Installing plugins (Oxide / Carbon)

Vanilla Rust doesn't accept plugins. To run plugins, switch to the Oxide (uMod) or Carbon modded build.

Switching to Oxide / Carbon

In the panel:

1. Settings → server type / variant → pick Oxide or Carbon.
2. Restart. The server reinstalls with the mod framework in place.
3. You'll now have /oxide/plugins/ (Oxide) or /carbon/plugins/ (Carbon).

Existing world data is preserved across the switch.

Installing a plugin

1. Get the plugin .cs file from uMod.org or the developer's site.
2. Stop the server (or use hot-reload).
3. Drop the .cs into the plugins folder.
4. Start the server. Oxide auto-compiles and loads the plugin.

To hot-reload without restart (Oxide):

oxide.reload <PluginName>

Configuring

Each plugin creates a JSON config at /oxide/config/<Plugin>.json on first load. Edit it (stop server or hot-reload after).

Common plugins

• Kits — predefined item sets for players
• GUIShop — in-game store
• Friends — friends list with build/loot permissions
• AntiCheat — heuristic-based cheat detection
• Discord Auth — link Steam to Discord
• Better Loot — tweak loot tables
• Stack Sizes — bigger inventory stacks

Carbon vs Oxide

Carbon is a newer mod framework with some performance advantages. Most Oxide plugins also run on Carbon (it's compatible). Carbon adds its own plugins ("modules") on top.

Pick one. Don't run both.

When a plugin breaks

Check the console for compilation errors. Oxide's compiler is strict — many plugins fail on a Rust update because their code references methods that changed game-side.

Fix: update the plugin (developer usually pushes a fix within hours of a Rust update), or remove it if it's abandoned.