How to wipe a Rust server

To wipe a Rust server, save it, stop it, delete the world files in server/<identity>/ (and the blueprint files for a blueprint wipe), optionally change the seed or the map, then start it again. Rust builds a fresh world on the next start. The rest of this guide covers which files to delete for each kind of wipe, the few files you must never touch, and how to handle force wipe day.

The three kinds of wipe

Server owners talk about three wipes. Rust itself has no "wipe" command: each one is just a set of files you delete while the server is stopped.

A map wipe is the usual weekly or biweekly reset. A blueprint wipe resets progression, and many servers only do it once a month, on force wipe day. A full wipe is rare: it is the "start the server over" button.

Where the files are

Everything Rust saves lives in one folder: server/<identity>/, where <identity> is the value of server.identity (my_server_identity unless your host or your startup line changed it). If you are unsure, run server.identity in the server console or over RCON: the answer is the folder name.

Inside that folder you will find the world save, the player databases and a cfg folder. The save files carry a number that changes with each monthly update (for example …289.sav), which is why the lists below use patterns rather than exact names.

Files to delete

Map wipe: delete every file in server/<identity>/ matching

• *.sav and *.sav.* (the world save and its rolling backups)
• player.states.*.db* (inventories, positions)
• sv.files.*.db*
• nexus.*.db*
• proceduralmap.*.map (the generated map, rebuilt at the next start)
• *_occlusion_*.dat

Map + blueprints: everything above, plus

• player.blueprints.*.db*

Full wipe: everything above, plus

• player.deaths.*.db*
• player.identities.*.db*
• clans.*.db*

Only delete files, never folders, and only inside server/<identity>/.

Files you must never delete

• cfg/: your server.cfg, users.cfg (owners and moderators) and bans.cfg (bans). Deleting it unbans everyone and removes your staff.
• player.tokens.db: your players' Rust+ pairings. Deleting it breaks every pairing; there is no reason to touch it on a wipe.
• companion.id: the server's Rust+ identity.

Plugin configs live outside this folder (oxide/config or carbon/configs) and are not part of a wipe. Some plugins keep data you may want to reset with the map, such as kits cooldowns or shop balances, in oxide/data or carbon/data: check each plugin's documentation before deleting anything there.

Step by step

1. Warn your players. A countdown in chat a few minutes before is enough: say "Wipe in 5 minutes!".
2. Save. Run server.save and server.writecfg over RCON or in the console, so the last minutes and any config change are on disk.
3. Stop the server from your host panel. Over RCON, quit closes Rust, but on most hosts a watchdog starts it again right away, before you can delete anything: use the panel's stop button.
4. Back it up. Take a backup from your host panel, or copy server/<identity>/ somewhere safe. If anything goes wrong, you can put the old world back.
5. Delete the files of the wipe you chose, with your panel's file manager, SFTP or FTP.
6. Change the map if you want one: a new +server.seed (and +server.worldsize) on the startup line, or a new custom map URL. The map guide explains where those settings go and why they are not saved in server.cfg.
7. Start the server. It generates or downloads the new map, which takes a few minutes on a large world.
8. Check that the world really changed. Run server.printwipeid: Rust gives every new world a new 32-character wipe id, while the id stays the same across restarts. If it did not change, the old save was loaded.

Force wipe day

On the first Thursday of the month, Facepunch releases the Rust update and every server has to wipe its map. The difference with a normal wipe is timing: the new client cannot join an old server, and your server cannot run the new version before it is published. So you wait for the release first:

• Rust's dedicated server is Steam app 258550. Once its public build changes, the update is out.
• If you run Oxide or Carbon, wait for its release for the new build too: an old framework on a new server fails to load your plugins.
• Most panels install the Rust update (and your framework) when the server starts, so the usual order is: update is out, stop, back up, delete, start.

The Rust Wipe Planner shows the next force wipe in your time zone and helps you plan your regular wipes around it, so you never wipe two days before a force wipe.

Rust's wipe timer

The game menu shows players a countdown to your next wipe. Rust computes it from its wipetimer settings (wipetimer.wipedayofweek, wipetimer.wipehourofday, wipetimer.wipetimezone, or a cron expression in wipetimer.wipecronoverride). wipetimer.wipeunixtimestampoverride <unix time> overrides all of them with an exact date.

That override is not saved: after every restart, Rust goes back to its own schedule. If you use it, send it again each time the server starts, and run wipetimer.printwipe to check what players see.

With Servycore

Servycore's Auto-wipe system does all of the above for you. It connects to your server with RCON and to your Pterodactyl, Pelican or WISP panel, then on wipe day it:

• waits for the new Rust build on Steam (and for Oxide or Carbon) on force wipe day,
• saves, stops the server, waits for it to go down, and takes a panel backup,
• deletes exactly the files of the wipe type you picked, never cfg, player.tokens.db or companion.id,
• picks the next map (fixed, random seed, a rotation or a custom URL),
• starts the server and checks that the wipe id changed,
• counts down in the chat, keeps Rust's wipe timer in sync after every restart, and announces the wipe on Discord.

If a step fails, the server is started again when nothing was deleted yet, and your staff gets an alert.