Detailed server administration

Customer setup and recovery instructions for a Rust Role Play server. Use these with the Admin guide, matching release packages and their supplied dependencies.

Contents

• Customer server installation
• Foundation allowances
• Foundation rewards
• Tutorial Island
• Profession foundation perks
• Skill ownership and respec
• Paid skill ranks
• Resource and running skills
• Extended special skills
• Social and utility skills
• Faction territory map
• Trader identity checks
• Counterfeiting
• Camera portraits
• Government identity tags

Customer server installation

Use the customer Core ZIP and matching purchased module releases. Stop the server and back up its configuration and data before installing or replacing Core.

Install only your framework's pair. The payload filenames match but the Oxide and Carbon builds differ. Keep source RPCore.cs and its development includes out of the production plugins directory.

1. Copy the correct Core DLL pair to the paths above while stopped.
2. Install RPPersistence and RPUI plus the feature plugins and dependencies you use. Put customer module .cs files in oxide/plugins on Oxide or carbon/plugins on Carbon. Feature archives can retain oxide/plugins paths; copy the files into Carbon's own plugins directory.
3. Start the server once to generate its private licensing configuration.
4. Set LicenseKey, keep the generated InstallationId unique to this server, and set ServerName in the correct file: oxide/config/RolePlayRust/license.json or carbon/configs/RolePlayRust/license.json. Keep the file and key private.
5. On Oxide, retry activation using server console oxide.reload.extension Oxide.Ext.RolePlayRust. On Carbon, stop the server before editing the key and restart fully; c.extensions should list the native extension.
6. Check the server log for activation and payload errors. Initial activation requires connectivity to the licensing service. A valid cached lease can cover temporary network failure until its signed expiry; it does not bypass a denied or expired license.
7. Configure the dedicated MySQL database through RPPersistence, apply the supplied module baselines, and confirm storage readiness before player activity.

Then follow Getting started to configure world identity, gameplay modules and content. Use a staging server and ordinary test character to check the activities you enable. Keep backups of configuration, database and relevant native world storage together.

Foundation allowances

Configure allowances in /rpadmin → Building. RPBuilding owns these controls; Core supplies the shared world identity. Review initial allowance, earning mode, time zone, team/cupboard accounting and administrator bypass before enabling limits.

Check the selected policy against actual connected-player activity. Counts and saved earning history follow Core WorldId. Keep that ID to retain enrollment; use a deliberate new ID for a fresh world. Changing the time zone or earning rules requires a review of day boundaries.

Use the player's Foundations Help to compare allowance, usage, remaining capacity and bonuses. A lower allowance can block additional placement without deleting existing foundations. Native building privilege and placement checks still apply.

Foundation rewards

Set a quest's Foundations reward in the quest editor. Apply the matching quest-reward and completion baselines in Persistence before using it.

Use the owning administrator controls for reviewed grants or revocations and retain the reason and receipt. Repeating a pending reward is not a repair. Inspect recent earning/reward history before compensating a player. Old-world reward claims remain pinned to their original world.

Tutorial Island

Use the Rust template in Onboarding for the native island path, then Validate and Publish. Keep Core, Crafting, Persistence, UI and Professions available, with at least one free initially selectable profession.

Set these convars in server.cfg:

server.tutorialEnabled true
chat.hideChatInTutorial false

The native mode also sets these values when it starts. The RP template disables the island in favor of the role-play journey. Publication resets unfinished runs while preserving completed receipts.

Players can finish or quit the native tutorial. Both resolve its onboarding checkpoint; remaining profession/character stages still need completion. Use /onboarding on the mainland to resume.

A pending exit retries saving during the current plugin lifetime. After an interrupted restart, inspect the saved run and use audited skip/reset controls only for the affected player. Check completion, quitting, reconnect and the remaining role-play stages with an ordinary test character.

Profession foundation perks

In Professions → Content, configure Starting foundation bonus and Extra foundations at this tier. Tier amounts are incremental: starting 2, Novice 1 and Apprentice 3 give an Apprentice 6 additional foundations.

