Your Rust world is backed up every 10 minutes while the server runs, and every time it sleeps. You can restore or download any backup from Backups. The world itself lives in server/wilderack/ on your server.
How backups work
| Backup | When it’s made | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Latest safe copy | Every 10 minutes while the server runs and something changed, and every time it sleeps | Always the newest one |
| Your own backups | When you press the backup button in Backups, with a label you choose | Until you delete them |
| Scheduled backups | On a schedule you set in Schedules, like every 6 hours | The oldest is replaced when your slots are full |
| Safety backups | Automatically before updates, restores, plugin installs and game switches | 7 days |
Before each copy, the server runs server.save, so the backup holds the world as it is right now. Saving is safe while people play.
Backups hold your world, configs and plugins. They never hold the Rust game files, which always install fresh from Steam.
Make a backup
- Open Backups.
- Make a new backup and give it a label you’ll recognise, like “Before raid night”.
- Wait for it to finish. It takes seconds, because parts that didn’t change are reused.
Restore a backup
- Open Backups and pick the backup you want.
- Restore it. We make a backup of the current world first, so you can undo.
- The server restarts with the restored world.
A forced wipe changes Rust’s save format. After a forced-wipe update, Rust can’t load a map saved before the update, even from a backup. It builds a fresh map instead. Your configs still restore, and so do blueprints unless that update also wiped them.
To get one file back, like yesterday’s server.cfg, open it in Files and pick an earlier version by date.
Download a backup
Open Backups, pick a backup and download it. You get a link to a zip that works for 24 hours. The zip holds your world, configs and plugins.
Where the world files live
Everything Rust saves is in server/wilderack/:
| File or folder | What it holds |
|---|---|
proceduralmap.3500.12345.<number>.sav |
The map save: buildings, loot, deployables, everything players made. The name has your map size, seed and Rust’s save version |
The .map file with the same name |
The map itself: terrain and monuments |
Files starting with player.blueprints |
The blueprints each player has learned |
player.deaths, player.states, player.identities |
Death info, hostile timers and other player data |
player.tokens |
Rust+ app pairings. Deleting it makes players pair again |
companion.id |
Your server’s Rust+ identity. Never delete or share it |
sv.files |
Signs and photos players made |
cfg/ |
server.cfg, users.cfg and bans.cfg |
Rust also keeps a few older copies of the .sav file next to it each time it saves. Plugin data is outside this folder, in oxide/data/ or carbon/data/.
The number at the end of the .sav name is Rust’s save version. It goes up with each forced wipe, which is why the old save stops loading.
Move your world from another host
- On the old host, stop the server.
- Download its identity folder:
server/and then the folder named after its identity. If you use plugins, also downloadoxide/config/andoxide/data/(or thecarbon/versions). - Put the files from inside the identity folder into a zip. Add the plugin folders, keeping their paths.
- In the panel, open Games > Bring your world and upload the zip. We check it and put the files in the right place.
- In Settings, set the same map size and seed as the old server. They’re in the
.savfile name:proceduralmap.SIZE.SEED.<number>.sav. For a custom map, use the sameserver.levelurl. - Start the server and join to check your base is there.
Both servers must run the same Rust version. A save from before the last forced wipe won’t load on the current version. Move your world in the same wipe cycle, or start fresh.
You can also upload by hand: stop the server, then upload the files into server/wilderack/ with Files or SFTP.
Bring a world from your PC
Rust has no single-player mode, so there’s no single-player save to bring. If you ran RustDedicated on your own PC, its world is in the server folder next to RustDedicated.exe, in a folder named after your identity. Move it the same way as from another host.
Rust Console Edition worlds can’t move to a PC server.
Backups and wipe day
A wipe deletes the map on purpose. Our wipe day schedule makes a backup first, so you can download the old map as a keepsake. See Rust wipe day.
Questions
How often is my Rust server backed up?
Every 10 minutes while it runs and something changed, and every time it sleeps. We also back up before updates, restores, plugin installs and game switches, and you can make your own backups any time.
Where are the Rust save files on my server?
In server/wilderack/. The map save is the .sav file named after your map size and seed, blueprints are in the player.blueprints files, and your configs are in the cfg folder.
Can I get my old map back after a forced wipe?
Not on the new Rust version. Forced wipes change the save format, so the new version can't load a save made before the update. Your backups still hold it, and you can download it.
Can I move my Rust server from another host?
Yes. Download the old server's identity folder, zip it, and upload it in Games with Bring your world. Set the same map size and seed in Settings, and make sure both servers run the same Rust version.
Sources we checked
- Getting started with your rust serverFacepunch Studios
- Creating a serverFacepunch Studios
- Rust+ ServerFacepunch Studios
