A few months back Facepunch released the usage for custom Rust map makers to utilize a prefab called the ‘monument marker’ which allows creators to label their custom monuments or locations on their maps which is entirely game-changing for custom maps and the usability for them. I also made a short video on how to add these to your maps as well (How to add map markers to your maps). With that said, you can use these markers to achieve several more features for your custom maps that you may not have already known. Let’s get started!
Note: For this guide, you will need to unlock all prefabs for your Rustedit bundles. I made a super simple guide here! (How to unlock all Prefabs in Rustedit)
Symbols
Nearly all Unicode symbols are available to use within the monument marker options to display. However, there may a handful that do not display in-game and some may not even display on the map from within Rustedit, so this may require a bit of trial and error depending on how wild you plan to go. Here’s a useful site that lists a good deal, if not all, of the available symbols to try.
Example Symbols
★
®
✪
These symbols for example could be used to mark key places on your map that maybe you want to be slightly more discrete or smaller in size.
Custom Font Size + More
Custom font size is my personal favorite! With this, you can easily add main titles on your map, credits, include a rules list, and much more! Here’s an example from our Project Nova Wild West Map! Just be aware the Rustedit text input field is limited to ~40 characters which will also include the size variable characters.
Copy and Paste and modify as needed!
<size=70>Large Text</size>
<size=50>Medium</size>
<size=20>Default Size</size>
You can also use other formats such as the ones below
<i>Italicized</i>
<b>For bold text</b>
<color=red>For Red Text</color>
Marked Bridges
Currently, on maps with custom bridges, they do not display on the map, however, we’re about to change that! Using the “*” symbol on an individual monument marker you can place one every 5m in a straight line to achieve a black road (bridge) such as the image below! Be mindful that too much of anything can be bad for performance so don’t go too crazy with it.
Limitations
As mentioned above, Rustedit does have a limit as to how many characters can go into the text input of the Monument Marker prefab which is roughly ~40 so. Additionally performance, with anything as also mentioned, too much text on the map may cause issues for the server or players. So don’t go too wild with your characters on the map.
Welcome to the semi-regular posts here at Lone.Design! Today I’ll share with you my ten personal tips on ways you can improve your Rust server performance with a few easy steps!
As simple as it sounds, disabling chickens is a fast and easy way to have 1 less thing your server has to manage or calculate for. Since chickens aren’t commonly seen in the wild, nor yeild much resources it’s not a bad idea to just purge them!
To disable chickens type the following command within your console, to eliminate them entirely (even after restarts) add the command to your startup script.
chicken.population "0"
2. Disabling AI Think
Having and managing dozens of NPCs or Animals on a single map won’t add a tremendous amount of server performance to a server, but it does add up like any minor adjustment. Often times large servers will disable AI on their server to help improve performance. However, with this change, it is game changing in the regard that it will make it so animals will not run/walk around the map as they normally would.
ai.think “false”
3. Unload Unnecessary Plugins
It’s very often for new server owners to become plugin-happy and install dozens of less-than-practical plugins that at the time will just be fun or amusing. Being mindful of this and using minimal amounts of plugins on a server will definitely help your server perform better, as well as, add one less thing to update later on!
4. Upgrade Your Server!
This is by far the most impactful difference you can make for your community and will be a night and day difference for sure! Upgrading your server hardware, network, ddos, or otherwise improving it via your host will yield much better performance for your community. With that said, every host is different and will offer certain promises that aren’t always followed through. The server host I recommend for not only customer support, but also hardware reliability, network, ddos protection is Temp Removed for Post edit. Since switching to them it has been the best customer support we could ask for, as well as the machine and network itself!
5. Modify Your Server’s Map with Rustedit
This requires a bit more knowledge within the field of Rust as you need to know how to locate, open, and modify a .map file, however, this can not only open many doors of possiblilities, but also can improve performance for your server and even players!
How to remove some prefabs from your map to reduce colliders/prefabs
Boot your server’s map up like normal
Connect to your server
Once connected quit the game
Navigate to your Rust install location (“…/steam/steamapps/common/rust/maps”)
Drag the .map file that is the world size/seed that you just booted up and drag to your desktop
Once you have opened your map up press H to open the ‘scene hierarchy’
Search for “powerline pole…” and hit select all at the bottom and then press the del key
Repeat this step for “electrical box” prefab as well as any other prefab you wish your map to NOT have.
