Add backpacks to a Rust server with Backpacks

Backpacks (by WhiteThunder) gives each player an extra inventory they open with /backpack. Install it from the Plugins page and grant the backpacks.use permission to your default group so everyone can open one. Out of the box a backpack has 6 slots. Bigger sizes come from permissions.

Your server needs Oxide or Carbon first (see install Oxide or Carbon).

In the ArthOS panel

1. Open your server and choose Plugins. Under Find plugins, type backpacks in Search uMod (1). Find the Backpacks card (2) by WhiteThunder and choose Install (3). The panel offered version 3.17.8 on 11 October 2026. It does not ask a question.

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2. Look at its row under Installed. It should say LOADED. If it says NOT LOADED, see plugins not loading.
3. Open the Console tab and let every player open a backpack. Type, with no slash:

The default group holds every player who connects. More about groups is in grant plugin permissions.

4. Join the server and type /backpack in chat. The backpack opens. Typing it again goes to the next page, and closes the inventory when there are no more pages.

The plugin’s uMod page writes its example as o.grant group default backpacks.use. That o. form is Oxide’s shorthand and does not work on Carbon. Use the c. form there.

Open it with a key or a button

• A key. Each player can bind a key in the game’s F1 console. The uMod page gives this example, which binds the b key: bind b backpack.
• A button on the screen. Grant backpacks.gui to the group. The page says players then see a button next to their belt, and /backpackgui hides or shows it:

The button is on by default (GUI Button, Enabled by default (for players with permission)). If you turn the GUI Button Enabled setting off for everyone, the page says that also helps performance.

Set the size

The default size is 6 slots, one row. The plugin works in slots. A row is 6 slots, and one page holds up to 48 (Max size per page). More than that makes more pages.

To give some players more, grant a size permission. The page lists these in its default settings:

If a player holds several, the highest one applies. A common setup is to give each VIP group a bigger one:

To make a size that is not in the list, press Config on the plugin and add the number to Permission sizes under Backpack size. Save, then press Reload. The plugin then makes the permission backpacks.size.<number>.

What happens on death

• By default (Drop on Death (true/false) is true), the backpack’s items drop in a bag by the player’s body. The player respawns with an empty backpack and can find the bag. The bag is protected from despawning for at least Minimum Despawn Time (Seconds), which is 300 by default.
• To destroy the items instead, set Erase on Death (true/false) to true. The page says erased items cannot be recovered.
• A player with the backpacks.keepondeath permission keeps their items either way.
• Another plugin can stop the drop. The page names arena plugins as an example.

What happens on a wipe

By default nothing is cleared. A backpack keeps its items across a map wipe, because Clear on wipe is off (Enabled is false).

To clear backpacks at a wipe:

1. Press Config on the plugin.
2. Under Clear on wipe, set Enabled to true.
3. The default rule, Max slots to keep, is 0. That clears everything. Set a number to let players keep that many item slots.
4. Save and press Reload.

Give the backpacks.keeponwipe.all permission to players who should keep everything. The page also describes other keep rules by permission, such as 1row and 2rows in its example.

The page says this works only if the plugin is loaded when the server first starts on the new map. If your server started once after the Rust update without the framework, or with the plugin failing to compile, the backpacks are not wiped. The page’s fix is to wipe the server again, or to unload the plugin, delete oxide/data/Backpacks, and load it again. Check the plugin is LOADED before every wipe. Every Rust restart updates the game and the framework, so look at the row after a wipe-day update.

Limit what goes in

Press Config. Under Item restrictions, set Enabled to true. The Default ruleset then decides which categories, item short names and skins are allowed. The page gives rulesets such as no_c4, which disallows the short name explosive.timed. Each ruleset you add under Rulesets by permission makes a permission backpacks.restrictions.<name>. The page’s backpacks.restrictions.allowall lets a player put in anything.

For admins

What it costs your server

The plugin’s page gives no figure for its cost. The one setting it says helps performance is turning the GUI Button Enabled setting off for everyone (see above).

By hand

Download Backpacks.cs from its uMod page and upload it to oxide/plugins (Oxide) or carbon/plugins (Carbon). Player data is in oxide/data/Backpacks. Edit the settings, then reload with oxide.reload Backpacks or c.reload Backpacks.

If it does not work

• /backpack says you cannot. You do not hold backpacks.use. Grant it to the default group.
• Backpacks do not drop on death. The page gives three causes: Drop on Death (true/false) is false, the player has backpacks.keepondeath, or another plugin blocked the drop.
• A player’s backpack is the wrong size. The highest size permission applies. Run backpack.debug.size <name or steam id>. The page says it prints why the size is what it is. In game it needs the permission backpacks.admin.debug.
• The plugin says NOT LOADED. Read the Console from the start of the server for the reason.

Not checked in game as of 11 October 2026. Check each step on your own server.

Hosting Rust? See the Rust page.

Sources: umod.org: Backpacks, umod.org: Permissions, umod.org: Configuration

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