Rust servers: official, community, premium and how to play solo

Rust has no offline mode and no single-player campaign. It is played on servers only, and if you want to play alone, you run your own server. This guide explains official, community and modded servers in the PC version of Rust, how to find EU servers, what premium and secure servers are and how to set up a server just for yourself. Everything here is accurate as of 20 October 2026 for Rust on Steam. Rust Console Edition has its own servers and is covered at the end.

Can you play Rust offline or solo?

Rust has no standalone offline mode. Steam lists it only as multiplayer (MMO, PvP, co-op), and the single-player category is missing. The system requirements also list a broadband internet connection, so there is no playing without one.

The solo alternative is your own server. Rust Dedicated Server is free for everyone, you can run it on your own PC and join it by yourself. You still need a Steam account that owns Rust. The steps are further down in the section on running your own server.

Official, community and modded servers

The server browser splits servers into three main groups:

• Official Facepunch servers run vanilla settings, with no changes. The pace is slower than on many community servers and they attract a lot of experienced players.
• Community servers are run by players and companies. They may only use admin plugins and standard vanilla settings (convars), no plugins that change gameplay or the UI.
• Modded servers are the ones where plugins change gameplay. Facepunch puts them in a separate Modded section.

If you are new, don’t jump straight onto a full official server. For your first hours, a beginner-friendly server or one with fewer players works better. More tips for the first steps are in our beginner’s guide.

Server browser tags and the EU filter

Every server carries tags that tell you what to expect. The most important ones:

Tag group	Values	What it tells you
Wipe schedule	Monthly, Biweekly, Weekly	how often the server wipes the map
Difficulty	Vanilla, Hardcore, Softcore	how harsh the rules are
Mode	PvE, Roleplay, Creative, Minigame, Combat Training, Battlefield, Battle Royale, Build Server, Tutorial	what kind of game runs there
Other	Premium, Modded, Carbon	access and server modifications
Region	EU, NA, SA, WA, EA, OC, AF	where the server is located

If you play from Europe, look for the EU tag (Europe). The wipe schedule decides how long your base survives. Community servers can set the day and time of their wipe as they like. When each type of server wipes is covered in our wipe schedule guide.

Premium servers

Facepunch introduced premium servers on 13 March 2025. You can only join them if your Rust inventory on Steam is worth at least 15 USD. Skins from the Permanent Store and tradable Rust items count, the separate Instruments, Sunburn and Voice Props DLCs don’t.

Until you meet the requirement, premium servers don’t show up in the browser at all. After a new purchase, verification can take up to 20 minutes. The servers carry the Premium tag and have their own filter in the browser. According to Facepunch, players run into cheaters roughly four times less often there.

Secure servers: TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot

Secure servers have existed since March 2026. You can only join them from a PC with TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot turned on. They carry the “Secure” tag in the browser, and community servers can switch the requirement on as they see fit.

In April 2026, Facepunch reported roughly one cheater per 63 players on secure servers versus one per 42 on regular ones. In March 2026, more than 80% of players had TPM and just under 60% had Secure Boot enabled. The studio wants TPM and Secure Boot on all servers but has not announced a date yet. In October 2026 it switched more of its own servers to secure.

PCs from before roughly 2016 often lack TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. How to check and enable both is explained in our guide to EAC errors.

Softcore, PvE and other modes

If you want a gentler game, look for the Softcore tag. On such a community server:

• teams are capped at 4 players,
• you keep 50% of your inventory and hotbar when you die (not your clothing),
• PvP damage is 25% lower,
• you respawn at the Compound or the Bandit Camp (a safe zone with traders),
• after your Tool Cupboard (TC) is destroyed, you get 48 hours of protection against being walled in.

If PvP is not for you at all, filter by the PvE tag. The opposite extreme is Hardcore: those servers wiped both the map and blueprints every month. Facepunch shut down its official Hardcore servers in December 2023, while the Hardcore tag remains one of the difficulty options in the browser.

Tutorial servers

Tutorial Island, the training island for new players, only runs on servers that enable it. By default it is switched off. You can recognise these servers by the Tutorial tag (“tut”). On a compatible server, the game offers you the tutorial as a new player.

Your own server for solo play

Rust Dedicated Server is open to everyone and free. You install it with SteamCMD, Valve’s server tool, under App ID 258550. On your own PC you need:

• Windows, Linux or OSX,
• 12 GB of free RAM (a bigger map needs more),
• 15 GB of disk space, ideally on an SSD or NVMe drive.

Once the server is running, open the console in Rust with F1 and connect with connect localhost:28015. 28015 is the default port. If you changed it in your settings, use yours. Launch parameters and step-by-step settings are in Facepunch’s official server guide. More useful commands are in our list of console commands.

One tip for server owners: don’t change the game mode in the middle of a wipe. It deletes players and their inventories.

No servers showing?

The browser fills up based on where your IP address is. With a VPN you will see servers in another part of the world. Facepunch support recommends:

1. Set “Server browser pings / minute” in Steam to at least 5000.
2. Launch regular Rust, not the Staging branch.
3. Turn off your VPN and opt out of betas.
4. Restart your router.
5. If you know the server address, connect directly through F1 with connect followed by the IP address and port.

Rust Console Edition servers work differently

Rust Console Edition (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, developed by Double Eleven) is a separate game with its own servers and its own wipe schedule. Its official servers are run by Double Eleven with standard settings and a fixed wipe schedule. Community servers are rented by players from hosting companies and set their own rules, such as PvE or roleplay. PC and console are separate games with separate support, and progress does not carry over.

Join our Discord to find people to play Rust with and get advice on picking a server: GamersTogether Discord.

FAQ

Information verified on 20 October 2026. More guides are in our Rust guides section.