The second tip whilst still editing the map is to locate any steep terrain such as cliffsides and use the terrain tool and select the smooth, or even Raise/Lower brush to reduce the steepness of the cliffs. Steep cliffs drastically increase the Rust’s terrain poly count as the terrain has much higher vertices for the players to have to render. By reducing the angles/smoothening it will decrease heavily!
Deekay from k1lly0u on ChaosCode (Very handy plugin to fully customize the decay for items on your server with performance in mind!)
7. Limit Server FPS
Limiting or ‘capping’ server fps is very common and recommended by nearly any veteran Rust server owner within the community. The benefit of limiting your server FPS is that your server isn’t having to work as hard when it’s not needing to. Players will only notice server FPS-related issues when it drops below 15-20. So limiting your FPS to 30-60 is highly recommended. This will reduce the possibility of overheating or over exhausting your server when it’s not needed.
fps.limit "30"
8. Increase Decay/Upkeep (Mainly for higher gather rate servers)
Increasing the decay rate or upkeep for bases on your server can be quite a large impact regarding a performance gain depending on your regular population or entity count each wipe. I’d defintely consider this tip if you run a server with higher gather rates as once players build bases and leave and don’t return for the rest of wipe it will make it so that bases won’t clutter your map near as much. There are a handful of plugins to assist you with this on Umod, however using native commands are always the most optimal way of opperating a server with minimal overhead.
Below are some example commands that you can use to eliminate inactive or ‘trash’ bases on your map to help descrease the entity count.
decay.duration_twig “0.5” Default is 1
decay.duration_wood “0.8” Default is 1
decay.upkeep_period_minutes “500” Default is 1440 (24 hours)
You can replace “twig” or “wood” with stone, metal, or toptier depending on which build grade you wish to increase the decay for. I highly recommend viewing the Rust Admin Commands on CorrosionHour.com as there are many more commands similar to these that can help your server and possibly reduce the need for a few plugins you may be running!
9. Regular Server Restarts
To be clear, restarts do not mean wipes. Wipes are when your servers start fresh with a brand new map and world. Restarts is just when the rust server reboots.
This should be a more obvious tip, but there are some who may benefit from knowing that regular server restarts are beneficial for the health of your server. How often you should restart is quite subjective to the type of server you run, however. I will leave MY personal suggestion regarding the suggested restart frequencies below. In addition to regular restarts, regular wiping may be beneficial as well. Check out AutoWipes from Neko to automate your server a bit more!
Pure Vanilla Server – (Restart every 1-2 Weeks) 2x Slightly modded – (Restart at least every Week) Heavily Modded – (Restart at least every few days)
10. Use a Map Size That Best Fits Your Server
Using reasonable map sizes can not only decrease your server’s boot time but also your server and player’s FPS as it’s having to manage fewer entities. For example, running a 5k map won’t be wise if you only retain about 10-20 players. You want a map that will have at least occasional player interaction to help increase your population as well as performance! maybe start off with a 2-3k map!
Lets review what happened around the Rust community recently – massive Rust graphics overhaul, new releases on a website and… an interview?..
HDRP Backport
HDRP backport has become available for public testing on a separate branch called “aux01”. It’s a massive graphics overhaul, giving a new life to procedural maps – new forests, much more detailed deserts, significantly more realistic cliffs and many other small improvements, bringing a whole new feeling to Rust.
It is an amazing update made by Facepunch team, and it was definitely worth the wait. It is expected to release on a main version of Rust at May 6th, 19:00 BST (18:00 UTC). Get ready to update your custom maps to the latest version to avoid any bugs and missing stuff!
If you are interested to test the HDRP backport update yourself, this article has all information you need to know.
Custom Map Changes
It was quite obvious that so many additions and changes cannot happen without affecting existing custom maps. Some prefabs in your projects willbe removed. Here’s a short list of what exactly:
Trees will disappear
Compound buildings (rowhouses, outbuildings)
Ice sheets and icebergs
Rocks and Cliffs
Oil Rig prefabs
Junkyard Mounds
Everything in bold means that they are not removed entirely – but their prefab IDs has changed. Latest RustEdit (Rust map editor) version, 1.1.37b2, is already available for everyone and you can use it to automatically fix some issues.
