The short answer
Stop the server in your control panel, click Wipe Server, tick the data you want removed, press Execute, then start the server again. Allow up to 10 minutes on the first boot while the map regenerates.
Key points
- Stop the server first. Wiping a running server risks a corrupt save.
- A wipe is irreversible. Back up first if you want a way back.
- Map wipe and blueprint wipe are different, and the second is far more disruptive.
- Rust forces a map wipe on the first update of every month regardless.
- The wipe is fast. The wait is the map regenerating afterwards.
What a wipe actually removes
Wiping resets your server so nobody carries an advantage into the new cycle. What exactly gets cleared depends on the options you choose, but the categories are consistent.
- The map
- Everything built on it. Bases, deployables, tool cupboards, loot containers, the lot. The terrain itself regenerates from the seed.
- Player data
- Inventories, positions and player state. Everyone starts on the beach with a rock and a torch.
- Blueprints
- Everything players have learned. Only cleared if you choose to, and this is the one that changes how a wipe feels.
Map wipe vs blueprint wipe
This is the decision that matters, and it is worth being deliberate about because your players will feel it far more than the mechanics of pressing the button.
| Wipe type | Bases and loot | Blueprints | Feels like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map wipe | Cleared | Kept | A fresh start with your existing knowledge. Players rebuild fast. |
| Map and blueprint wipe | Cleared | Cleared | A true reset. The early game lasts properly again. |
Most servers run map wipes frequently and blueprint wipes rarely, often monthly to line up with the forced wipe. Wiping blueprints too often exhausts a playerbase, because the part of Rust people find grindy is exactly the part you are making them repeat.
Wiping your server
-
Log in to the control panel
Sign in to the control panel with your credentials.
-
Open Game Services
Click Game Services from the main menu.
Game Services -
Select your Rust service
Click your Rust Service in the list.
Rust Service -
Stop the server
Click Stop and wait for the server to shut down cleanly before continuing.
Stop Server -
Press Wipe Server
Open the wipe tool.
Wipe Server -
Select the wipe options
Choose the data you want to wipe: player data, map, blueprints. Read the list carefully, because this is the last point at which the decision is reversible.
Select Wipe Options -
Execute the wipe
Press Execute to start the wipe.
Execute Wipe -
Start the server
Once the script has run, go back to your server and click Start. The first boot after a wipe takes longer while the map regenerates.
Start Server
Changing the map seed
A wipe on its own clears the data but keeps the seed, so the same terrain comes back. That is often exactly what you want: players know the map, and only the bases are gone.
If you want a genuinely different world, change the seed or the world size in your server configuration before starting back up. Both force a fresh map generation, which is what makes the boot slow.
Map and NAV mesh generation can take up to 10 minutes. Restarting the server during that window abandons the work and starts it over, so a server that seems permanently stuck is very often one that has been restarted twice.
When to wipe
Facepunch force a map wipe with the first update of each month, so the monthly reset happens whether you schedule it or not. What you control is everything in between.
- Monthly only
- The forced wipe and nothing else. Suits servers with a settled, long-term community that likes building projects.
- Fortnightly
- A middle ground. Long enough to build something worth defending, short enough that nobody becomes unassailable.
- Weekly
- Common for high-population and PvP-focused servers. Keeps the early game, which is the part most players enjoy, coming round often.
Whatever you choose, be consistent and announce it. An unpredictable wipe schedule is one of the fastest ways to lose regulars, because nobody wants to invest an evening in a base that might not exist tomorrow.
What to do after a wipe
A wipe is the single best moment to grow a Rust server, and most owners waste it. Fresh wipes are what players actively look for, so the hour after your server comes back is worth more than a fortnight in the middle of a cycle.
- Post the wipe on the listing sites and Discord channels that carry just-wiped servers, both the night before and the moment it goes live.
- Make sure your server tags and description reflect the new cycle, because that is what a player scanning a list is reading.
- Get a few people on the server early. Empty servers are hidden from the browser by default, so the first players are what makes the rest findable.
Our guide on Rust server advertising covers the timing and the specific places to post in more detail.