How to install Carbon for Rust

Migrate from Oxide to Carbon: clean old DLLs from your managed folder, switch frameworks in the panel dropdown, and verify with c.version.

Updated September 28, 2026

Rust

Carbon is a modern modding framework for Rust, designed as a drop-in replacement for Oxide. It is faster (significantly less GC overhead and better startup time), gets compatibility patches out within minutes of forced wipes, and runs the vast majority of Oxide plugins unchanged.

This guide installs Carbon on a rented Rust game server and migrates an existing Oxide server without losing plugins or configs.

Carbon vs Oxide at a Glance

Feature	Oxide / uMod	Carbon
Plugin compatibility	Native	Native + Oxide plugins
Performance	Baseline	Lower CPU, faster boots
Update speed after Rust patches	Hours	Often minutes
Plugin folder	`oxide/plugins/`	`carbon/plugins/`
Config folder	`oxide/config/`	`carbon/configs/`
Active development	Yes	Yes, very active

If your server runs more than 30 plugins or you constantly hit CPU walls, Carbon is worth trying. If you depend on a small handful of very obscure Oxide-only plugins, test before fully committing.

Step 1: Stop the Server

From the Console tab, hit Stop and wait for the status to read "Offline."

Step 2: Clean Out the Old Oxide Files (If Coming From Oxide)

If this server previously ran Oxide, its framework files must be removed before Carbon loads, or the two frameworks conflict. In the File Manager, open RustDedicated_Data/Managed/ and delete the Oxide files (they all start with Oxide., for example Oxide.Core.dll, Oxide.Rust.dll, Oxide.References.dll).

This only removes the framework itself

Your oxide/ folder with plugins, configs, and data is untouched, and you will migrate the plugins into Carbon's folders in a later step. On a server that never ran Oxide, skip this step.

Step 3: Change the Framework in Startup

Open the Startup tab and select carbon in the Modding Framework dropdown (the other options are vanilla and oxide).

Save the change.

Step 4: Start the Server

Click Start. The egg will:

Pull the latest Carbon release from the official Carbon GitHub.
Drop the Carbon files into the server root.
Boot Rust with Carbon loaded.

You should see a Carbon banner near the top of the console output, with a version number and a "Carbon is ready" line.

Step 5: Verify Carbon Loaded

From the panel's Console:

> c.version

console

Carbon should reply with its current version. You can also try:

> c.plugins

console

This lists all loaded plugins (Carbon namespaces start with c. instead of oxide.).

Step 6: Migrating Plugins From Oxide

Carbon uses its own folder layout, but the files are the same .cs plugins:

Stop the server.
Open the File Manager and copy every .cs file from oxide/plugins/ to carbon/plugins/.
Copy oxide/config/*.json to carbon/configs/. (Carbon picks up most Oxide configs as-is.)
Copy oxide/data/ to carbon/data/ if you have plugin-specific data files (kits, player records, etc.).
Start the server.

After boot, run c.plugins to confirm everything loaded. Plugins that fail to compile will print an error in the console with the file name and line number.

Step 7: Carbon-Specific Console Commands

Carbon uses the c. prefix for its commands. The most common:

Command	What it does
`c.version`	Show Carbon version
`c.plugins`	List loaded plugins
`c.load PluginName`	Load a plugin
`c.unload PluginName`	Unload a plugin
`c.reload PluginName`	Reload a plugin (re-reads config)
`c.grant <user\|group> <name\|id> <perm>`	Grant a permission
`c.revoke <user\|group> <name\|id> <perm>`	Revoke a permission
`c.usergroup add <user> <group>`	Add a user to a group
`c.find <plugin>`	Search loaded plugins by partial name
`c.help`	Print all Carbon commands

Oxide's oxide. and o. commands do not work in Carbon: Carbon's documentation states that all of its commands use the c. prefix. Update any scripts or admin tools that send oxide.grant ... to send c.grant ... instead, or define aliases for the commands you need in Carbon's config.

Step 8: Carbon Modules (Built-in Plugins)

Carbon ships with several built-in modules, configurable through carbon/config.json and the carbon/modules/ folder. Notable ones:

Gather Manager module (built in, no need for the third-party plugin)
Stacks module for adjusting stack sizes
Optimization module for various performance hooks

These can replace several common plugins you would otherwise download. Enable or disable them in carbon/config.json under the Modules block.

Step 9: Updating Carbon

Our egg pulls the latest Carbon release on every server start. After a forced wipe Thursday, restart the server once Facepunch's patch lands and Carbon will be on the new compatible build.

There is no Startup variable for choosing a Carbon channel. The only framework settings in the Startup tab are Modding Framework (vanilla, oxide or carbon) and Modding Framework Custom Download Link, which accepts your own download link for Oxide or Carbon but is not something we support.

Troubleshooting

Server boots but no plugins load: Confirm the framework variable is carbon, not oxide. Confirm plugins are in carbon/plugins/, not oxide/plugins/.
Plugins fail to compile after migration: A small number of Oxide plugins use APIs Carbon implements slightly differently. Update the plugin to its latest version or check if the author has a Carbon-flagged build.
Server uses more CPU than under Oxide: Disable the Optimization module temporarily; one of its hooks may conflict with a plugin you run.