Rust is a great game and has hung onto its player based amazingly year on year thanks to the developers continually evolving it. Chuck in the element of online multiplayer randomness and you have a game that is never the same to play twice!
Rust does not have a single player mode (it probably wouldn’t be much fun anyway) so its all about the multiplayer action. So you are going to have to hunt around for a suitable server to join and then test until you are happy. This process can take a few attempts but once you hit the right Rust server for you then you can stop and simply follow the other players you meet around onto other servers.
Be sure to add your Rust friends you meet on Steam chat, that way you can get in touch with them even if the server goes down or disappears for good. Maybe try looking for Groups on Steam or browse the main community section for Rust to find other players looking to join clans.
If you need to find some good base designs then look around on the web and on YouTube, a lot of star players like to show off their creations. Once you have built a few structures in Rust you will then be able to construct bases that keep away enemies better while you defend them on foot (or cower from inside).
The first thing you are going to need to get your head around is choosing a Rust server to join.
What are the factors that make a good Rust server? Well a large element of the best Rust servers are the community of players that frequently play there. If you don’t have friends that you play with then it may be worth joining a tribe on a Rust server, a team that you can work with as its almost impossible to survive on your own.
Another important factor that separate’s the good from bad servers are the admins. Much like government in real life, too much of too little can both lead to issues within an economy/civilisation. A server that has too many rules will lead to a communistic waste-ground where players don’t feel free to be creative and have fun.
An empty server is usually a bad sign and for most Rust players who enjoy taking part in large team raids a waste of their time. The team based conflict in Rust is a key selling point if you score through the most viewed Rust videos on YouTube.
Once you have found the server you want to play on its now up to you to establish a simple base and start collecting up the resources you need in order to survive. Forging alliances with other players is a great idea as there is definitely power in numbers. If you do not eventually join a large group and go on raiding parties you will probably remain at the bottom of the food chain indefinitely.
If you are not keen on joining servers that aren’t controlled by yourself then you can create one yourself. The methods to do this range from easy to hard and quick to time consuming,surprisingly cost isn’t a big element in all of this.
This is the only free method but can also be the most difficult and headache causing due to ISP issues. We aren’t going to go into what it is you need to do to set up a local Rust server here but you can find loads of great tutorials on the web, like this YouTube video.
This upside to this method is the zero cost, with the downside being that due to no visible public IP address of your server no one can connect to it. You may have to get in contact with your internet service provider and ask them to add an external IP which would then need setting up at your end too.
The most expensive way that gives you the ultimate control of your Rust sever is to rent a VPS yourself and then install the files yourself. This method is harder and requires more maintenance as well as small changes can take a lot of time.
The other large issue with this is the hacker and DDOS protection. Unless you are skilled in the art of server security you could be opening yourself up to all sorts of unwanted disgruntled players trying to hack the server. A lot of VPS suppliers also don’t take kindly to customers who are being attacked, they would rather not have to deal with small time customers who are regularly attacked putting other customers at risk and may just shut down your machine and cancel your contract.
The simplest and most cost effective method is the instant ready to go Rust server hosting that we compare prices for here at CompareGameHosting. The great thing about this method is that its quick, you can start cheaply with as smaller amount of player slots and due to the large amount of providers available the price is competitive.
You need to ideally prioritise a provider that is close to you geographically (or offers servers in the same continent you live in at a minimum), has great reviews and provide the features you need, like mod support. If you can find a bunch of providers that tick these boxes then its down to you to compare the cost with what you get.
Starting with a small server that you can grow over time is also possible as the payment systems these companies use allow for changing of server size during your contract with them. Changing Rust server hosting company isn’t as easy though, although its usually the case of copying files over and informing your current player base of the move.