Skip to main content

Optimization

Rust servers get heavier as a wipe cycle goes on: players build, place deployables and drop items, and the world fills up with objects (entities). This page shows what you can do to keep the server smooth, from most to least impact.

How to tell the server is struggling​

  • Players report rubber-banding, delayed hits or slow doors and loot.
  • On Console, the CPU or MEMORY cards stay high for long periods.
  • Typing perf 1 in the console shows server performance numbers while you test. Turn it off again with perf 0.
  • You can ask FenixAI for a check-up of status, CPU, memory and disk.

Change one thing at a time so you know what helped.

1. Map size and player count​

Bigger maps and more players mean more entities and more memory. If you are tight on resources:

  • Choose a smaller Map size in Wipes for the next wipe.
  • Lower server.maxplayers in server.cfg. See server.cfg.

If the server still struggles with a reasonable setup, a bigger plan may be the right answer. You can change plan from the service page in the store.

2. Entity count and decay​

Abandoned bases and loose items stay in the world and cost performance. Decay removes them over time, so:

  • Keep upkeep and decay on. decay.scale 1 is the normal speed.
  • A slightly higher decay.scale makes unused bases disappear faster, at the cost of more upkeep for your players.
  • A plugin that removes abandoned entities or limits deployables per player can help on busy servers. See Plugins.

3. Plugins​

Every plugin costs a little CPU, and some cost a lot (large user interfaces, plugins that constantly scan entities, big economy systems).

  • Remove plugins you do not really use.
  • After installing a new plugin, watch CPU for a while. If it goes up, try removing that plugin to confirm.
  • Keep plugins updated: authors often fix performance problems.
  • If the console is full of plugin errors, fix or remove the plugin. Errors repeated many times per second add load.

4. Save interval​

The server saves the world regularly, and each save can cause a short hiccup on busy servers. With server.saveinterval (in seconds, 300 by default) you choose the balance:

  • A longer interval means fewer hiccups, but more progress lost if the server crashes.
  • A shorter interval is safer, but saves more often.

Do not push it to extreme values either way.

5. FPS limit​

fps.limit caps the server frame rate. A lower value uses less CPU. Change it gradually and test, and leave server.tickrate at its default.

6. Scheduled restarts​

A daily restart at a quiet hour clears memory and keeps long-running servers healthy. Use Schedules:

  1. Press Create schedule and name it, for example "Daily restart".
  2. Set the cron fields (MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, MONTH, DAY OF WEEK) for a quiet time.
  3. Add tasks, using the time offset between them:
    • Send command with say "Server restarts in 5 minutes".
    • Create backup, if you want a restore point (mind your backup limit).
    • Power action with restart.
  4. Make sure the schedule is Active.

See Schedules for the details of each field.

7. Wipes​

A wipe is the biggest cleanup: it removes every entity. If the server only lags near the end of long cycles, a more frequent wipe or a smaller map is the fix. See Wipes.

Checklist​

  • Map size suits your plan and player count
  • Only needed plugins installed, no repeating errors
  • Decay on at a normal speed
  • Daily restart scheduled for a quiet hour
  • A backup before big changes

If performance is still poor, contact support and tell us when the lag happens and how many players are online.

Related: server.cfg, Plugins, Troubleshooting.