On the first Thursday of the month, a Rust server can go from 80 players to 0 as long as the client and the server no longer speak the same protocol. You need to know what disappears, what remains, and what your plugins may break after the Facepunch update. A clean wipe avoids ghost bases, blueprints deleted by mistake and players discovering the reset when they log in.
Understanding the Rust forced wipe on the first Thursday
Facepunch pushes the Rust forced wipe on the first Thursday of each month, usually around 19 h UTC. In France, this is often 20 h in winter and 21 h in summer. The server restarts with a new version. Steam clients too. Old maps no longer work.
The most visible sign is still the connection being refused. The player may sometimes see Disconnected: Wrong Connection Protocol: Client update required or Server update required. In the console, plugins also speak. You may see Failed to call hook 'OnServerInitialized' on Oxide, or a NullReferenceException during Carbon loading. The forced wipe does not break your hosting. It breaks the agreement between the game version, mod hooks and save files.
The game port remains 28015. RCON often remains on 28016. The server identity, declared by server.identity, stays the same if you do not change it. Keep this in mind, the Facepunch update imposes a new map, not a full rebuild of the server. If you delete the wrong folder at 21 h 05, you lose settings, permissions and sometimes three hours of restart work.
Distinguishing map wipe, blueprint wipe and player wipe
A Rust wipe means nothing unless you specify what you are deleting. The map, blueprints and player data live in separate files. Mixing them up is expensive. A community that only expects a new seed does not appreciate finding its blueprints reset to zero.
| Wipe type | What disappears | Files involved | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map wipe | Bases, chests, generated monuments, placed entities | proceduralmap.4000.12345.xxx.sav and .map | Every forced wipe, or every 1 to 2 weeks on an active server |
| Blueprint wipe | Learned blueprints, workbench progression, unlocked recipes | player.blueprints.5.db | Monthly, or after a major economy change |
| Player wipe | Sleep, deaths, identities, states linked to SteamID | player.deaths.5.db, player.identities.5.db, player.states.5.db | When you want a complete reset |
The seed and the size are not player data. They come from the generation settings. A server.worldsize value of 4000 gives a suitable map for 80 to 150 players. At 3000, groups run into each other too quickly and monuments are constantly contested. At 5000, you increase travel, saving and network load without helping a 50-player server.
The server.seed value changes the map layout. Keep the same seed after a map wipe, and you get similar roads, rivers and monuments. This is useful for a training server. It is bad for a competitive wipe, because players already know the profitable spots.
Choosing a Rust wipe pace based on your population
The right pace depends on the players online in the evening, not on the number of Discord members. A server that announces 200 members and shows 18 players at 22 h does not need a wipe every 4 days. It needs a suitable map and a promise kept.
| Actual population | Map | Blueprints | Consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 to 40 players | 3000 to 3500, wipe every 2 weeks | Monthly | Raids remain possible without turning the map into a desert |
| 40 to 120 players | 3500 to 4000, weekly or biweekly wipe | Monthly | Monuments rotate, new players are still able to settle in |
| 120 to 250 players | 4000 to 4500, weekly wipe | Every 2 to 4 weeks | The weapon stockpile grows fast, the monthly BP keeps progression readable |
A wipe that is too short feeds 8 man groups that play 12 hours on the first night. A wipe that is too long allows bunker bases, rocket boxes and new players who die 5 times before getting a bow. On a x2 server, shorten the cycle, 7 days is often enough. On a vanilla server with 60 players, 14 days works better, unless the map drops below 3200.
Announce the blueprint wipe separately. Many players accept a weekly map wipe if their blueprints stay. They leave faster when an admin deletes the blueprints with no date given 48 hours ahead.
Using the Rust server reset from the panel
The reset removes game data. Bases, inventories, learned blueprints and player states disappear. Deleted files do not come back without a dated backup.
The Rust server reset button in the panel deletes the map, blueprints and players. It removes the proceduralmap saves in .sav and .map, the blueprint database, then the player bases tied to deaths, identities and states. It does not touch settings, mods, or configuration files.
At Starmine, the panel avoids this manual selection. You are not looking for the player files at 21 h 12 while 60 players are waiting for the server to come back.
Settings stay in place. The cfg/server.cfg file is not emptied. The server name, the RCON password, the header image, the 28015 port and the RCON 28016 port stay unchanged. Mods stay too: an oxide/plugins/ or carbon/plugins folder is not deleted by this action.
This separation matters after a forced wipe. You want to start again with a clean map, not lose admin permissions, kits, team limits or automatic messages. A reset that also destroys mods turns a 2 minute operation into 30 to 90 minutes of repairs.
