Install uMod plugins on your Rust server

A Rust plugin is one .cs file in your server’s plugins folder. Put it there and the server loads it without a restart. Your server needs Oxide or Carbon first, because a vanilla server loads no plugins.

In the ArthOS panel

1. Open your server and choose Plugins. If the Framework card says Vanilla is running, switch to Oxide or Carbon first (see install Oxide or Carbon).
2. Under Find plugins, type a name in Search uMod (3). The sort list beside it orders the results, with Most downloaded first.
3. Press Install on the plugin; a plugin that is already there says “Installed”. The panel checks the file against uMod, puts it in the plugins folder and asks the server to load it. If the plugin needs another plugin, the panel installs that too and tells you which: “Also installed what it needs”. Unlike Minecraft plugins, the panel installs a Rust plugin’s required plugins from uMod for you.
4. Look at the plugin under Installed. On a running server Oxide and Carbon load a new plugin file by themselves, and the row then says LOADED. The install message can say “It loads when the server starts” when the panel has not yet seen the plugin load. The row is what counts. LOADED means it works. NOT LOADED means it failed to load: see plugins not loading. On a stopped server the plugin loads on the next start.

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Change a plugin’s settings

Press Config on the plugin. Config appears once the plugin has loaded and written its settings file. It opens the plugin’s JSON settings file. Keep the file valid JSON, save it, then press Reload on the plugin. The new settings apply at once.

Update a plugin

When uMod has a newer version, the plugin shows Update to and the version. Press it. On Carbon, an update that does not compile leaves the old version running and the panel says so. The compiler’s message is under What the compiler said.

Remove a plugin

Press Remove. The panel asks to confirm: the plugin is unloaded and its .cs file deleted. Its settings stay, so a later reinstall picks up where you left off. Tick the box that offers to also delete the plugin’s .json from the config and data folders only if you want a clean start.

By hand

Use this if you host elsewhere, or for a plugin that is not on uMod.

1. Download the plugin’s .cs file. Do not rename it or change the extension.
2. Upload it to oxide/plugins on Oxide, or carbon/plugins on Carbon. In the ArthOS panel that is the Files tab.
3. The server loads it automatically. To update, upload the new file over the old one.
4. The plugin writes its settings file the first time it loads. On Oxide that is oxide/config/<PluginName>.json. On Carbon the folder is carbon/configs. Plugin data files are in oxide/data or carbon/data.
5. After you edit a settings file, reload the plugin in the server console (in the panel, the Console tab; no slash):

The o. shortcuts do not work in Carbon. Every Carbon command starts with c..

If it does not work

• The plugin does not load, with a compiler message. The code could not compile, often because the plugin is out of date for the current Rust update or needs another plugin. Read the message, then check the plugin’s uMod page for a newer version or a required plugin and install that too.
• Nothing happens after you upload the file. The file name must match the plugin’s name inside it. Do not rename the download. The extension must be .cs.
• The Plugins page only shows a message about vanilla. The server has no framework. Switch to Oxide or Carbon first.
• The plugin loads but ignores your settings. The JSON is probably invalid, for example a missing comma. Fix it in the editor, then reload the plugin. Settings are read when the plugin loads, not while it runs.
• A plugin vanished after you changed framework. Oxide and Carbon use different folders. The panel copies your plugins across when you switch, and leaves the old folder in place. Switch back and they are there.
• A plugin from another site cannot be installed from the panel. Only plugins that uMod serves directly can be. Upload that one by hand.

Only install plugins you trust, because a plugin is code that runs inside your server. Running Rust on Loafhosts? See Rust hosting.

Sources: umod.org: Installation, umod.org: Configuration, umod.org: Data files, carbonmod.gg: Oxide porting, api.carbonmod.gg: Commands.json

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