The short answer
Stop the server, open server.cfg and add
server.levelurl "https://yourhost.com/maps/yourmap?dl=1", save, then start the
server. The URL has to end in ?dl=1 so the host returns the file rather than a
web page. Wipe afterwards.
Key points
- One config line does the whole job.
- The URL must be a direct download, not a share or preview page.
- The server must be able to fetch it without logging in.
- Wipe afterwards, or your old bases will be scattered across new terrain.
Before you start
A custom map is a designed world rather than a generated one, which makes it one of the more effective ways to make a server feel different from the hundreds beside it in the browser. You need two things before you begin:
- A direct download URL for the map file, reachable without a login.
- A willingness to wipe. Loading a custom map onto a populated world is not a good idea, for reasons covered below.
Loading the map
-
Log in to the control panel
Sign in to the control panel.
-
Open Game Services
Click Game Services from the main menu.
Game Services -
Select your Rust service
Click your Rust Service.
Rust Service -
Stop the server
Click Stop. Editing config on a running server means your changes get overwritten when it shuts down.
Stop Server -
Open Configuration Files
Go to the Configuration Files section.
Configuration Files -
Edit server.cfg
Open server.cfg with the text editor.
Edit server.cfg -
Add the custom map URL
Add this line, with your own URL:
server.levelurl "https://examplesite.com/maps/myrustmap?dl=1"Make sure the URL ends with
?dl=1so the map loads directly from the source.
The levelurl line in server.cfg -
Save and exit
Click Save and Exit to write the change.
-
Start the server
Press Start. The server downloads the map on boot, so the first start takes longer than usual.
Start Server -
Wipe the server
Recommended rather than optional. Follow our Rust server wipe guide.
Why the URL matters
This is where most custom map attempts fail, and the failure is unhelpfully quiet.
Your server does not open a web browser. It makes a request and expects a map file back. Many file hosts, given a plain share link, return an HTML page with a download button on it. That page is what the server receives, and since it is not a map, the load fails.
The ?dl=1 parameter is the common way of telling a host to skip the page and
return the raw file. Different hosts use different mechanisms, so the underlying rule is what
matters: the URL must return the file itself.
Test it before you put it in the config. Paste the URL into a private browser window. If the file downloads immediately, the server will get the same thing. If you see a web page, the server will get that page instead.
Wiping afterwards
Every structure, deployable and container on your server is positioned against the terrain it was built on. Swap the terrain and none of those positions mean anything any more. Bases end up buried in hillsides, floating over water or intersecting the new map's own content.
Wiping clears all of that so the map starts as its designer intended. It is technically possible to skip it, and the result is reliably a mess.
When the map will not load
- Server starts on a procedural map instead
- The download failed and Rust fell back to generating a world. Check the console output from the boot, which will show the failure.
- URL requires a login
- If the host asks a human to sign in, it will refuse your server too. Move the file somewhere publicly reachable.
- Line in the wrong place or malformed
- Check the quotes are straight rather than curly, and that the whole URL is inside them.
- Map file is for a different Rust version
- Custom maps can break after major game updates. Check with the map's creator rather than assuming your config is wrong.
Once it is running, a custom map is worth talking about. It is a genuine differentiator in a browser full of procedural worlds, so put it in your server description and your listing entry. Our guides on server description tags and Rust server advertising cover how to make that land.