Doing a manual Rust wipe without deleting settings
Deletion commands destroy the targeted files. If you delete player.*.db, you also lose identities and player states, not just blueprints.
- Stop the server. Do not delete a map during an automatic backup. Rust often writes every 300 seconds. Deleting while writing produces incomplete files or a restart with an older backup.
- Copy the identity folder. A medium server uses 500 MB to 3 GB depending on map size, entity count and cycle length. Keep the archive for at least 24 hours after the wipe.
- Delete only the map if you keep the blueprints. Remove the proceduralmap files in .sav and .map. Do not touch the player databases if you promise a map-only wipe.
- Add the blueprint database for a blueprint wipe. The targeted database is player.blueprints.5.db. Without it, players restart without learned blueprints.
- Add the player databases for a complete reset. The player.deaths.5.db, player.identities.5.db and player.states.5.db files then start from zero.
rm -v server/myserver/proceduralmap.*.sav server/myserver/proceduralmap.*.map server/myserver/player.blueprints.5.db
Do not delete the cfg folder for a wipe. Do not delete the plugin folders to fix a map error. If a plugin fails after the Facepunch update, first look for its compatible Oxide or Carbon version. A broken plugin often shows Failed to compile or Failed to call hook in the console.
Announcing a Rust wipe without emptying your server
Players forgive a wipe. They forgive a surprise less. Publish the exact date at least 48 hours ahead, then a reminder 2 hours before. The message has three points, map wipe or blueprint wipe, French time, expected duration. If you plan 10 minutes, announce 15. Rust, Steam and monthly plugins like to add 5 minutes when everyone is watching the console.
A useful message looks like this: Thursday, forced Facepunch wipe at 21 h, map and player wipe, blueprints kept, return expected at 21 h 15. This sentence avoids 30 Discord questions. It also avoids the classic misunderstanding, a player reads wipe and thinks they will lose their blueprints, while you are only changing the map.
- Vanilla server or x1. Keep the blueprints for 4 weeks. Progress takes time, especially below 40 players.
- x2 or x3 server. A blueprint wipe every 2 weeks works better, because components and scrap rise faster.
- Short PvP server. A map wipe every 7 days works if the map stays between 3500 and 4000 and if the team rules are clear, for example trio or quad.
Do not promise a schedule if you are still waiting for the update of a stack, kits or anticheat plugin. One incompatible mod can block chat commands, permissions or shops. After a forced wipe, 15 minutes of buffer is better than a restart every 3 minutes in front of 70 players.
Check the server after a wipe or a forced wipe
The server must restart on a fresh map, with the right settings and the right mods. First read the console. A clean map generation shows a new seed, a size, then monument loading. If the console loops on World File Outdated or Couldn't load server/myserver/proceduralmap..., you have kept an old map file or only deleted part of the .sav and .map pair.
Then test the connection from an up to date client. Port 28015 must respond. RCON on 28016 must accept the usual password. If the server appears but refuses entry with Steam Auth Timeout, wait a few minutes before touching the files, Steam can lag just after the monthly update.
Check player data according to the promise made. After a simple map wipe, a known player must get their blueprints back. After a blueprint wipe, they must no longer know the metal hatchet, weapons or reinforced doors learned before. After a full reset, sleeping bodies and previous positions must not reappear.
Finally, check the plugins. A Failed to call hook 'OnPlayerConnected' error does not come from a seed. It comes from a plugin not yet adapted to the Thursday version. Disable the faulty plugin, restart once, then wait for its update instead of relaunching five useless wipes.
Guides
Does the Rust forced wipe always delete blueprints?
No. The monthly forced wipe mainly imposes a new map after the Facepunch update. Blueprints disappear only if Facepunch forces a progression change or if the administrator launches a blueprint wipe.
Why do my plugins stop working after the Thursday wipe?
The problem often comes from the Rust update, not the wipe itself. Oxide, Carbon and the plugins must follow hook and API changes. Failed to call hook or Failed to compile messages indicate a plugin to update or disable.
Does a map wipe delete bases and storage boxes?
Yes. Bases, storage boxes, furnaces, traps, turrets and placed entities are stored in the map save. Learned blueprints can remain if the blueprint base is not deleted.
How long should you allow for a Rust server reset?
Deletion often takes less than 2 minutes, but the restart depends on map size and plugins. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for a 3500 to 4000 map with a few mods. After a monthly forced wipe, add some margin for Oxide or Carbon updates.