How to add an admin on a Rust server

To make someone an admin on a Rust server, run ownerid <SteamID64> "<name>" "<reason>" from the server console or RCON, then server.writecfg. For a moderator, use moderatorid instead. If the player is online they get their admin powers at once; otherwise the role waits for them in the server's user list.

The three roles Rust knows

Vanilla Rust has exactly three staff-like roles, stored per SteamID in the server's user list (users.cfg in server/<identity>/cfg/):

There is no "VIP" or custom rank in vanilla Rust. Anything finer than this (kits, teleports, cosmetic perks) comes from Oxide or Carbon groups; see how to give VIP on a Rust server.

Step by step: add an owner or a moderator

1. Get the player's SteamID64. It is the 17-digit number starting with 7656119. If you only have a STEAM_0:… id, a [U:1:…] id or a profile link, convert it with the SteamID converter. Rust refuses anything else with "This doesn't appear to be a 64bit steamid".

2. Open a console that can run admin commands: the server console of your host, an RCON client (see how to use RCON on a Rust server), or the F1 console of an existing owner in game.

3. Run the command, with the name and a note in quotes:

   ownerid 76561197960287930 "Alex" "Head admin"
   moderatorid 76561197960287930 "Alex" "Weekend moderator"
   

   Rust answers "Added owner Alex, steamid 76561197960287930" (or "Added moderator …"). The name and the note are only labels in the user list; they do not need to match the Steam name.

4. Save: run server.writecfg. It writes users.cfg (and bans.cfg and the saved settings) so the role survives a restart, whatever the command already saved on its own.

5. Check: if the player is online, they get the admin flag immediately and can open the admin commands in F1. If they are offline, the role is applied when they join.

Removing a role

removeowner 76561197960287930
removemoderator 76561197960287930
removeskipqueue 76561197960287930
server.writecfg

Each command only removes its own role: removeowner on a moderator answers "isn't an owner" and changes nothing. If the player is online, the admin flag is taken away at once.

Traps that catch most server owners

Moderators cannot create owners

ownerid run by a moderator from F1 is refused with "Moderators cannot run ownerid". Only an owner, the server console or RCON can add an owner.

One role per SteamID

Rust keeps one entry per SteamID in its user list: Owner, Moderator, Banned or Skip queue. The commands replace each other:

• moderatorid on an owner demotes them to moderator.
• ownerid or moderatorid on a player who is on the server's ban list replaces the ban: the player is no longer banned.
• skipqueueid does nothing for an owner or a moderator, and is refused for a banned player.

So never give a temporary moderator role to someone who is already an owner, and check the ban list before promoting a player.

Roles never expire, and there is no list command

Rust has no end date for a role, and no command lists the owners and moderators. The only record is users.cfg. If you hand out roles for an event or a trial week, write down who to remove, and when.

Oxide and Carbon add their own admin group

With Oxide, every owner is added to the Oxide admin group when they connect, and Oxide never removes them from it. Removing the owner role is therefore not enough: also run oxide.usergroup remove 76561197960287930 admin. Carbon follows the role on each connection and removes the group by itself. More on the two frameworks in Oxide vs Carbon.

Do you need owners at all?

Many networks give moderator to their staff and keep owner for one or two people. Moderators get the admin flag and the admin commands; they just cannot create owners. The list of what each admin command does, and whether it also works over RCON, is in the Rust admin commands reference.

With Servycore

Servycore's in-game staff page gives Owner, Moderator or Skip queue on every server of your network, or on the servers you pick, with an optional end date (a day, a week, a month or no end). It runs ownerid / moderatorid and server.writecfg for you, retries a server that was offline, and gives the role to servers you add later. When a role ends it is removed on its own, and Servycore keeps the highest active role on each server, so a temporary moderator role never demotes an owner. A player who is banned on your network cannot be given a role by mistake, and every change lands in the activity log.