How to Play RUST Online?

15 May 2014

A short guide to playing RUST online using Tunngle (also works with offline LAN).

RUST is a survival first-person-shooting game where you start off with nothing but a rock. From there, you wander around the wilderness of a beautiful post-apocalyptic world with nuclear radiation zones, gathering materials and building houses, weapons and more. It is sort of like DayZ without the zombies, as there are enough ways to die in this game. Here's an easy guide on how to play it online, or even LAN.

Note: This guide only shows how to install the game CLIENT. To see how to setup a SERVER with mods and plugins, refer to this guide.




Steps to Follow

1. Get RUST Client and Server
Currently, most people are playing on version v25, which you can get here.

2. Run the RUST Client v25 Installer.
Install the client. Server is not needed unless you are planning to host a RUST server.

3. Enter your nickname.
Go to where you installed RUST, launch ChangeNick.exe and type in any name you like. This will be your in-game name. Some servers may prevent default and same names from joining, so it is best that you enter a unique name.

4. Join game.
Make sure you're in Tunngle (also works with Hamachi, Evolve and other VPN/VLAN software), there is a Rust network in Tunngle which you can join to look for servers. To join a server, launch the game using "Rust Client.exe" and press F1 when in-game to bring up the console. Type in this:

net.connect [ip address]:[port]

Make sure to fill in BOTH the IP address and port of the server. The default port used in RUST servers is 28015. For example, net.connect 7.11.72.66:28015. Once you're in game, type "/help" to get started, as most servers have plugins to provide information on commands and things you can do in the server. Some even has starter kits which will give you a stone hatchet for easy mining at the start.




Common Problems

Cannot start the game.
1. Make sure you have the Visual C++ Redistributable Packages installed.
2. Make sure you have the latest .NET Framework.
3. Make sure you run RUST as administrator.

Can't join the server?
1. Most likely the server runs on a different version, some are still running v19, an older version.
2. Firewall problems are also common, make sure all connections are allowed between you and the server.
3. Other than that, it is possible that the server has a plugin which auto-kicks players due to certain name constraints. Try changing your name.