Rust uMod Plugin Manager: Install Oxide and Carbon Plugins

The Rust uMod Plugin Manager is the tool you use to add plugins to a modded Rust server: it searches the uMod (Oxide) catalogue, drops the plugin’s .cs file straight into your server, and lets Oxide or Carbon compile and load it live with no restart. It also keeps a tidy list of everything you have installed — including plugins you uploaded yourself over SFTP — so you can manage and remove them safely. This guide covers the whole flow: where the tool lives, how to get your server ready with a modding framework, how to search and install plugins, and how to remove a plugin and its config when you are done with it. Whether you searched for how to install Rust plugins, uMod plugins, Oxide plugins, or Carbon plugins, everything you need is below.

What the Plugin Manager Does

The Plugin Manager browses umod.org, the home of the uMod (Oxide) plugin catalogue, and installs the plugins it finds directly onto your Rust server. When you click install, it downloads the plugin’s .cs source file into your server’s oxide/plugins folder (or carbon/plugins if you run Carbon), and — if the server is running — tells the framework to hot-compile and load it on the spot. There is no manual file editing and no full restart for a normal install. The manager also reads back what is actually on disk, so the Installed list always reflects reality, not just what you clicked through the panel.

Note: Plugins install into oxide/plugins on an Oxide server, or carbon/plugins on a Carbon server.

Note: A normal install hot-loads the plugin live — no server restart needed.

Note: Plugins come from the uMod catalogue at umod.org; the manager searches it for you.

Only on Rust Servers with a Modding Framework

The Plugins item only appears in the sidebar for Rust servers, and it only shows the full browse interface once the server is running a modding framework. Vanilla Rust cannot load plugins at all — that is a limitation of the game, not the panel. The manager reads your server’s modding framework and shows one of three states: Oxide (full browse and install), Carbon (full browse and install), or vanilla (an explainer instead of the browser). If you see the vanilla explainer, your server simply needs a framework before any plugin can run.

Note: The “Plugins” sidebar item is Rust-only — it will not appear on other games.

Note: Vanilla Rust cannot load plugins. You need Oxide or Carbon first.

Tip: Oxide is the classic, most widely supported framework, and the plugin browser searches the Oxide catalogue — so Oxide gives you the largest selection of one-click plugins.

Getting Your Server Ready: Oxide or Carbon

If your Rust server is still vanilla, the Plugin Manager shows two buttons in place of the browser: Install Oxide (marked Recommended) and Install Carbon. Pick one and the manager sets your server’s Modding Framework and reboots it. The reboot is non-destructive — it does not re-validate the game or touch your save and world data; the server image downloads the framework you chose on the next boot, then comes back up ready to load plugins. After the reboot finishes, the full browse interface appears in place of the explainer.

If you would rather set it yourself, you can change the Modding Framework variable on the server’s Startup tab and then reboot the server — the result is identical. Either way, the framework is installed on boot, so give the server a minute to come back before browsing.

Tip: Most people should choose Oxide — it has the deepest plugin catalogue, and that is exactly what the in-panel browser searches.

Note: Switching framework reboots the server but does not wipe your world or saves.

Note: You can also set the Modding Framework on the Startup tab instead of using the buttons; both paths do the same thing.

How to Find a Plugin

Open your Rust server, click Plugins in the sidebar, and you land on the browse view. There is a search box — type a plugin name or keyword such as Kits or AdminRadar — and a sort dropdown with four options: Most downloaded, Recently updated, Title (A-Z), and Newest. Below that sits a row of tag filter chips: All, plus popular Rust categories like GUI, Admin, Moderation, Economy, Chat, PvP, Raid, Fun, Loot, Kits, Teleportation, Events, Map, Discord, Tools, and API / Libraries. Clicking a chip filters the catalogue to that tag; clicking All clears it. Results come back nine at a time in a tidy grid, with Prev and Next controls at the bottom to page through more.

Tip: Sort by Most downloaded to surface the proven, popular plugins first.

Tip: The tag chips are real filters applied at the catalogue level, so combining a search term with a tag narrows things quickly.

Note: Each result card shows the plugin’s icon, title, author, description, download count, and tags.

How to Install a Plugin

Each plugin card has an Install button. Click it, confirm in the dialog, and the manager queues the job, downloads the plugin’s .cs file into your framework’s plugins folder, and — if the server is running — issues the framework reload so the plugin compiles and loads live. A short progress message tracks the install through its stages, and once it finishes the plugin moves into your Installed list. If a plugin is already installed, its button reads Installed and is greyed out, so you will not install the same thing twice. Only plugins that uMod offers as a direct download can be installed; ones distributed another way are shown but not installable from the panel.

Plugins are third-party C# code that runs inside your own server, so install only plugins you trust — the same trust model as installing any Oxide plugin anywhere. One more thing worth knowing: some plugins depend on other plugins. If a freshly installed plugin logs a missing dependency, check its uMod page to see what else it needs, then install that too.

Note: Installs run as a background job with a live progress readout — you do not have to keep the page open the whole time.

Note: If the server is running, the plugin hot-loads immediately; if it is stopped, the plugin loads on next boot.

Tip: Plugins are arbitrary C# code running in your server — only install ones you trust, and read the uMod page if a plugin reports a missing dependency.

Managing and Removing Installed Plugins

Scroll to the Installed plugins section to see everything currently on the server. This list is built from the actual .cs files in your plugins folder, so anything you uploaded yourself over SFTP appears here too, marked as External — the manager does not hide plugins it did not install. Each row has a Remove button. Removing a plugin deletes its .cs file and, if the server is running, unloads it over RCON so it stops immediately. The remove dialog also offers a checkbox to “Also delete its config file” (the matching oxide/config/<Name>.json). Configs are usually worth keeping in case you reinstall the plugin later, so that box is unchecked by default — only tick it if you want a clean slate.

Note: SFTP-uploaded plugins show up in the Installed list with an External badge — you can remove those from here too.

Tip: Leave “Also delete its config file” unchecked unless you really want to discard the plugin’s settings — reinstalling later will reuse the saved config.

Note: Removing a running plugin unloads it over RCON straight away; on a stopped server it is simply gone on next boot.

A Note on Restarts and Reloads

Day to day, the Plugin Manager avoids restarts entirely: installs hot-compile and load, and removes unload over RCON, all while the server stays up. The one time a restart is involved is the initial framework switch — going from vanilla to Oxide or Carbon — because the framework itself is installed by the server image on boot. After that first reboot, adding and removing plugins is a live operation. If you ever switch frameworks again, remember the plugins folder changes too: Oxide uses oxide/plugins and Carbon uses carbon/plugins, and the manager always installs into whichever one matches your current framework.

Note: Only the first framework switch (vanilla → Oxide/Carbon) needs a reboot; everyday plugin installs and removes do not.

Tip: If plugins seem to vanish after changing frameworks, it is because the plugins live in a framework-specific folder — switch back and they reappear.