Bonuses stack across enabled owned professions. Unknown tiers do not unlock tier bonuses. Save Config persists the settings. Removing or disabling a profession recalculates the bonus without removing placed foundations. Check Professions Help and Foundations Help on the same character.

Skill ownership and respec

In Skills → Ownership, inspect the player's actual saved ownership before changing ranks. Apply the matching Skills ownership baseline through Persistence first.

Reviewed rank changes can revoke dependent skills when prerequisites are lost. Full respec is audited with actor and reason. Free rank upgrades, Paid upgrades and Player respec are separate optional controls and start disabled.

Players prepare the offered review and confirm it with /skillprogress confirm <operation ID> where requested. Free progression still checks prerequisites and profession eligibility. Respec refunds nothing. Explain this before enabling player respec.

Paid skill ranks

Apply the supplied paid-rank routines and enable exact-wallet Economy before enabling paid upgrades.

1. Select a skill in Skills → Catalog.
2. Open Rank prices and set the currency and price for each target rank.
3. Save the draft and publish the intended catalog.
4. Enable Paid upgrades in Ownership. Free upgrades take precedence when enabled.
5. Test an eligible character and one missing a prerequisite.

Players confirm the displayed quote within 30 seconds using /skillprogress paidconfirm <request ID>. /skillprogress paidstatus reads the original receipt after interruption. Payment, one rank increment and the audit entry commit together. A timeout alone does not justify another charge or rank grant.

Resource and running skills

Assign an action to a skill in Skills, use its Settings, then save and publish both the skill and its tree. Players must acquire an eligible source skill.

Authoring bounds are 1–120 seconds duration, 1–250 metres range, 0–300 seconds cooldown and x1–x2 running speed. Resource targets restrict available filters. Instant harvesting still requires a successful normal tool hit and ordinary reach.

Check tool wear, yield, full inventory and XP rules: initial gathering and completion can both emit gathering events. Resource Finder excludes cultivated planter crops. Speed Running pauses outside supported grounded forward sprinting.

Extended special skills

Use each action's Settings to configure duration, cooldown, relevant range and effect. Publish and acquire the skill normally. See Player actions for the action-by-action gameplay limits.

Hunter's Sense defaults to 100 metres and excludes owned animals. Pathfinder defaults to 250 metres, needs an active unfinished Explore destination and a working quest-navigation provider. Team Rally defaults to a 20-metre radius, uses actual Rust team membership and applies the strongest eligible rally without stacking.

Field Medic improves successful healing/revive health, Farmer's Touch improves harvest yield, and Craft Focus affects supported native player crafting. None replaces the native checks or changes unrelated custom production workflows. Test effects with eligible and ineligible characters.

Social and utility skills

Configure and publish actions before offering them. Player actions and services lists their effects and consent commands.

Set a participating merchant's discount cap using administrator console rptraders.negotiation <trader ID> <0–25 percent>. An absent policy permits no reduction. Install matching trader checkout baselines first. Skill and ID discounts use the best eligible reduction within that cap, rather than stacking.

Repair Specialist needs working exact-wallet payment support. Check the fixed target condition, total fee, recipient acceptance and empty inventory slot. If interrupted, inspect /skillrepair status, the original equipment, payment receipt and world save before compensation.

After review, authorized console rpskills.repair.resolve <buyer Steam ID> <request ID> acknowledge closes the loaded journal and unlocks its original item. It does not repeat the repair, refund money or grant equipment.

Pack Mule lets occupied overflow drain after expiry or recovery. Do not delete overflow items or force capacity down to resolve a pending lease. Coordinate other inventory-capacity plugins before enabling it.

Faction territory map

Rust map territory circles use bounded Factions influence zones. Claim 100m Here creates a spatial claim around the administrator's position; overlaps with another enabled faction are rejected.

A named zone without coordinates cannot draw a circle. Assigning a Places grid to a faction does not create an influence zone. Configure faction territory and Places land separately, then inspect the map as an ordinary player.

Trader identity checks

Keep Core, Traders, Persistence and Economy on matching releases and apply their supplied baselines before enabling ID-gated purchases.

