What are the best Rust plugins?
The most installed Rust plugins are Gather Manager, Stack Size Controller, Vanish, Kits, Image Library, NTeleportation and Admin Radar – each has several hundred thousand downloads on uMod. There's no single set that fits every server: a vanilla+ server needs a few admin and quality-of-life plugins, a PvE server needs TruePVE and NPC events, and a modded server needs multipliers, kits and teleports.
The most popular Rust plugins by uMod downloads (from our catalog, October 2026):
| Plugin | What it does | uMod downloads |
|---|---|---|
| Gather Manager | Gather rate multiplier (2x, 5x…) | ~731k |
| Stack Size Controller | Bigger item stacks | ~623k |
| Vanish | Invisibility for admins | ~544k |
| Kits | Item kits, autokits, cooldowns | ~520k |
| Image Library | Image library used by other plugins | ~507k |
| NTeleportation | Home and player teleports | ~467k |
| Admin Radar | Radar (ESP) for admins | ~451k |
| Remover Tool | Removing your own buildings | ~448k |
Every plugin in this guide is free and runs on both Oxide (uMod) and Carbon.
Oxide or Carbon – what do these plugins run on?
All the plugins here are .cs files from uMod written for Oxide, and Carbon runs most Oxide plugins unchanged – in our catalog each of them is marked as compatible with both frameworks. Only the folders differ:
| Oxide (uMod) | Carbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Plugins | oxide/plugins |
carbon/plugins |
| Settings (JSON) | oxide/config/PluginName.json |
carbon/configs/PluginName.json |
| Plugin data | oxide/data |
carbon/data |
| Reload a plugin | oxide.reload PluginName |
c.reload PluginName |
The config file is named after the plugin's class, not its display name – Kits saves its settings to Kits.json, Raidable Bases to RaidableBases.json. The file is created the first time the plugin loads. The paths below are for Oxide; on Carbon replace oxide/config with carbon/configs.
Which admin and moderation plugins should you use?
The core admin kit is Admin Radar (see players and objects through walls), Vanish (invisibility), Player Administration (a GUI for kicks, bans and mutes) and Admin Panel (buttons for the commands you use most). They only work for people you've granted the permission to.
| Plugin | What for | Command | Config file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin Radar | Radar showing players, sleepers, boxes and other entities – the basic tool for catching cheaters | /radar |
oxide/config/AdminRadar.json |
| Vanish | Admin invisibility while you watch suspicious players | /vanish |
oxide/config/Vanish.json |
| Player Administration | GUI panel: kick, ban, chat and voice mute, freeze, clear inventory, heal, teleport | /padmin |
oxide/config/PlayerAdministration.json |
| Admin Panel | Small panel with clickable command buttons (e.g. vanish, radar, godmode) | /adminpanel |
oxide/config/AdminPanel.json |
| Inventory Viewer | Look inside any player's inventory | /viewinv |
– |
| Admin Logger | Logs admin commands to a file and the console – useful once you have more than one admin | – | oxide/config/AdminLogger.json |
For talking to players, add Info Panel (a small bar with in-game time, online players and your own messages, command /ipanel), Server Info (a tabbed window for rules, wipe schedule, Discord) and Death Notes (death messages in chat).
You grant permissions with oxide.grant group admin adminradar.allowed (Carbon: c.grant). Groups and admin commands are covered in our Rust admin commands guide.
Which plugins protect a Rust server from cheaters?
Plugins don't replace Easy Anti-Cheat, which runs on every Rust server, but they help admins catch what EAC hasn't banned: Server Armour blocks accounts with a ban history, Arkan analyses shots, and Admin Radar plus Vanish let you watch suspects.
| Plugin | How it helps | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Server Armour | Checks players against an external database when they join and automatically bans known hackers and griefers; it can also kick accounts with a recent VAC ban | Needs an API key from serverarmour.com – you put it in oxide/config/ServerArmour.json |
| Arkan | Analyses player shots and flags those that may have been made with cheats or macros | A flag is a lead, not proof – review suspicious shots with the arkan console commands |
| Admin Radar | Shows players through walls, so you can see who tracks others a little too well | – |
| Vanish | Watch a player without them seeing you | – |
Good practice: before you ban someone because of Arkan, watch them with Vanish and Admin Radar. False bans drive honest players away faster than cheaters do.
