Wipe day decides your whole wipe. Players pick a server in the first hours, and the ones who settle in are the ones still there on day 3. This checklist runs from two days before the wipe to day 3 after it. It's written for the monthly forced wipe (next: Thursday 5 November 2026, 19:00 GMT; see the wipe schedule), but works for any community wipe.
Copy it into your staff channel and tick it off.
T−7 to T−3 days: plan
- Decide the wipe type. Map only, or map + blueprints? On a forced wipe the map always resets; blueprints only if the update forces it or you choose to. Put "BP wipe" or "no BP wipe" in your announcement.
- Pick the map. Procedural seed and size, or a custom map. If you run a map vote in Discord, close it by T−2 so you have time to test.
- Plan one event for day 3 or 4. Raid night, airdrop hunt, build contest, PvE weekend. Give it a date and time now.
- Staff rota. Who is online at wipe, who covers the first evening, who covers day 2 and 3? Cheater reports are highest in the first hours.
- Decide on a campaign. If last wipe's start was slow, plan a pay-per-goal campaign now so it can go live at wipe time. More below.
T−2 days: technical prep
- Back up configs, plugin or mod data you want to keep, and your ban list.
- Read the update notes once they're published, and check what the update changes for servers.
- Check your mods and plugins. Forced-wipe updates often break them. Know where to get updated versions, and which ones you'll disable if they're not ready.
- Test the map on a test instance: performance, monuments, spawn points.
- Check your server settings for the new wipe:
server.seed,server.worldsize,server.maxplayers,server.tags,server.headerimage,server.description,server.url.
T−1 day: tell people
- Discord announcement with the exact wipe time in two or three time zones, wipe type, map, and the day-3 event. Ping your wipe role.
- Refresh your listing. Name with "Wipes Thu 19:00 GMT" or similar, tags, header image, description. Keep it identical on BattleMetrics and other lists.
- Ask regulars to vote on rust-servers.net and similar lists, so you're higher up when people browse.
- Prepare your Reddit post for r/playrustservers following the subreddit rules. Post it at wipe, not before.
- Header image says the wipe day and your rates. Check how it looks as a small thumbnail.
Wipe hour
- Update the server as soon as the update is out. Have SteamCMD or your host's update ready to run.
- Start order. If you run several servers, start the one with the most regulars first; it brings your Discord back online fastest.
- Check the browser. Is your server visible, with the right name and tags? Can you join from a clean client?
- Post "We're live" in Discord, on Reddit and on your Steam group, with the connect address.
- Be in-game. Staff online, visible and answering chat. First-hour admin presence is what new players remember.
- Watch for cheaters and handle reports fast. One unanswered cheater report in the first hour can empty a server.
Day 1: settle people in
- Welcome new players. A short pinned message or welcome text with rules, Discord link and the day-3 event.
- Watch your population against the same time last wipe. If you're behind by the evening, you still have the weekend.
- Answer every question in Discord and in-game chat on day 1. Unanswered questions turn into lost players.
Day 2–3: retention
This is where most servers lose their wipe. Owners commonly report that weekly servers thin out after three or four days (Steam discussion), and our analysis of SteamCharts data shows the global forced-wipe surge fades by Monday.
- Run the event you planned. Remind people in Discord a few hours before.
- Protect late joiners. If someone joins on day 2 or 3, give them a reason to build: a raid-free grace period, clear rules on raiding new bases, or a starter kit (within the game's server guidelines).
- Post a mid-wipe update in Discord: what happened, what's next, when the next event is.
- Check who came back. Compare day-2 and day-3 players with day 1. That's your real wipe score.
Where a SpawnBoost campaign fits
A campaign doesn't replace any of the above. On wipe day it solves two specific problems: an empty-looking server at wipe time, and the day-3 drop. (Campaigns aren't only for wipe day: you can run one on any date range, for example a mid-wipe top-up when population bleeds, weekend prime time, or an event.)
Our default campaign, Stay the Wipe, covers both: goals on day 1, day 3 and day 5, with more of the reward on the later days. Day 1 brings real players who start a base; days 3 and 5 pay only for players who actually come back. Real Steam accounts, verified in-game by our server mod. AFK time doesn't count. It's built for players new to your server: returning players we can recognise are flagged in your report, and they're excluded automatically once our recent-players check is switched on (after legal review). Sponsored players are capped at 25% of your recent peak.
Checklist for the campaign itself:
- T−3: add your server and install the SpawnBoost mod (a small Harmony mod for vanilla Rust servers; it doesn't need your RCON password and doesn't change gameplay or your player count).
- T−2: check that the dashboard sees your server.
- T−1: create the campaign: goal, reward, number of spots, start at wipe time. Fund it. Unused budget is refunded when the campaign ends.
- Wipe hour: the offer goes live. Watch live progress in your dashboard.
- After day 5: read your retention report: who finished, who came back on day 3 and who was still playing on day 5.
Pricing is 15% + €0.25 per verified player; new owners get a fee credit once their first campaign settles cleanly. See pricing and how verification works.
After the wipe
- Write down three numbers: peak on day 1, players on day 3, players on day 7.
- Note what you'd change: map, event day, wipe time, campaign goal.
- Start the T−7 list for next wipe.