There is much more to cover, but it’s already done in a separate article that you can check out here.
Honestly, I had a good laugh while watching the demonstration video. This is a very fun plugin that is surely worth adding to your server – you throw a boogie bomb, and once it explodes everyone around it start dancing. It’s silly, and this is exactly why I think it’s amazing. Take a look on this video!
Small but really fun free plugin made by Kusha, that some of you may also know as a map maker. All it does is… welp, it just shoots fireworks! Bring some chaos on your server by spamming tons of these fireworks just for fun, or make a beautiful show for everyone at the end of another wipe. It’s up to you, and I feel like it’ll be a good addition for everyone who’s just seeking some fun on modded servers.
A really good plugin that turns inactive bases into small PVP areas for raiding. This adds a whole new experience for PVE servers and honestly I really like this gameplay idea, always giving a reason to remain active on a server and constantly have some kind of interaction with other players. Definitely worth checking out!
After quickly checking out the products page, I’ve noticed something really interesting – it is a Rust plugin that completely gets rid of recoil on weapons. Honestly, I’ve never knew you can control even this using plugins, and this is kind of amazing. Personally I don’t know where would I use the no recoil feature, but it may be helpful if you are creating cinematics or just testing something. If you are a server owner, why not check it out?
Since I’ve mentioned No Recoil plugin, just for balance I’ll also highlight a plugin does an opposite thing: it, actually, gets rid of macros! It slightly alters the trajectory of bullets, spread, and distance between bullets (depending on mode), making it impossible to achieve a perfect beam while shooting.
Where are new custom maps and monuments?
As you have probably noticed, in today’s blogpost I was able to highlight only three plugins. Due to HDRP backport coming soon and tons of content breaking because of that, we’ve felt like it will be a right decision to put new releases on hold to ensure their quality & visuals will meet new standards brought by a graphics overhaul. This way we will be sure that all new releases (and existing ones too!) will be fully compatible and working after the upcoming big RUST update. There will be much more to cover in coming weeks, don’t worry!
Interview with Gruber
Lets have a small talk with a map maker from Russia, Evgeniy “Gruber” Kislov.
Gruber has been actively creating countless amount of amazing custom maps and monuments since Summer 2018, and even nowadays he keeps reminding us that he will never stop surprising us with new ideas. His works like Hot Mountain and Last Train were highlighted by SHADOWFRAX, and I feel like it was well deserved! With so much attention around him for last 2 months I think it’d be a right decision to ask him a couple of questions…
WheatleyMF: I’ll start with a simple question – how did you start working as a map maker? What became a reason for you to try creating your first custom map?
Gruber: My adventure as a map maker started back in July 2018 after watching the video by Never Lucky, where he has announced a map making competition for MAGIC RUST (note: Russian modded server). I’ve downloaded the editor, started randomly clicking on everything, understood how it works in 2-3 days, started creating a terrain, placing default monuments (back then there were no monument modifiers, so I had to edit the terrain for monuments manually), placing railroads and connecting monuments using them, placed the Launch Site on a separate island and added some bridges. Somewhere in early August I’ve finished the map and made a 40 minutes long video that I’ve sent to Never Lucky via e-mail, and after that I’ve been waiting for a livestream to know the competition results. I have ended up winning that event, earned my first money from it and I was offered to work for MAGIC RUST. Obviously my first map had tons of bugs and holes near rocks, but it was quickly fixed. After that I’ve immediatly started working on a new map…
WheatleyMF: So you was lucky enough to combine your map making talent and being able to financially support this? For how long you’ve worked with that project?
Gruber: Well, kind of, but for me it was nothing but just a slightly paid hobby. I’ve worked with that project for 1,5 years, and, actually, I am still working but conditions have changed.
WheatleyMF: I see. In SHADOWFRAX’ video I’ve learned that your main job is related with railways and this made me curious – is it easy to combine it with map making? Are there any difficulties?
Gruber: Yeah, I work on a railway, there are no problems with combining it with map making hobby, since my job mostly involves doing checks and maintaining report documentation. Since March 2020 we are working from home, so I have enough time to make maps. And no my job doesn’t involve walking around in a gas mask killing passengers as SHADOWFRAX assumed. (smiles)
WheatleyMF: Sounds like a really comfortable schedule. How does map creation session go usually? Do you have any sources of inspiration, maybe you have the final result imagined in your mind before starting the work?