Which plugins do you need for a PvE server?
A PvE server starts with TruePVE, which blocks player-versus-player damage, and gets its content from Raidable Bases (NPC bases to raid) and NPC events such as Dangerous Treasures and Night Zombies. The full setup is in our guide on how to make a Rust PvE server.
| Plugin | What it does | Config file |
|---|---|---|
| True PVE | Damage rules: player–player, player–building, traps, turrets | oxide/config/TruePVE.json |
| Raidable Bases | Automated bases with NPCs and loot that players can raid | oxide/config/RaidableBases.json |
| Copy Paste | Saves and pastes buildings – required by Raidable Bases | oxide/config/CopyPaste.json |
| Zone Manager | Map zones with their own rules, e.g. a PvP zone on a PvE server | oxide/config/ZoneManager.json |
| Dynamic PVP | Temporary PvP zones around events and monuments | oxide/config/DynamicPVP.json |
| Dangerous Treasures | Treasure chest event guarded by NPCs | oxide/config/DangerousTreasures.json |
| Night Zombies | Murderers and scarecrows spawn at night and die at sunrise | oxide/config/NightZombies.json |
| Better Loot | Custom loot tables for containers, with item rarity | oxide/config/BetterLoot.json |
Two things people miss with Raidable Bases:
- Install Copy Paste too (version 4.3.0 or newer). Raidable Bases pastes its bases through Copy Paste and prints an error in the console without it.
- The plugin ships without bases. Bases are Copy Paste files in
oxide/data/copypaste– build your own and save them with/copy, or upload ready-made base packs. Without them the console shows "No copypaste file in any profile exists".
Which QoL plugins make the game easier?
Quality-of-life plugins don't change the balance, they just save clicks: Stack Size Controller raises stack sizes, Furnace Splitter splits ore in furnaces, Blueprint Share shares blueprints with your team, and Remover Tool lets you take down a misplaced wall. It's a good first set even for a "vanilla+" server.
| Plugin | What it does | Config file |
|---|---|---|
| Stack Size Controller | Max stack sizes for single items and whole categories | oxide/config/StackSizeController.json |
| Furnace Splitter | Splits ore into even stacks in furnaces and shows the smelting ETA | oxide/config/FurnaceSplitter.json |
| Blueprint Share | Shared blueprints with your team, clan or friends | oxide/config/BlueprintShare.json |
| Remover Tool | Remove your own buildings and entities (command /remove) |
oxide/config/RemoverTool.json |
| Quick Sort | Buttons for quickly sorting items into boxes | oxide/config/QuickSort.json |
| Backpacks | An extra backpack with inventory space | oxide/config/Backpacks.json |
| Sign Artist | Loads images from a URL onto signs (command /sil) |
oxide/config/SignArtist.json |
| Monument Addons | Lets admins add entities and spawn points to monuments, e.g. a recycler or vending machine (commands /maspawn, /maedit) |
oxide/config/MonumentAddons.json |
| No Give Notices | Hides the chat notices for items admins give from the F1 menu | – |
For a modded server (2x, 5x) add Gather Manager (gather multiplier) and Quick Smelt (faster furnaces). Gather Manager's rates can be set with console commands or in its config file. The full recipe for a 2x/5x server is in our Rust modded server guide.
Which plugins handle kits, teleports and economy?
