Rust RCON: Connect RustAdmin, BattleMetrics and Web RCON Tools

Rust RCON (remote console) lets you run server console commands from outside the game and outside the panel. You can kick and ban from your phone, read chat, schedule restart warnings, or feed events to a Discord bot. RustAdmin, BattleMetrics and Server Armour all connect through it.

On a GSK Rust server, RCON is already switched on. This guide shows where your RCON details are, how to connect the common tools, how the protocol works if you want to script it, and how to keep the password from becoming the easiest way into your server.

What Rust RCON is

Rust uses web RCON: a WebSocket connection over TCP to the server's RCON port, with the password as part of the connection address. It is not the Source RCON protocol that many other games use. BattleMetrics puts it this way: "the Rust game developers switched from Source protocol to a custom Websocket-based RCON". If a generic RCON client times out against a Rust server, that is usually why.

A self-hosted server has to turn web RCON on with +rcon.web 1 and set a port and password. On GSK, the startup line always includes +rcon.web true, +rcon.port and +rcon.password, so there is no toggle to find. You only need to set the password and note the port.

Anything you can type into the server console works over RCON: status, say, kick, ban, server.writecfg, and every oxide.* or c.* plugin command.

Your RCON details on GSK

You need three things:

The RCON port must be a port assigned to your server, i.e. one listed on the Network tab. A tool can only reach a port that is open to your server.

Set a real password first

The RCON Password variable defaults to CHANGEME. Change it before you connect anything, because anyone who knows the default can try it. The panel's own rule for this field:

• 8 to 64 characters
• letters and numbers, plus only these special characters: . ! -

That last rule matters. Password managers often add characters like #, & or / by default, and the password is part of the connection address. Generate a long password from letters, digits and dashes instead. BattleMetrics separately warns that a Rust RCON password "should not include the # character".

RCON settings are startup parameters, so restart the server after changing either variable. Changing the password disconnects every tool that is still using the old one.

Picking an RCON tool

All of them use the same three details. Once one tool connects, the others will too.

Connecting RustAdmin

1. Install RustAdmin from rustadmin.com, or sign in to Rustadmin Online.
2. Add a new server connection.
3. Enter your server IP, the RCON Port from the Startup tab (not the game port), and the RCON Password.
4. Connect. Within a few seconds the console and chat start updating and the player list fills in.

The free desktop app only works while it is running on your computer. That's fine for moderating while you are online, but it isn't enough for scheduled commands that should fire at 4 a.m.

Connecting BattleMetrics

BattleMetrics lists public servers automatically. RCON control is a separate setup:

1. Sign in and open the RCON dashboard. You need to own the organisation the server will belong to.
2. Click Add Server (top right) and follow the prompts. Choose Rust, then enter the IP, RCON Port and RCON Password.
3. Once it connects, invite your moderators from the organisation page and give each one a role. As BattleMetrics puts it: "You never need to hand out your RCON password to anyone else."

If you use BattleMetrics bans with Ban Sync, note BattleMetrics' Rust-specific warning: "The ban list may not be saved if the server crashes or terminates improperly." Add server.writecfg to your restart routine, either with BattleMetrics' scheduler or with a panel schedule.

Writing your own RCON client

Facepunch publishes a reference web RCON client (github.com/Facepunch/webrcon), and its source documents the whole protocol:

• Connect to ws://<ip>:<rcon_port>/<rcon_password>
• Send a JSON message per command:

{ "Identifier": 1001, "Message": "serverinfo", "Name": "WebRcon" }

• Receive JSON back. Message holds the command output, and Identifier echoes yours, so you can match replies to requests. Unsolicited console lines and chat arrive as messages too.

A minimal Node.js example using the ws package:

const WebSocket = require('ws');
const ws = new WebSocket('ws://203.0.113.10:28016/your-rcon-password');

ws.on('open', () => {
  ws.send(JSON.stringify({ Identifier: 1001, Message: 'serverinfo', Name: 'WebRcon' }));
});

ws.on('message', (data) => {
  const msg = JSON.parse(data);
  if (msg.Identifier === 1001) console.log(msg.Message);
});

Commands that Facepunch's own client uses, and that are useful for bots:

Load the password from an environment variable or secrets file, never from the script itself, and never commit it to a Git repository.

Security: never reuse the RCON password

Anyone with your IP, RCON port and password has full console control: they can ban your players, wipe plugin data, or shut the server down. Treat the password like a root password:

• Never reuse it. Don't use it for your Steam account, the panel login, a Discord bot token, or another server. Web RCON is plain ws://, so the password is sent unencrypted in the connection address, and every tool you give it to stores a copy. If one of those copies leaks, only this one server should be exposed.
• Give people accounts, not the password. Use BattleMetrics or Rustadmin Online staff permissions for moderators. Anyone who has the raw password can do everything.
• Rotate it when a staff member with access leaves, when it appears in a screenshot or stream, or after you try out a new tool. Change the Startup variable, restart, then update the tools you still use.
• Keep it out of chat, screenshots and support tickets. Nobody helping you should need the raw password.

Troubleshooting

• Connection refused or timing out: check you entered the RCON Port, not the game port, and that the port is listed on your Network tab. Then confirm the server is fully started: RCON only accepts connections once the server is up.
• Connects, then nothing happens: the tool is probably speaking Source RCON. Choose "Rust" or "WebSocket/WebRCON" in its settings.
• Password rejected: remember the restart after changing it. Also check for a trailing space, and for characters outside letters, numbers and . ! -.
• One tool works and another doesn't: BattleMetrics' own advice applies. If any RCON client can connect, your server config is fine, and the problem is the failing tool's settings or network.
• Bans vanish after a crash: run server.writecfg after banning, or on a schedule.

What to read next

• Rust Admin Commands: the commands you will run most over RCON.
• How to see who is on your Rust server: status and web RCON from a phone.
• Oxide Permissions 101: in-server access control that RCON tools build on.
• Rust Mods & Plugins: including in-server Discord plugins that don't need RCON at all.
• Rust Server Lag & Performance: what the FPS and entity numbers in serverinfo mean.

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