Rust Server Manager

Rust Server Manager is a Linux-only Python CLI for managing a Facepunch Rust dedicated server with built-in WebRCON support.

installation, updates, startup, shutdown, configuration, Oxide/plugin management, SSL generation, and direct websocket RCON access.

Features

• Installs SteamCMD automatically when it is missing
• Creates and maintains server.properties
• Generates runds.sh from the current configuration
• Installs and updates the Rust dedicated server
• Uses built-in websocket WebRCON instead of external helper scripts
• Supports one-shot RCON commands and an interactive RCON console
• Installs Oxide and downloads plugins from plugins.txt when enabled
• Generates SSL assets for WebRCON
• Removes the old map and blueprint wipe commands intentionally

Requirements

• Linux
• Python 3.11 or newer
• openssl on the system path
• Network access for SteamCMD, Rust updates, Oxide, and plugin downloads

Python dependency:

• websockets>=12,<16

Installation

Install from the project root:

pip install .

Run the CLI:

rust-server-manager --help

For development from source:

PYTHONPATH=src python -m rust_server_manager --help

Home Directory Layout

By default the manager uses the current user's home directory. You can override this with --home.

$HOME/
├── server.properties
├── plugins.txt
├── rust_server.log
├── rust_server/
│   ├── RustDedicated
│   ├── runds.sh
│   ├── .rust_server_manager.pid
│   ├── RustDedicated_Data/
│   ├── oxide/
│   │   └── plugins/
│   └── server/
├── steamcmd/
└── rust_ssl/
    ├── rust_key.key
    ├── rust_crt.crt
    └── rust_ssl.pfx

Commands

General form:

rust-server-manager [--home PATH] <command>

Available commands:

• install - Install SteamCMD if needed and install Rust dedicated server
• update - Update Rust and Oxide when enabled
• start - Update and start the Rust server
• stop - Stop the server with WebRCON when configured, otherwise fall back to the tracked process
• restart - Stop and start the server
• console - Open an interactive WebRCON console
• rcon <command> - Send a single WebRCON command
• print - Print the server log file
• delete [identity] - Delete a server identity directory
• ssl - Generate SSL certificates for WebRCON
• write-runscript - Regenerate runds.sh

Examples:

rust-server-manager install
rust-server-manager start
rust-server-manager stop
rust-server-manager console
rust-server-manager rcon "server.writecfg"
rust-server-manager delete my_first_rust_server
rust-server-manager ssl

Configuration

The manager creates server.properties automatically on first use.

Important keys include:

• identity
• ip
• port
• queryport
• app_port
• rcon_ip
• rcon_port
• rcon_pass
• rcon_web
• rcon_ssl
• rcon_ssl_pass
• hostname
• description
• motd
• headerimage
• logoimage
• url
• tags
• gamemode
• pve
• tickrate
• maxplayers
• seed
• worldsize
• saveinterval
• upkeep_period_minutes
• enable_oxide
• enable_rustio

Defaults are defined in src/rust_server_manager/config.py.

Oxide and Plugins

When enable_oxide=True, the manager:

1. downloads the latest Oxide Rust release
2. installs it into the Rust server directory
3. optionally installs RustIO when enable_rustio=True
4. reads plugin names from plugins.txt
5. downloads each plugin from umod.org into the Oxide plugins directory

plugins.txt supports comma-separated values and newline-separated values.

Example:

AdminRadar, BetterChat
NTeleportation
StackSizeController

WebRCON

Rust uses a websocket-based RCON interface. This project includes a native WebRCON client instead of calling external RCON scripts.

Built-in WebRCON is used for:

• one-shot RCON commands
• the interactive console
• graceful shutdown
• post-start setup commands

Minimum configuration:

rcon_web=1
rcon_port=28016
rcon_pass="your_password"

Notes

• This project is Linux-only by design.
• The original bash wipe commands were intentionally removed.
• stop, console, and rcon work best when WebRCON is configured correctly.
• The generated runds.sh is kept as a compatibility and inspection artifact.
• A separate home directory can be used per server instance with --home.

Development

Run tests from the project root:

PYTHONPATH=src python -m unittest discover -s tests

Run the CLI module directly:

PYTHONPATH=src python -m rust_server_manager --help