1. Configure Core's stable WorldId and exact-unit wallets.
2. Create an enabled merchant bot and offers with matching trader/bot identity.
3. In Core → Government ID, choose that NPC's registry or presentation policy, disclosed-role requirements and optional discount.
4. Configure the merchant cap with rptraders.negotiation <trader ID> <0–25 percent>.
5. Test a genuine ID, missing ID, hidden required field and the configured counterfeit policy.

Registry validation can reject forged/stolen IDs. Presentation policy intentionally trusts permitted disclosed claims. Keep an ID-replacement service reachable without an ID gate.

A 100-unit offer with a 10% ID discount and 15% skill discount costs 85 when the cap allows 15%. A 5% cap limits the reduction to 5. Fractional minor-unit prices round upward.

Players quote and confirm through the trader purchase controls. Inspect original checkout and delivery records after interruption; a quote is not payment or goods delivery.

Counterfeiting

In Skills, use the Counterfeiting template for an existing catalog or select its existing definition. The stable default skill ID is counterfeiting. Review maximum rank, prerequisites and tree; enable and publish the skill/tree, then Save Catalog and wait for confirmation.

In Core → Government ID, enable counterfeits and set the required skill ID and minimum owned rank. Provide an acquisition route through profession requirements, an approved trainer or reviewed Skills Ownership administration. Adding the template does not grant ownership or replace a customized catalog.

The default definition has three ranks and no timed action. Higher ranks can raise the eligibility threshold; they do not improve forgery quality. Players use /id forge Name | profession ID | profession rank | faction ID | faction rank. There is no Counterfeiting skill-bar activation.

Forged claims do not grant genuine roles or registry authority. To stop new forgery, disable Core's AllowCounterfeits or revoke the required ownership. Hiding a skill does not revoke saved ownership or previously issued credentials. Review NPC registry/presentation policies and existing credential revocation separately.

Camera portraits

In Core → Government ID, Allow camera portraits controls native camera capture; it defaults to enabled within the identity feature gate. Saving configuration clears pending requests.

The character owner opens /id portrait, authorizes a nearby photographer holding an active instant camera, poses and reviews the resulting crop. The authorization lasts 90 seconds and the private review lasts 120 seconds. Only an explicit Save accepts the portrait; Cancel/Discard preserves the existing one.

Headshot disclosure is public by default. Explain that setting to players and verify their privacy choice. A portrait is not proof of registry validity. Clearing remains available when capture is disabled.

An accepted portrait is stored with that character's identity record. Already displayed images use Rust file storage; the accepted record can supply the image again when missing. Back up identity data and review portrait display after a storage reset. Reconnect/reload discards unsubmitted capture/review state, so request another review instead of assuming an unsaved photo was accepted.

Government identity tags

Configure issuing, presentation, disclosure and NPC validation in Core → Government ID. Review the current character and credential status before replacing or revoking an ID.

Tags show the allowed presented fields and follow server policy; they do not grant the displayed profession, faction or rank. Verify registry and presentation checks separately. Replacement and revocation can invalidate an outstanding quote even when its price appears unchanged.

Keep correction reasons and original credential/incident references when investigating misuse. Recheck identity-dependent services after a policy change.

Return to the Admin guide or custom icon setup.

Store updates and activation allowances

With the licensed compiled Core installed, open /rpadmin and choose Core > Product Updates. Checks run at startup and hourly. Server admins can select individual products to install; delegated admins also need rpcore.updates and menu access. Source plugins download, verify, back up and reload. A failed version check restores the previous file. Core DLL updates require a server restart; if a loaded DLL is locked, stop the server and install the release from your store account downloads. Keep backups and test updates on a staging server first.

The license key in the framework licensing configuration authorizes downloads. Each product version defaults to two installation/IP activations. Retrying on the same installation and IP reuses its slot; IP changes consume another slot. A new version gets its own allowance. Account Server licenses shows usage and server IPs and lets you request more activations. Store administrators can approve increases. Rotating a key or releasing a server does not reset version usage. Keep keys and installation identities private and unique to each server.