How to Connect to Your Rust Server with RCON

RCON lets you run server commands from outside the game: a desktop tool like RustAdmin, a web console, or a Discord bot. Your server has it enabled already, so this is mostly a matter of finding three values.

Worth knowing first: the panel already speaks RCON for you. The Players page gives you the player list, live map, chat and moderation without any of this. Set up an external tool when you want something the panel does not do, such as your own Discord bot.

1Collect Your Connection Details

• Log in to your game panel and click your Rust server.
• On the Console page, note the ADDRESS. The IP before the colon is what RCON uses.
• Click Startup in the left menu. You need RCON Port (RCON_PORT) and RCON Password (RCON_PASS).

• The RCON port is not the port players connect on. Use the one shown here.

2Change the Password First

• RCON Password is editable, and it is generated for you. Change it to something of your own before handing it to anyone.
• Anyone with this password has full control of your server, so treat it like a root password.
• Restart the server after changing it.

3Connect With a Tool

RustAdmin is the usual desktop choice.

• Download it, open Settings, and enter your server IP, the RCON port and the RCON password.
• Connect. You get chat, the player list, the console and a command history.

Your server runs RCON in web socket mode (+rcon.web true), which is what modern tools and Discord bots expect, so most of them will connect without extra configuration.

4What You Can Do With It

• Everything from Rust admin commands that is server side: say, kick, ban, status, server.save.
• Watch chat and answer players without being in game.
• Wire it to Discord, so your staff can moderate from a phone.

Commands that act on your character, like noclip or god, still need the in game console.

Good to Know

• The panel console is RCON too. The command box on the Console page talks to the same interface. If you only want to run the occasional command, you do not need a separate tool at all.
• Never put the password in a public place. Not in your server description, not in a screenshot, not in a Discord channel anyone can read.
• Change it if you lose track of who has it. Changing the password and restarting cuts off every existing tool immediately.
• RCON is not Rust+. RCON is for administering. Rust+ is the player-facing companion app.

Finished

You can administer your server without opening Rust. If you want your staff to have limited powers rather than full RCON access, do it with plugin permissions instead: how Oxide and Carbon permissions work.