If you run a Rust server, the wipe schedule is one of the biggest decisions you'll make. It shapes who shows up, how long they stay, and whether your community feels alive or empty. Get it right and people start planning their week around your server. Get it wrong and the same players keep drifting off after a few days.
This guide explains what a wipe actually is, the difference between the two main types, how often to do it, and how to tell players without confusing anyone. We'll also cover automating the whole thing so you're not stuck doing it by hand at midnight.
What a wipe actually is
A wipe resets your server. Players lose what they built and start fresh. It sounds harsh, but it's a core part of how Rust is meant to be played. Without wipes, a few early players hoard the best spots, build giant bases, and nobody new can compete. The map fills up with old loot and decaying structures, and new arrivals just bounce off.
There are two kinds of wipe, and the difference matters a lot.
Map wipe
A map wipe generates a new world. Every base, every tool cupboard, every barrel is gone. Players keep their blueprints, which are the recipes they've already learned. So they don't have to grind everything back from scratch, but they're starting on fresh land with empty hands. This is the most common wipe and the one most players expect on a regular cadence.
Blueprint wipe
A blueprint wipe goes further. On top of the new map, it also resets learned blueprints. Everyone is truly back to square one, scrapping for recipes alongside the early game tools. This is a harder reset and it's not something you do every week. Most servers tie blueprint wipes to the monthly force wipe and leave them alone the rest of the time.
Here's the quick version:
- Map wipe: new world, keep blueprints. Used often.
- Blueprint wipe: new world plus blueprint reset. Used rarely, usually monthly.
Force wipe and the first Thursday
Facepunch, the studio behind Rust, pushes a major update on the first Thursday of every month. This is called force wipe because the update breaks compatibility with old save data. When it lands, every server has to wipe whether the admin wants to or not. The procedural map seed changes too, so the world you knew is gone.
Force wipe day is the busiest day of the Rust month by a wide margin. A huge chunk of the player base logs in fresh that evening, looking for a server to call home for the next few weeks. If your server is up, wiped, and announced before that rush, you catch people while they're actively shopping. Miss it and you're trying to pull players who already settled somewhere else.
In our experience, the first Thursday is the single most important date on a Rust admin's calendar. Plan your big blueprint wipe and any community events around it.
One practical note. Force wipe usually hits in the afternoon or evening UK time, but the exact hour shifts. Don't promise players a precise minute. Tell them the date and say you'll wipe shortly after the update drops.
Picking a cadence
Cadence just means how often you wipe between force wipes. The monthly force wipe is fixed, but you decide what happens in the weeks between. The main options are weekly, biweekly, and monthly, and each one pulls in a different kind of player.
Weekly
A weekly wipe, usually on the same day each week, keeps things fast and fresh. Players know that every base resets, so nobody gets too far ahead. This suits people who like the early and mid game, the scramble for resources, and frequent raiding. It's high energy and a bit chaotic.
The trade off is that builders who love big projects can feel rushed. If someone spends two days on an elaborate base only to lose it on day five, they might not bother next time. Weekly servers tend to attract solo players and small groups who play hard for a few days and then take a break.
Biweekly
Biweekly, meaning every two weeks, is a solid middle ground and one of the most popular choices. Players get enough time to build something real, run a few raids, and actually use the loot they farm. But it still resets often enough that latecomers have a chance to catch up. Many established communities settle here because it balances the grind against the payoff.
If you're not sure where to start, biweekly is a safe bet. It's forgiving for new admins and most players are happy with it.
Monthly
Monthly means you only wipe on force wipe and let the map run the whole month. This rewards patience and long term planning. Clans love it because they can build a proper base, stockpile resources, and fight drawn out wars over weeks. The downside is obvious. By week three, the strong groups dominate and a new player who joins late has almost no chance. Monthly servers can feel dead to newcomers even when they're full of veterans.
Here's a rough guide to who each cadence suits:
| Cadence | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Solos and duos who like fast resets | Builders feel rushed |
| Biweekly | Most mixed communities | Hard to please everyone at once |
| Monthly | Clans and long game planners | Newcomers struggle late in the cycle |
How cadence shapes your community
The schedule you pick is really a filter for the kind of players you want. This is the part new admins underestimate. A weekly server and a monthly server can run identical settings and still end up with completely different crowds.
Fast wipes pull in aggressive, action focused players who want fights and don't get attached to their bases. Slow wipes pull in builders, traders, and clans who care about the world they make. Neither is better. But if you advertise a no KOS, friendly building server and then wipe weekly, you'll confuse people and they won't stick around. Match your cadence to the vibe you're going for, and say what that vibe is.
A quick warning. Changing your cadence often is one of the fastest ways to lose regulars. People build their routines around your schedule. If they expect a Friday wipe and you keep moving it, they stop trusting the server and find one that's predictable. Pick a schedule, post it somewhere permanent, and stick to it for a good while before you reconsider.
Announcing wipes so nobody is surprised
The wipe itself is only half the job. Telling people clearly is the other half, and it's where a lot of servers fall down. Players hate logging in to find their base gone with no warning. They love a server that respects their time and tells them exactly what's coming.
Discord is the natural home for this. A dedicated wipe schedule channel, pinned at the top, should answer three questions at a glance: when is the next wipe, what type is it, and what time roughly. Keep it simple. Something like this works well:
Next wipe: Friday at 7pm UK
Type: Map wipe (blueprints stay)
Force wipe: first Thursday, full blueprint reset
Wipes happen every other Friday. Check the pinned post.A few habits that help:
- Post a reminder in your announcements channel the day before, and again an hour before.
- Use a Discord role people can opt into so wipe pings only reach players who want them.
- Make it obvious when the force wipe will be a blueprint wipe, since that's the one that really resets people.
- If something goes wrong and a wipe is delayed, say so straight away. Silence is worse than bad news.
Consistency in your announcements builds the same trust as consistency in your schedule. Once players know exactly where to look and that the info there is always right, they relax and keep coming back.
Automating the whole thing
Doing wipes by hand gets old fast, and it's easy to forget or fat finger a file at the wrong moment. This is where Oxide, also known as uMod, earns its place. With the right plugin, your server can wipe itself on a set schedule and even post the announcement for you.
Plugins like Wipe Info or a scheduled wipe plugin let you define when the wipe runs, whether it's a map or blueprint wipe, and what message goes out. You set it once and the server handles the rest. Pair that with a Discord webhook plugin and your wipe channel updates automatically when the reset happens, so the pinned info is never stale.
If you'd rather not touch plugins for this, you can still automate at the host level. A scheduled task can stop the server, clear the right save files, and start it again at the same time each cycle. The key is knowing which files to remove. A map wipe clears the world and player save data but leaves the blueprint data alone, while a blueprint wipe clears that too. Test it on a backup before you trust it on a live server, because deleting the wrong file is a fast way to upset everyone.
On Bytte.cloud, Rust servers run through a Pterodactyl style panel where you can schedule these tasks and edit your server.cfg and save files directly, which makes setting up an automated wipe a lot less fiddly than doing it over raw SSH.
Putting it together
Start by deciding what kind of server you actually want. If you like fast fights and don't mind churn, go weekly. If you want a healthy mix of builders and fighters, biweekly is the safe choice. If you're building a clan focused world, run it monthly and lean into the force wipe. Whatever you pick, anchor your big resets to the first Thursday, tell people clearly through Discord, and automate the routine so it just happens. Do that and your players will stop wondering when the next wipe is, because they'll already know, and they'll be there for it.
