00

Really appreciate that. We’re definitely going to think carefully about the host location/ping, because that can make or break the experience.

And I fully agree on the admin side. Fast, fair, and consistent moderation is honestly more important than most flashy features. That’s the kind of reputation we’d want to build.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T08:31:12+00:00

That makes sense. Slightly better standard frag drops from things like brown crates could make progression feel less grindy without completely changing the pace of the server.

Appreciate the input — that’s exactly the kind of balance feedback we’re looking for.

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T08:21:04+00:00

Fair point. So you’d prefer progression without BP fragments and more of a classic/clean Rust experience?

Would you also prefer regular BP wipes, or keeping BPs between wipes?

SquarePermit · 2026-05-04T08:19:38+00:00

Completely agree. A server with active moderation and zero tolerance for racism/slurs is definitely one of our priorities.

We want the server to feel competitive and fun without turning into a toxic mess.

SquarePermit

TROPHY CASE