Gruber: At first of all I create a terrain I need, since usually I can always imagine how it should look like while finishing an other map. Then I look at various concept arts in the internet and various art-related websites. Sometimes most of my inspiration comes from games that I’ve played before. I use any picture I liked as a foundation and then start building a new project based off it, and I always come up with something completely new that doesn’t look like that picture at all. Sometimes after finishing the terrain tons of ideas come up in my mind, like what and where would fit on a map. While working on any map I always get ideas for new ones, so that’s why I have a notepad where I write down all my ideas for future projects. Currently I have ideas for at least 7-10 maps.
WheatleyMF: That is great. Amount of products you have on lone.design can surprise people, especially when comparing to amount of my stuff. What’s your best work in your opinion?
Gruber: I like all my projects. Wasteland was my most time consuming project that I’ve been making while working on other maps in my free time. Most tasking part was placing a huge amount of rocks manually, and now I can’t imagine how much time will it take to update it for HDRP backport. I had an idea for Last Train map for a very long time but Rust didn’t support trains at that moment. It took around a week to test the above ground railroad system since RustEdit sockets didn’t want to loop the network properly, but I’ve managed to make it work, and I was satisfied with the result and thanks to SHADOWFRAX it got attention from many players.
WheatleyMF: That’s a really good answer. Lets talk a little about Russian community – do you know any Russian mapmakers you’d like to highlight?
Gruber: Jtedal, WheatleyMF, с0ini, Alex. These are the people I’ve worked with and I like their stuff.
WheatleyMF: Is there any difference between Russian and English speaking communities in your opinion? Do we have something that other communities don’t?
Gruber: Well, honestly, there are tons of thief and resell issues in our community, I didn’t notice anything like that in English speaking community.
WheatleyMF: Lets come back to your stuff again – do you have anything in development currently, and perhaps even a preview just for this interview?
Gruber: At this moment I have 2 maps ready, but I am not rushing to release them since they have to be overhauled for HDRP backport first. Also together with jtedal we’ve been working on a highly detailed map based on Metro Exodus. It was put on hold for a certain period of time when workcarts were introduced, and now we are slowly coming back at working on it.
And here is a preview. Can’t wait for a full release!
WheatleyMF: And the last question – do you have any advices for beginning map makers based on your own experience? Maybe, you’ve got something to say to all the readers?
Gruber: Most importantly don’t be afraid of anything and keep moving forward until the very end. I am not a big fan of epic speeches, I am not good at this.
This is the end of an interview! It was fun asking all of these questions and learning more about him, and I hope it was the same for you. To be honest, this is the first time I do anything like that, ever. If you like Gruber’s stuff, perhaps you also will be interested to check out his YouTube channel and Discord server.
And, actually, this is the end of today’s blogpost. Thanks to everyone who read it all, and see you in May with even more news to cover!
There are a few important things to know about what to expect with HDRP branch coming soon hopefully within this article you will take away some info that will aid you or give you peace regarding your custom maps or servers! All the info provided here as stated by the famous Shadowfrax is “Subject to Change!”. So take all the info here as such since anything is possible to be reverted, modified, added, etc.
So how does this change current custom maps?
Well, in short, it is still up in the air. But there are some certainties that we can inform you of!
Monuments will change and will require touching up/re-applying their terrain/splat/etc.
Launch site (Train entrance added)
Spheretank (Large overhaul such as a new under-tank lootable area)
Junkyard (Massive overhaul and pretty much an entire remaster of the monument)
Satellite Dish (Many structures changed positions and layout is quite different)
Military Tunnels (Medium change to blend it much better within the environment such as roads)
Sewer Branch (Another medium change to blend much better as well within the map)
Caves (So far from what we know, all cave entrances have had a major overhaul so those will need re-applying terrain/splat for sure)
Terrain/ground decor is going to look MUCH better!
Hands down this is the biggest environmental change that Rust has seen yet and your maps even with minor bugs that will need repairing, have no doubt that at least the ground and foliage will look on-par!
New Rock Models!
