How do I add Oxide or Carbon plugins to my Rust server?

Rust plugins run on a framework: Oxide (you’ll also see it called uMod) or Carbon. Install one onto your server’s files, then upload plugin .cs files to its plugins folder. They load without a restart.

Oxide or Carbon?

Carbon is built to run Oxide plugins, and most work on it as they are. So the choice comes down to upkeep:

• Oxide: most plugins and guides are written for it. You install it again after every Rust update.
• Carbon: it updates itself when your server starts on a new Rust version. Its commands start c. instead of oxide..

Pick one. Carbon’s docs say the two can’t run on the same server, and trying will break it.

Install the framework

1. Download a backup from your Game Panel first.
2. Stop your server from the Game Panel. Uploading onto a running server can corrupt its data.
3. Check which system your server runs. In your Game Panel’s file manager, its main folder holds RustDedicated.exe on Windows, or RustDedicated with no .exe on Linux.
4. Download the matching build:
   • Oxide, from its GitHub releases: Oxide.Rust.zip for Windows or Oxide.Rust-linux.zip for Linux. Take the newest one that isn’t marked pre-release.
   • Carbon, from its GitHub releases: the production build, Carbon.Windows.Release.zip or Carbon.Linux.Release.tar.gz.
5. Unpack it on your PC. Upload everything inside, folders and all, to your server’s main folder (the one holding RustDedicated_Data), and say yes to overwriting.
6. Start your server, then type oxide.version or c.version in the live console. If it prints a version, you’re set.

Add a plugin

1. Download the plugin’s .cs file. umod.org has a big free library. Stick to sources you trust, and don’t rename the file.
2. Upload it to oxide/plugins or carbon/plugins in your server’s main folder.
3. Watch the live console. The framework spots the file, compiles it and loads it, and says so.

To update a plugin, upload the new .cs over the old one and it reloads by itself. To stop one, run oxide.unload PluginName (or c.unload PluginName) and delete its file.

Change a plugin’s settings

Most plugins write a settings file the first time they load, named after the plugin:

• Oxide: oxide/config/PluginName.json
• Carbon: carbon/configs/PluginName.json (note the s on configs)

Edit it in your file manager and keep it valid JSON: watch the commas and the double quotes. Then reload the plugin from the live console:

oxide.reload PluginName
c.reload PluginName

If your change vanishes, the plugin saved its old settings over yours as it reloaded. Unload it, make the edit, then load it again (oxide.unload and oxide.load, or c.unload and c.load).

Plugins keep what they remember, like player stats, in oxide/data or carbon/data. Leave those files alone unless a plugin’s own docs say otherwise.

After every Rust update

Oxide is built for one Rust version at a time. Each time Rust updates (forced wipe day, and sometimes in between), a matching Oxide comes out shortly after. Stop your server, upload the new Oxide the same way as above, and start it again. Until you do, expect your plugins to be missing, because the Rust update can put Rust’s own files back over Oxide’s.

Carbon handles this itself: once Rust has updated, Carbon fetches its matching build as the server starts.

Plugins use memory too. If your server starts to struggle, see how much RAM you need and what to do when your server lags.