Kits gives players starter and VIP kits, NTeleportation adds home and player teleports, and Server Rewards adds points and a reward store. They work together: a kit in Kits can cost scrap, Server Rewards points or money from the Economics plugin.
| Plugin | What it does | Commands | Config file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kits | Kits, autokits on respawn, cooldowns and usage limits | /kit |
oxide/config/Kits.json |
| NTeleportation | Homes, teleport requests to players, teleports to Outpost and Bandit Camp | /sethome, /home, /tpr |
oxide/config/NTeleportation.json |
| Server Rewards | Points for playing and a GUI reward store | /s (store), /rp (points) |
oxide/config/ServerRewards.json |
| GUI Shop | GUI shop for buying and selling items | /shop |
oxide/config/GUIShop.json |
| Custom Vending Setup | Custom offers in NPC vending machines at monuments | – | – |
| Voter Rewards | Rewards for voting for your server on rust-servers.net | – | – |
Kits and other plugins with images in their UI use Image Library, so install it right away. GUI Shop uses the Economics plugin's currency by default, and Economics isn't in our catalog – upload its .cs file by hand, or switch the currency to Server Rewards in GUIShop.json.
A Rust server on Spot.gg (8 GB RAM, 20 GB disk) costs from $12.23 a month, and the first 24 hours are free, no card needed. What goes into the price is explained in how much a Rust server costs.
How do you install these plugins on Spot.gg?
Set the server engine to Oxide or Carbon, go to Addons → Available to install, find the plugin and click Install – the file lands in the right folder and loads without a restart. Every plugin in this guide is in the catalog, so there's nothing to download by hand (except Economics for GUI Shop).
- If the server runs Vanilla, switch the engine in Information → Modify → Change engine to Oxide or Carbon. The map and player progress stay.
- Open Addons → Available to install and search for the plugin by name.
- Click Install. If the server is running, the plugin loads straight away and creates its config file.
- Change its settings on the Files tab (
oxide/configorcarbon/configs) and reload the plugin in the Console. - Grant permissions to players or groups (
oxide.grant/c.grant).
You can disable, enable or delete installed plugins in Addons → Installed. The details, including installing paid plugins over SFTP, are in our guide on how to install Rust plugins. You can browse the whole catalog without logging in in the Rust plugin catalog.
How many plugins can a Rust server run?
There's no hard limit – modded servers often run several dozen – but every plugin adds work at startup and during play, so add them gradually and keep an eye on the console. A few rules:
- Start with 5–10 plugins, check that they all load, and only then add more. If something breaks, it's easier to find the culprit.
- Don't double up on features. Two stack plugins (e.g. Stack Size Controller and Stack Modifier) or two teleport plugins will conflict.
- After the monthly Rust update some plugins may stop compiling. Install the newer version from the catalog or disable the plugin until it's fixed.
- Tag a modded server as Modded. Facepunch's rules require servers that change core gameplay (multipliers, kits, teleports) to be listed under the Modded tab of the server browser.
FAQ
Are uMod plugins free?
Yes. Every plugin on uMod is free, including all the plugins in this guide. Paid plugins are sold on other sites such as Codefling – you install them by hand by uploading the .cs file.
Do Oxide plugins work on Carbon?
Most do. Carbon loads Oxide plugins unchanged, and every plugin in this guide is marked in our catalog as compatible with both Oxide and Carbon. On Carbon the settings are in carbon/configs instead of oxide/config.
Where are Rust plugin config files?
On Oxide in oxide/config/PluginName.json, on Carbon in carbon/configs/PluginName.json. The file is created the first time the plugin loads, and after editing it you reload the plugin with oxide.reload or c.reload.
Do players need to install anything?
No. Oxide and Carbon plugins run on the server only, and players join with the normal Rust client.
What is the best anti-cheat plugin for Rust?
Every Rust server runs Easy Anti-Cheat. The most used plugins on top of it are Server Armour (blocks accounts with a ban history, needs an API key) and Arkan (shot analysis), with Admin Radar and Vanish for watching suspects.