These are hands-down one of my favorite new additions. With these new rocks this may require you to use the Replace Tool within Rustedit. However, the alignment may vary depending on how different the new rock models are compared to the previous. So this may be one of the larger adjustments you’ll have to revisit quite possibly.
Removal and Addition of assets for us!
This means that there is a large possibility your maps may have areas where the prefabs were removed as Facepunch may have removed them from the client bundle file. However, within Rustedit there is a chance (I say loosely) that we’ll be able to counter removal of assets via using the replace tool with the new assets such as we could back when Facepunch swapped out the old roof/walls/other building materials with new modeled ones.
Like mentioned this will bring loads of new assets into the game that we have within our power to build anything we want with! Most notably are the new rocks/cliffs that I just can’t get over. There are also much more including prefabs from the new junkyard such as new wrecked vehicles, construction equipment, grinder parts and more!
How can I access the HDRP Branch to update my maps?
This branch will not be available until April 7th so currently there is no option. But once it’s the 7th you’ll see the options I’m referring to below!
First, open the Steam library and navigate to your Rust Staging branch and make sure it’s fully updated.
Once you’re done with that navigate to where your Rustedit is installed and open the config file.
Once open scroll down until you see the “Rust Install Location”: section then paste in the location where your Rust staging branch is located. I’ll post an example below.
After that, you’re clear to open up your Rustedit and edit away!
Will the Rustedit Map Editing Tool Be Ready for this?
k1lly0u, the creator of the amazing tool, keeps it well up to date for any major updates that comes out, sometimes even pre-patches so it’s ready for future updates. If you’d like to stay tuned when the editor gets updated and is ready for this branch fully then consider joining the Rustedit Discord for more info!
Find out more info about HDRP as it comes around the corner!
Wheatley, a well-known Rust veteran, especially known for being gifted with Map editing, will also share info within the Rust Map Making Discord of more in-depth info about HDRP, and other custom-map-related news and topics! It’s a no-brainer to join and stay the absolute most up-to-date.
Check out further info about HDRP and commentated video from the creators below!
Recently MiketheVike did an awesome video showcasing WhoisMikeJones’ server called WeeklyRust and did an amazing job showcasing the talent and listening to how we do some methods when creating these projects! Huge shoutout to ya Mike and Mike xD Check the video below!
I began compiling ideas of things to show the map-making community within, mostly unique tutorials that i haven’t seen elsewhere, just to show the community more capabilities they have with such a fun tool! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the videos on these custom rust map-making guides. It would be awesome if you dropped a like/comment/subscribed!
Below I have attached a RustEdit Training Playlist. May be worth checking out!
In the last several months/weeks I have been scouring the deep depths of the Rust management/development community to find the most unique creators/plugin developers to host their products on the site. There has been an increase of members join the team and host their content on the site, however, I bet there are many more talented people out there! If you any of you know of someone who is unique, or growing, or even very experienced in map-making or plugin development feel free to invite them to the discord! Additionally, if you’re interested in joining to have your masterpieces displayed on the site as well please click the link below to submit a vendor application to join!
We are always expanding and plan to branch into other games in the near future to include many more unique content across many different games! This site started off as a Custom Map site for Rust and has quickly turned into a great community of talented people who I (Lone), have had a absolute privilege getting to meet!
Last I’d like to add to this post is a huge thank you to all of you who have purchased, supported, or even guided the team in any way and I want to let you know how much it means to me that I am able to do what I love doing during this strange time in the world today. So seriously, thank you all so much!
Okay guys, it’s finally the time for the new site with full vendor support! You can now create an account and upload your own maps/prefabs to be approved/disapproved on the site and even earn some extra coin for it!
I had some free time to add several new custom monuments/prefabs from other creators for more publicity for them! This process is still very early in development and very manually set up so if you wish to have your work showcased on my map dm me on discord (Lone#1337).
Sponsor Information Regarding custom creators
Quite a bit of thought was put in on how I wanted to inform sponsors regarding other creator’s work on my website. So I have decided that all custom creations made by myself will be available for Sponsors but if anything made from other creators will not be included with my Sponsor purchase! If you wish to get a VIP rank or sponsor for the other creators then that is between them and yourself. I’m just hosting their creations for more publicity to help them out!
All custom monument/prefabs/maps made by other creators other than myself (Lone) are not included with Sponsor rank at this time.
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