Oxide is the framework most Rust plugins run on, and on a GG Host server it installs from the Mod Manager with one click. Plugins are single files you drop into a folder. This guide covers the install, where plugins and their config live, the console commands you will actually use, what happens on Rust's monthly update, and where Carbon fits.
Install Oxide from the Mod Manager
- Open your Rust server in the control panel and click Mod Manager in the left menu.
- Under the uMod group, click Install next to uMod. It takes a few seconds and the status changes to Installed.
- Restart the server. On that first start Oxide creates its folders and compiles, so give it a minute longer than usual.
You will also see Rust:IO in the same group. That is a separate mod for a live web map of your server; install it only if you want it.
After the restart the server folder contains an oxide directory with plugins,
config, data, lang and logs inside it. That is
where everything plugin-related lives from now on.
Adding plugins
A Rust plugin is a single .cs file that lives in oxide/plugins. Three ways
to get one there:
- Install uMod plugins in the panel: the uMod library with search, descriptions
and download counts. Click Install on a plugin and the panel drops the file into
oxide/pluginsfor you; a confirmation says "Successfully installed". No FTP. - File Manager in the panel: open
oxide, thenplugins, and use Upload. - SFTP: the address and port are on your server's home page under SFTP Info. Any SFTP client works; your panel login is the account.
Oxide watches the folder, so a plugin loads the moment the file lands and does not need a restart.
The first time a plugin runs it writes its settings file to oxide/config as
PluginName.json; edit that file, then reload the plugin (below) to apply the change.
Plugins that store data use oxide/data.
Whatever route you use, the test is the same: the .cs file should be sitting in
oxide/plugins and the console should say it loaded.
Console commands you will use
Run these in the panel's Web Console, or in the game's F1 console once you are an
admin (see our dedicated
server guide for the ownerid step).
oxide.plugins: lists every loaded plugin and its version. Your first check after an install.oxide.reload PluginName: reloads one plugin, which is how you apply a config edit.oxide.unload PluginNameandoxide.load PluginName: stop or start one plugin without touching the file.oxide.grant group default permission.name: gives every player a permission a plugin asks for.oxide.grant user SteamID permission.namedoes it for one player.oxide.revokeundoes a grant with the same arguments.
Every plugin's uMod page lists the permissions it uses. If a feature "does nothing", a missing grant is the usual reason.
What happens on Rust's monthly update
Oxide is compiled against a specific Rust build, so every monthly force-wipe update needs a matching Oxide release, which normally follows within hours. On a GG Host server you do not have to fetch it: after every Steam update on a server that has Oxide installed, the panel re-applies the current Oxide build automatically before the server comes back up. If your server runs the staging branch, it fetches the staging build of Oxide instead.
Plugins are a separate matter. A large patch can break individual plugins until their authors update
them. After the first restart on update day, run oxide.plugins, look for anything that
failed to compile, and check oxide/logs for the reason. Our
wipe-day
guide has the rest of the Thursday routine.
Removing Oxide
Mod Manager, then Uninstall next to uMod, then a restart. Your oxide
folder and its plugins stay on disk, so reinstalling later picks up where you left off; delete the
folder through the File Manager if you want a clean vanilla server.
Carbon
Carbon is a newer framework that loads Oxide plugins unchanged and updates itself after Rust updates. It is not in the Mod Manager, and we have not tested it on our panel, so we cannot walk you through it here. It installs as a set of files over the server folder, the same way any manual mod does, through the File Manager or SFTP. Do not run it alongside Oxide; it replaces the same parts of the server, so uninstall uMod first if you want to try it.
